I tend to disagree, I think it has already peaked. Look at all the lace paintr and angelhair over the last 5 years. I expect a late 60's, early 70's look. Aluminum slots, diamond tuck and lots of showy stuff. We'll see, but SLT Musclemags just released the 15x4.5 aluminum slot last year.
my truck was Flat black just because thats the color it was when i bought it and i dont have the area, or the cas to paint it. my plans were to gloss black with Silver-microflake in Candy red scallops. but it never got to that point. now with the Del Ray, since its currently 5 colors, i plan on flat black or grey for the time being just because my buddy who does body work has shitloads and yes, im still broke. but like i saw with the truck, just because somone painted it brown primer, then painted it black primer, and brown then black again, doesnt mean it will stop from rusting, thus the reason i offed the truck.
Back before most of you were born, most guy's drove their cars as they "cherried them out"(built). As one part or area was finished, replaced, modified or customized it got primer spots to preserve the area until the overall car was ready for paint. Most hot rods were built by working people that could not afford to build from start to finish but rather in stages. I drove my '32 roadster to the Nationals in Tulsa back in '76 with a painted/plated finished chassis but a red oxide primered body that had no bondo but miles of welds showing. Back then it was called a beater cause it wasn't finished. The primer was red because we felt like red lacquer primer filled better. I drove the car because I just couldn't wait any longer. No judgement here just my fond memories of how it was back in the 70's when I was trying to build a car that would have been neat in the 50's.
why black primer? ........... why chop a chevy? why highboy a duece? why section a shoe box? why suicide an a? cause it's a style like anything else.
I was thinking that too- save those Moroso anodized air cleaners and valve covers! Then, gray primer will be cool.
I just finished my roadster in a red oxide, I didnt want to repeat the last roadster but still wanted primer. I like the fact that primer is worry free, if you can get to a farm store you can touch it up........I completely agree with the trend heading towards more 60s style rides and Im all for it. A friend of mine says " if you stand still long enough everything comes back around."
aaaaaaaahhhhh, I guess I'm the odd man out, I prefer white epoxy primer. It hides those small dings the body may have. It doesn't take the skin off of ya on a hot summer day when you lean up against it. Ya get to see all those pretty colors the bugs leave on the car. Plus when you clean it w/softscrub it'll blind you & if you do get a scratch flat white is a spray can match prefectly. But then I never follow trends anyway......joe
My truck has the Semi-Gloss black finish which most people think is primer,,,but I have always like cars that have a period look,,,, A traditional look can be timeless,,, I know of a car which has worn primer for over 40 years and appears as though it was built yesterday,,,, Of course Ken's 54 chevy has had many coats of primer over the years. HRP
Wel some day my T will be painted, but for now black primer. But under the black is that catalized stuff . Only prob with that stuff is the car looks like aTWINKE !! kinda banana yeller !! Could not deal with that so on with the black.
I don't know the answer to "why?", but I do know that when I was a kid - late 50's-early 60's - black primer was commonly referred to by many as "hot rod primer". I never heard any other color called that. As for me, my deuce is in PPG DZ7, which they call red oxide but it's more brown than red. I keep telling people "it's the new black". Trends come and go. Do whatcha want!
I'm with Roothawg on the late 60's-early 70's making a comeback... Ryan, let's call it the "Funky Ass Message Board" spreading the gospel of 70's Street Freaks, T-buckets and Custom Vans... I crack myself up.
Exactly!! Helped my brother with the finishing of his '60 Parkwood to get it to a weekend meet deadline, it still needed a few more days of massaging the body, but he decided to spray it a semi gloss (satin?) black which showed all of the Uh-Oh's. Man, that thing looked killer in MATT BLACK a few hours later.
Actually white is a good choice for an early rod. If you look for these things you will find that early rodders tended to use "primary colors"....red, yellow, blue, black and white... on most early rods. Colors that are mixtures...green: blue & yellow mixed, purple: red & blue mixed, and orange: yellow and red mixed....became popular later.
....and psychedelic paint!!! I believe that is coming in a few years. For inspiration, I've got some "oregano brownies" ready in the freezer, and a supply of tie-dyed T-shirts! Here is a job I just did:
Personally my favorite color is black...so if i'm doing something in a satin color, and i own it it's satin black..only reason is because i like black, that's it nothin' else BUT, there's a LOT of killer satin color's out there that look better than plain black... I'm sure everyone has thier own reasons, or most anyway. Tony
Primer was just that back in the day - PRIMER. My pop told me that when he was in the scene with the Glendale Sidewinders in the late 40's to early 50's gows were primered because it was your only ride and while you were working on it you had to keep putting on a bit of primer to protect the metal work. Not wanting to have a multi colored car, full primer jobs became popular. He says they picked black because it looked mean and covered the oil spots from hard breathing motors better. But it was always planned that these cars would get painted. It just didn't happen often enough due to a lack of funds or speed equipment purchases or taking the honey's out. No one really wanted a primered car on purpose. And they called it "Black Suede" to make it sound cooler
I know why my Merc is in Prime I have had my Merc since it was 1 Year Old it came off the 59 street Bridge slid on the Coble Stones ( winter Time ) and ran into a ell-pillar after some hagling I got the Car with the Front end Totaled for 35 dollars towed it back to the Shop it took a Year to get a Complete Nose section Paid 150 for a Complete Front Section that I got my Draft Notice and went away for 2 years came back the Front of the car was in Prime and the rest was Black! and I had the rest of the Car Primed in all Black Prime except the Top
I like black primer because wide whites stand out with it...makes a nice contrast...as do red wheels.
The reason people paint their hotrods black primer or satin black is because all the photos we have of hotrods in the late forties/early fifties are in black and white and that makes most of the colours look black. We therefore think that's what they should be. I know I did with my last A-V8
its plain and simple. flat satin primer cars leave who is looking at it the imagination on how to finish it. shinny color wheels trim and what ever else. it also sells crap much better. how many parts do you see at the swap with fresh primer? people think they are average and every one does the same as them. but get a hack with a bucket of mud and some primer and he will make more cash at any show swap then a real shop could ever do. any old real work in progress only ever had primer spots, not the whole car. today it is too cheap to prime the whole car with a total lack of prep under most of the prime. I have been doing pro body work and paint for the past 19 years and never primed a whole car and let it leave the shop. it is always just spot primed. when putting any paint on a car you want as little material build as you can get. days of 20 coats of paint are a lie just to be the best of what was thought to be good at the time. truth is most cars got 3 coats of clear then some one burned thru an edge and it got re spotted in now the fucked up cars has 6 coats of hand rubbed paint.
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