Preservation O' Patina -- What Would YOU Do?

[RottenRodney]

This'll be a short version of a long story, but this ol' car came our way 'n' she's a keeper. Now I'm a painter just like you guys, but I can't kill this car by strippin' away the original finish. They're only original once.



You guys get it, right? I just can't do what I do to my own ride. Besides, everybody knows that the cobbler's kids're barefoot, the mechanic is pushin' his own car, and the plumber's tap is drip, drip, drippin'... Honestly, I ain't makin' excuses. I see just the right rust so I want to preserve it as it is -- as it should be.

Has anyone here ever tried that? Is there a satin or flat clear that would keep the corrosion in check? Would ya just keep 'er waxxed up with furniture or floor polish?

Indoor storage for the most part is for customers 'round here, so I can't garage all my own toys all the time. How can I keep the current, honest, real patina without havin' it take off any further?

RR

[Len]

I love Studebakers, the first car I wrecked was my mom's 53 Land Cruiser. Don't you think it would be nice to do an original looking enamel or single stage urethane job on it? Other than that I have no idea how you would keep it looking like that other than storing it indoors.

[Bob K]

You guys get it, right?

RR

Are you saying the car is worth more now the way it is than it would be if it were painted? I’m not poking fun here I just don’t know how cars like this are valued.

Bob K

[auto5]

Powerblock TV did a '49 Chevy pick-up where they did a faux patina. You might check it out for some ideas.

http://www.powerblocktv.com/shows/?show=TK

[easymoney]

seeing that car brought back memories. when i was in high school a buddy of mine had a sudebaker like that. it was a v8 with overdrive. it was pretty fast for the time. one night 4 of us was drinking a little moonshine and a lot of beer. he rolled it on its top on a back road. we crawled out unhurt but it totaled the studebaker.

[Franz©]

Preserving the "patina"; Interesting choice of nomenclature, but it can be done with lanolin based product. I have no idea if the lanolin can be clearcoated later or how long the lanolin skin will last outside though.

[Robert]

Like this one, or one that's cheaper, then cover it. I wouldn't put anything on it that would interfere with paint should it come to that but as long as it's kept dry, layers and ventilation, it should stay pretty good for a long time. Still, that care should be restored. It's perfect for a family project. Working with a son or daughter, spending time with them and having something beautiful to show for it, a keepsake, would be something. It might not pencil out in pure dollars and cents.

Robert

[gresalfi]

Rodney, I have the same desire to save the patina on a 1930 Austin (British) you can see it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ukf73GGw3M

I have not come up with a good way to achive this but I understand how you feel. For some reason this thing attaracts more attention then the vehicles I spent countless hours on. I brought it to one show and now I see someone is selling photos they took of it on line. I guess people see perfect cars all the time so to see an unrestored car is sometimes a treat and a chance to imagine how they would see it finished. All I know to preserve it would save a lot of work.
If I come up with a system I will post it here, hopefully you will do the same.

[Forgottenhighway]

There was a Chev wagon that looked like that (cant remember the website) The guy applied CLR with a green scotch brite and knocked the heavy rust off. I think he sprayed a satin clear over that and the car ended up looking pretty good.
Cheers,Pat

[RottenRodney]

Thanks y'all.

I'm takin' notes. There's some good suggestions here. I'll keep y'all pasted too.

Please don't misunderstand my reasoning for wantin' to preserve the patima; this ain't justifcation for laziness or lack o' know-how. Our personal cars all show their battle scars. As it appears, the new Stude is completely honest. The way it looks right now makes me want to walk out there and hug it -- and I have little doubt that it'll effect/affect others the same way.

It's really kind of funny how it's come down to this: we finally realize that we've been workin' too hard just to have fun with ol' cars. When this one is up 'n' runnin' (in its honest patina) again, we'll putt right into some big event (like a Goodguys function) and park it right between a couple o' mirror-smooth high-tech billet babies -- where we'll laugh our silly heads off (from a safe distance) as it attracts more attention than the big bucks "show cars" that surround it. Now that's havin' fun with ol' cars.



Here we're still gettin' to know 'er. The odometer reads 70-some-odd-thousand miles. Sure, it could 'ave spun over many times, but look at the pedal pads. They're hardly worn at all.



However, the auto wrecker's business card doesn't exactly support my 70-some-odd-thousand miles theory. A low-mileage Studie shouldn't need used parts.



But other clues point to low-mileage: there was a newspaper and two magazines inside the car -- all from 1958. And, the car still sports its 1956-issued gold 'n' black California licence plates, which says to me that it was parked before 1963 when California plates changed to black 'n' gold. I really think it was parked in 1958.



For those who've never been in the back seat of a Starlite Coupe, there are two huge armrests with secret compartments, which can easilly handle up to a case o' beer per side. This is all that came out of 'em though. Ain't it interesting that certain technologies really haven't evolved that much in the last 54 years?

RR

[auto5]

Might help if I posted the episode I was talking about but I was lazy. Here it is, I remember watching it was actually interesting.

http://www.powerblocktv.com/player/s...-22&ep_show=TK

[MARTINSR]

First off I LOVE those cars. My brother had a very nice four door that he sold before getting it on the road, very cool cars.

On the preserving the patina, why? How long did it take to look the way it is, how much will it change over the next coming years? I say next to nothing unless you have moved it to some totally different climate in the world it should look basically as it does right now in ten years. Just drive it, I see no reason to do anything if that is the look you want.

And yes these old cars get a lot of attention. I go to the Goodguys in my stock Rambler and get people around that car all day long, it's fun.

Brian