After a number of years (too many) being neglected sitting outside (well at least it was in California) I've been resurrecting my 51. Got it running well, new radiator, Fuel Tank and sender and then it was pretty much just clean up the carb, oil change & start her up! Currently have new custom seat covers being made on the stock benches - I'm really excited to get those in about 10 days. So in the meantime, I'm now onto restoring the paint - I'm one of those guys who likes the Patina, in fact wouldn't mind if mine had more! There is almost no rust damage on the whole truck, except the passenger door (for which I have an original 51 replacement that is excellent!) and around the cowl vent, that will need a little work
As you can see below I have started compounding/polishing it and almost can't believe how well it's coming out. I initially wet-sanded most of it with the 1000/1500 and then hit with the polisher. I think it was repainted in the 70's and whatever they used is extremely thick and is polishing amazingly well, without swirls, even off the rotary with a wool pad. So the parts that are not going to be full gloss (as per the drivers door and the fender side example below) will be the front fender tops, the hood and the roof. The roof unfortunately is not the brown under, like the fenders and hood, but the exposed primer is grey; I'm torn over hitting it with some brown and feathering it, or just leave as it is. I'll make a decision on that after it's polished
You can see what I was starting with (with the partially done fender) and what I have done so far
So the question, and reason for this thread, is after I've done compouding it, what to put over it? I was looking at Poppy's Patina and that initially had my interest, but then after I read some more, found it is actually a hard coating after it's dry and would need to be sanded to remove. It's really a wipe-on (or spray) urethane type finish as opposed to a polymer type of coating Not crazy about that idea.
Wanted to air out this idea for feedback: I did some gel repairs on my boat last year and I went with a Ceramic coating over the entire hull, once it was all polished. The boat is going to see MUCH harsher conditions than the truck ever will but I liked the product and its application, and the longevity of it. So I'm actually thinking about going that route on the Truck - as long as it bonds it should be good I think.
Thoughts? Other suggestions?
'51 Chevy 3100 Truck - OEM 216 Engine; three speed column shift transmission 6 Bolt disc conversion with dual master/vacuum booster 12V alternator conversion. 235 engine in waiting
