Technical Primer/Satin Paint Jobs

Love the original acrylic on your Chebby man. There is just something about old paint that does it for me. You got it in spades with that one.

The flat horizontal surfaces was a late '60s and early '70s thing believe it or not. I think it started with the MOPARS with flat hoods supposed to cut down on the glare. I had more than one old beater with a flat black hood back then.

 

Hey there "Late To The Party" always appreciate it when those who have been there back in the day.
Having been born in 1961, obviously too young to remember, ll of what was going down in those days.
I think a lot of the contemporary "Hotrodders" are trying to replicate what was done back in the day, and with respect to paint/primer, I think a lot of guys may think it was the norm, and in many cases it was, for lack of funds for the "real paint job".
So by trying to be nostalgic, a lot of these cars are now satin or primered, to appear authentic to the masses, who may have been born 20 years later.
It is a trend, not necessarily for me, or you, but for those who like the look....

 

Back in the early sixties I don't remember much primer on street cars. Remember this was the time frame where everyone was buying new Chevies, Pontiacs and Mopars off dealers lots and going racing. Lots of shiny new cars cruising and street racing.
Primer in those days appeared more on drag cars. The drag racers I knew and hung with were more interested in going fast and not caring too much how the cars looked.

Gary

 

Perfection eluded me on my last build, my '41's fenders were solid but pretty beat up.. Getting round fenders perfect is like trying to carve a cue ball that will roll straight and true down the table. I painted satin...my current build is going to get shiny in a lighter colour as I learned new spectacles may clear up some issues.
Muscle cars were so much easier to get everything straight and perfect looking!

 

Some folks have real stuff to worry about.

can you enjoy a primered car as much as a shiny one?
I'll say that you would enjoy it more. That is unless a major part of your enjoyment is coming from what others say about your paint. I had a car that was judged by others many times over to have had perfect paint. It's N E R V E WrAcK InG as hell owning and careing for such a thing. There's little enjoyment that comes from the car, the enjoyment, if you find it there, comes from beating the other guy, listening to comments & reading score sheets. There's no joy in worrying about parking or driving the thing & Very little joy in owning it in general. Those things are way more fun to look at somebody else's.

With the professional paint materials on the market today you'd better not fuck up. It's expensive and dangerous to do it yourself. Taking a car to a body shop for paint is expensive and dangerous as well. Look at the guys who put their car in body shop jail, deal with sub standard work & budget explosions.

For the record, primer was never a cool finish. The primer was for shakedown prior to paint.
The cool part was that something was getting done to the car. Sort of like the coming attractions to a movie. You don't watch the trailer and say you saw the movie, you can't call primer finished either. Ending with primer is just giving up. That's ok, I can't stop what I'm doing and finish it for anyone so who am I question them or expect them to drop what they are up to and finish it.

So that leaves the idea that the unfinished look was now cool.
Ok - to put that in perspective society has redefined so much since.
Used to be cool to smoke and now it's not
Used to be uncool to shack up and now it's great
Used to be uncool to wear your pants below your ass, now it is
Boys wear girl pants now and they are cool
When everyone who warmed a bench, struck out, or lost got a trophy things changed.
When everyone could get a F on an a final exam yet still pass the class because they did their homework things changed.
Is it really surprising that the idea of paint changed too?

 

Well, for me it's a little different, I have always built my cars out of my pocket, never a penny from my paycheque or from the house. I have always tried to trade my services for something I wasn't confident doing myself, and body men/painters are in short supply in my circles. The one time I nearly had enough money for full paint, I got to the base coat stage on my 36, flat black, no clear, couldn't afford the paint to finish it.
However, this was twenty years ago, my truck stood out in a sea of coral colours, some really ugly stuff, flat black wasn't common at all and I revelled in being different, traded for some high value pinstriping by a local famous guy who has since passed away, flames and small shit all round the truck. Now I had something really different, and I still love it twenty years later, so much so, that the original-never meant to last basecoat needs attention, but I'm afraid to alter it because I'll lose the flavour the truck has grown into, along with Boots pinstriping, which I'll never replace.
So...it is finished, to my satisfaction, But because it's tired, I built a new car rather than change my old one, so, I never cheaped out, I got what I could afford. I try to keep that in mind when I look at anothers build, not all of us have the thousands it can cost to paint, but still enjoy the hobby.

 

Stance. Tire wheel combo. Then what ever color & style of finish. Post whores unite!

 

I think to much emphasis is put on paint either way.. Give me a car that has a great look at 20-30 feet and makes me want to go up and look at it.. I don't care if it has shiny, dull or no paint at all.. It's the build style that gets my juices flowing.. And that's saying something for a man of my age....

 

Running and driving in primer or satin and enjoying car shows with your kids beats leaving it in the garage because I can't afford paint. Kids aren't playing video games and might actually want a car of their own someday which will keep our hobby going.

 

I did mine in matte finish mostly because I had never done any kind of body work in my life and I was worried my inexperience would show with a gloss finish. Now tyhat my project is almost done I have no regrets. Plus I have to many days behind me to worry about what other people think anyway.
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Ain't nothing wrong with that, looks good from my house.
Matte finish, primer, satin, or a super rubbed out lacquer paint job, whatever "floats yur boat", is all that matters, you only gotta please the "man in the glass", or the Woman behind him......LOL

 

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Sure let me try. If you don't want your car in satin or primer, then don't. However, if someone else does like it, what is that to you? Until you start sending me money you really have no right or reason to question anything I do to my cars.

Clear enough ?


Don

 

I happen to love black semi gloss and pinstriping..nothing is more boring than seeing a done painted car year after year and nothing is changed no matter how nice it is.

 

There was another thread not too long ago with plenty of pictures of cars from the traditional era with primered or flat black paint. The suggestion that there weren't a lot of cars like that is ridiculous. As others have already posted, some of us just want to drive our cars now, not leave them sitting while we wait to build the funds for body work & paint, or have time to do it ourselves. Besides that, I want to drive my car and enjoy it, I don't want to spend my days polishing it. I've got enough chrome, stainless and polished aluminum to provide some bling while still being easy to maintain. Other than that, let's just go for a ride and leave the wax and polishing rags at home.

 

Yup, all the reasons you mentioned, are no doubt the same as the reasons in 1958, limited funds, lack of paint and body equipment and skills, want to geter on the road, etc.
Those "who lived the dream", back in the 50s/60s, may have different memories and perceptions on what was in primer or not, lets face it, it would have been alkyd or lacquer based primer, not 2k epoxy primer or Hot Rod Flatz of today.
My truck is painted with tintable hardware store modified alkyd enamel, with acrylic enamel hardener, and it works for me for now, and maybe forever....

 

There's lots to be said about primered cars. You can relax and not worry about rock chips, kids touching it, etc. You don't have to have shiny paint to have fun.

Gary

 

Yup, a nice shiny car becomes a different kind of animal.