The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Best protectant/visual finish over Patina?

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?

Personally I think clear coating (or similar process) over a "patina" is ridiculous. It looks stupid and fake.

Leave it alone. Clean it and shine it as best you can, wax it if you feel like it, and be done with it. The truck is now in the garage and being taken care of. Let it age naturally.

Consider a rub down with boiled linseed oil.
I wouldn’t use any kind of “perma-coat” ; I just don’t think a clear coat would age well.

I wouldn’t use anything that I’d have to sand off some day.

If there is rust or bare metal involved I would use a 2K clear, it can be got in gloss or satin or ? And I know someone that painted wheels with rustoleum and used 2k over it, my suggestion. Rustoleum is a much better paint than a water based paint anyday, and water base is sprayed on with no hardener at all, so I'd rather any cheap oil base over water colors anyday. If the water crap paint is not super dry just one freeze and it blisters under the clear. And its adhesion is questionable period. It seems to come off newer vehicles nicely.

As an addendum, I attended a small local car show yesterday. My personal favorite was a ‘55 Chevy 4 door station wagon, 2 tone white over red in what I believe was original paint. Nice wear , some primer showing through, obviously not a Wisconsin rust bucket.
When I got close to that ‘55 it became obvious that a gloss clear coat had been applied to preserve that lovely aged finish. Unfortunately it looked , to my eye , like a candy apple.

Gloss over patina just doesn’t work for me.

Look into the VGG shine juice.

“Bowled” Linseed Oil and a generous amount of WD40.

I mixed up some of his shine juice and applied it to my 46 patina truck. It’s awesome and easy to do. 50/50 boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits.

Bob King,
Can you post a before & after picture if you took any?
Thnx
Todd

There are some you tube videos for home brew wipe on oils. Boiled linseed oil, mixed with baby oil, and mineral spirits was popular a couple years ago.

I used a product called Sweet Patina - wipe-on. It worked but a couple months later - back to faded glory. That seems to be the case with these oil type patina rubs.

Each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

The whole point of a "patina" is that it's the natural state of a car that's been ignored for many years. Leave it alone and let it continue aging.

That's a great idea if you can keep it inside of a climate controlled garage. I can't get away with that in my regular garage with the humidity we have around here.

After reading the posts here I have a change of mind on the clear coat.
In the past I have seen folks use either CLR or vinegar on the body to take care of the rust, I'd do that first then I'd use straight Carnuba car wax to prevent more rust and deterioration.

There’s nothing wrong with making the value judgment that the degree of wear of a given vehicle finish is at a desirable stage , and taking measures to arrest the wear at that point.

How to go about that arresting and preservation, that’s the question at hand.

By keeping it in a garage, washing it, and hardly ever driving it, you've accomplished the task of arresting further degradation. Maybe another owner will decide to properly restore the vehicle. No need to apply a finish over rust, faded paint, and exposed primer.