original paint cars
 

Original Paint cars are fascinating even when their paint jobs are tattered and worn. What is it able them that captivates us? I know I love them, but why? I can't figure it out. We should all like a brand new 10,000 paint job, right? Wrong..there is something special about these relics, however worn, that holds out attention. I know in the antique clock business
an aged and even discolored clock face is more desirable than a repainted one. It is as though that clock has earned the aged face which gives it is unique character. I guess the same applies to an antique auto..
Post some photos if you have any.

Re: original paint cars
 

15 -20 years ago, it was pretty much a sure thing that if someone was fixing up an old car they would sand off that faded old paint and respray it. Now there are more people appreciating a "survivor" car. I like to see that too, but I don't like to see actual rust holes.
I also don't like the fake "patina" stuff that you see at car shows now. Guys purposly sand off some of the new paint to try and make it look worn - it stands out like a sore thumb.

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I have had several original paint fords. I never touch them, any fixes are made to look like it belongs. I agree, I can get severely diverted when I see an original paint car. It speaks in a way. It tells you the life it had and the life that it is going to have after you become the custodian.

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There is something mystique about them , but your right , it is hard to explain . I personally love 'em . As they say , " they're only original once " .
Wish I had one .....

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They're only original once.

Re: original paint cars
 

Added Lettering
http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/v...y/IMG_7320.jpg

Hood is different paint
http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/v...ps3fd824d5.jpg

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Each scratch and dent can have it's own history. Each car tells a different story. You can use your imagination to recall each story.

Re: original paint cars
 

Yes, it looks like it has had a hard life, but it sat from 1972 until 1998 and then the hard life began. Since Oct. 2010, it has traveled in all lower 48 states, 2 times to California and into Quebec. Just returned from S Dakota driving over 4000 miles. Gets lots of compliments and thumbs up and I am sure some ridicule as well. it is like a person, its whats inside (under the hood)that counts.

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They don't get much more original and untouched than my 52 Merc that my dad bought in 1959. It's surface shows the results of sitting outdoors in all weather for the past 45 years.
Here is a photo from a couple of months ago. It took a lot of work, diesel fuel and steel wool to bring out a little shine on the original 'fanfare maroon' paint. Don't look too close at the rust holes though.
http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/...psfkdq2oa2.jpg

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Looks good, Ralph. Drive it proudly!

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I just love the cars that tell a story and been a joy for the owners for years.
My trucks are way low on the beauty scale but they still do what they was supposed to after all this years.

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Cecil, looks like you are parked in front of the American Pickers garage in LeClair, Iowa.

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Ford/Mercury Oct 1938 build, Only non original thing is front seat cover, otherwise all original

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I agree also that I admire original cars but there is a point when they are really not original anymore. I have seen cars described "as Henry built it", but I cannot imagine that it left the assembly line with four dented fenders and surface rust.

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Yep, I also love original paint. Here's mine waaayyyyy too long of a roadster project. The cowl was cut off by the original owner and stored in a damp place.

I got the car from the original owner's family. In '40, he took it off the road, tore it all apart except the cowl. These pictures were taken at Zach's parent's house when he was doing some work on it.

I have the original NJ title and dealer's envelope. No plans to paint it.

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This one doesn't have it's original paint anymore. Somebody painted over it about 60 years ago.


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I could proudly be seen in THIS one 'til the cows all come home for the last time. DD

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attach...4&d=1443456371

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That's it, tom!

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Mine ended up in a junkyard in Minnesota in 1966. It also doesn't sport the original paint as Henry painted it. Someone in the '50s repainted over the tan paint with a green, but most of that has since worn off, revealing the true original paint. The interior is still original except for a couple layers of old rags and burlap over the seat springs. I'm way too cheap to ever do a 'proper restoration'. 4 kids, work with my hands for 44 years and live in a very small community. Wouldn't change a thing.

Re: original paint cars
 

original paint is a wonderful thing for sure, but i hate to hear all the bad notes on fake patina, it has its place. original model A's, and fat fender fords are plentiful enough that some patience will get you a nice original car. what if you have a hankerin for a 32-3-4 ? the only 2 good original 34 3 windows i've seen for sale in the last year, one brought 52k, didnt run !, and the nicer one 72k! so, the common man needs the fixer-upper for a mere 20 to 30 grand that will need patch panels and other new tin here and there, so it must be sealed up with primer, and then what, the 10k paint job? not for me, i drive a lot on gravel roads, birds poop on it in the barn, and theres more to life than washing cars. i'm gonna seal it up, paint it, wet sand off enough to make me happy. its preserved, i'll drive the hell out of it, and when i'm dead some one else can start to polish it

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Love that last picture of the inside of your panel truck.

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I bought my truck as a nearly complete running vehicle. It was made up from three other trucks. An owner prior to me painted the Gulf signage on the door and did a good job of making it look authentic. I've recently started doing bodywork to repair rust, fender rips and dents. I won't be able to make it perfect but I believe if it has a sound body the next owner will have something to work with. It will not have the $15k paint job, it will be a fun project.

I recently visited a man that had an "over-restored" '29 Ford pick up. It was in great shape but just looked too shiny and not the least bit historical.

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If an original car has minor rust and dents, it should be deemed a 'mortal sin' to restore such a car. There is something to be said about the 'patina' gleaned from age and use which is forever lost when a car (or truck) in such a condition is restored. The 'POX' on those who would do this!!! :)

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Here are a few pic's from shows. The hood is on a 32 chrysler.

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Late 40's or early 50's seafoam green repaint. I have no plans repaint it.

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I have no plans to paint this one either!

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Love your truck...
The inside is fantastic...Feels like I went back in time.. You can sense the past there....If repainted I think you will lost that sense of reality of the past.
Love it!!!

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That is a beautiful finish on your car!!! Love it.
Do you put a wax on it to protect the paint?

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None of my cars have original paint.
My 33 pickup has a paint job that I couldnt tell you how old it is. I would guess 40's or early 50's

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...p/DSC_0141.jpg


My 41 convertible has a respray of the factory black, it was parked in 63 so I would guess it's a 50's job.


http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...pstet2hqph.png


My 53 Sunliner was restored in the 60's, so I'm guessing it was a 10-15 year old car when it was resprayed.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...psv5tgxn8z.jpg


And my roadster was stripped to bare metal when I got it. Everything but the inner fenders, which still have nice factory paint on them :)

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When I purchased the car in 2014 it had not been washed in many years--
I just used Turtle wax on the body, hood, and rear fenders--The front fenders were surface rusty and I read that some guys use Johnson's paste wax so I tried that--
The car has spots where the paint is worn thin and the undercoat is visible-Also many scratches and little dings including door hinge over-opening dents--The picture probably makes it look better than a close inspection would--
I have found this year that most people expect that in an 81 year old car--They really seem to appreciate it this way and I expect the next owner will feel the same--(When I find the coupe or pickup I am looking for)

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I also agree with 37 Coop. There comes a point in some vehicles lives where ya just gotta step in and do something. Civil War homes...some have weathered the years fairly well and some not so much. Some we need to step in to preserve and restore. On the other side of the coin, there's also something beautiful about these old cars that have been made new again (I had no choice to repaint mine). I regularly get jealous on this site when I read how a lot of the members are racking up the miles on their old Fords. I'm "white knuckling" just driving down to the stop sign. The old original paint cars are beautiful and tell the history of the car but there's a point where a person needs to bring a car back from the "jaws of death"

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It was pretty much full of trash and useless junk when I had it hauled here from Parker's Prairie Minnesota last February. Rear axle split in half, engine seized up hard. I already had an engine and an original tonner axle here. What sold me was the intact interior, mainly the bed floor. This picture was taken about Aug 1st as I was leaving for my annual 4 days at the Puget Sound Antique Tractor and Machinery Association's threshing bee and show. I bought the army cot for 5 bucks and hung up some artifacts. For the first time in 27 years at the show I slept like a baby. My 'theme' was precisely that..... Guy living in the back and following the work. We still see this scene, but today it's a 25 year old van conversion or a smaller, boxy motor home with a 440 mopar with a manifold leak and one mag wheel........ Thanks for all the kind words here, I really appreciate that many of you enjoy it.

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This car was bought new here in Victoria BC canada in '36 and I am the 4th owner. It was originally a Dark grey but the 2nd owners son had it painted tan in '60.......and "Ma" , his Mom, said "You ruined my car!!" She pretty much parked it til my buddy bought it in '93 , then I bought it in 2013. There's a great feature on it in the latest issue of Canadian Rodder magazine.

Re: original paint cars
 

The last picture of the interior of the Panel van, says it all doesn't it. We crave the genuine, we want to see the evidence of a genuine experience, a genuine life. We know we now live in different ways than our fathers did, and we got a taste of that life as children, then we grew up and our world was different and so we learned what nostalgia is. We crave the genuine because it satisfies our need for nostalgia.

The interior of the Panel van is reconstructed to appear genuine, good enough for some and who is to argue with the honest intention to indulge in some nostalgia. It's a pastiche of how some folks actually lived and is therefore valid if not strictly 'correct.' But we still crave the genuine.

And the same sentiments apply to our cars; a couple of members here have commented 'it's not genuine unless it's a museum piece, change one thing and it's gone. From that narrow and strict point of view to the 'She was repainted some time ago but has aged beautifully' genuine is obviously very subjective. I think most of us fall somewhere in the middle ground which says; the life that is lived is the genuine life, that means every blemish records an event in the life of the car.

Someone mentioned the state of some houses dating from the Civil war, and I imagine the same thinking applies to Conservation in the USA as it does here, and the mantra goes 'Save as much of the original fabric as possible' further to this 'the repair(s) should be made using the same materials and techniques as were the originals and the repair should be obvious with a close look.

So to apply that thinking to the bodywork on our cars, what would your approach be? Would you apply a patch to a panel using oxy/acet welding, and how far would you take the painting? How many patches or percentage of body area would it take before you decided to go the whole hog and restore/repaint the car?

Re: original paint cars
 

Very well said! When I bought my coupe from my buddy I promised him that I would retain as much of the "originality" of the car as possible, because that's what he wanted and that's what I like, and he knew that. It's got lots of marks and tears and through research I know where they all came from, and that's cool.....it's all part of the car. I LOVE the "aura" of the car......."feeling" where it's been over the years!

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I am looking at an original paint car. It makes me nervous, though. I would truly be a steward and how good a steward could I be of this car? Not the same as a repaint, which can always be redone. Maybe I should not worry so much about it, but it is something else to think about.

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I had my doubts about this one, but I can't find a lick of overspray, not a single tape line, nothing. Good ol Henry Ford black: