The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Patina Shine / Protectant??

So I totally dig how my truck is looking these days. I like the multi-paint patina looks (if you want to see what I mean check the gallery link in my signature), but I have a problem. I am worried about some of the surface rust that is starting to show through the primer. Is there some sort of oil I could rub my truck down with and keep it looking like it does now without getting worse?

I was thinking about just rubbing the whole truck down in WD-40? I want a little bit of protection for the metal that is there. Ideas? I just want a simple solution that will help preserve the metal.

Thanks in advance.

Kyle

I knew a guy in Austin, Texas that had the same situation and rubbed his car with 30 wt oil. Gave him the look he liked.

WD40 is water based and will not last long. Johnson's past wax.

I dig how your truck looks too.

How about 3 in 1 oil... rubbed on by a rag.

Edit by me...

Use diesel fuel.

I have had your same situation and was told by an oldtimer to wipe it down with transmission fluid. The fluid will not harm rubber/neoprene seals, gaskets and such. It works for me, but over time it will collect dust, but not as bad as you might think.

Patina isn't supposed to be shiny!

Au contaire, 55!!! I've got a '71 Dodge D-100 PU that has the original orange paint with very small places where the factory primer is showing through. You can make patina "shine" real nice by taking 000 steel wool to it, then using tranny fluid over it. The wool smoothes the old paint out and removes the oxidation, while the tranny fluid makes the shine, shine more!

Just wash the dirt off it once and a while and put a sticker on it that says......"It is Painted".

I knew a guy once that sprayed diesel on his truck about twice a year, all over. He'd wipe the body down with a rag to get rid of the excess. He even sprayed the underside, never had any rust problems the whole time he had that truck and it was a mid 70's F**d.

I use Meguiar's Quik Detailer on my rough Rustoleum paint job.

As a kid I had a 1946 Jeep Wagon, you might remember, the ones with the brownish paint and the lighter beige....sorta "faux woodie" panels.

The 15 year old enamel was pretty dead and one of the body shop guys, who did some work for a local used car lot, suggested I add 1 cup of kerosene to a bucket of wash water. You had to towel dry the paint to avoid water spots but that ole Jeep looked like it had a fresh paint job for at least a week. Driving on a dirt road would require a quick "dust-off"...too bad they didn't have the "California Dusters we have today.

It works especially good on a dead red paint job! Doesn't cost much, is easier than a wax job which will be rough to buff out, and the diluted mixture wasn't that rough on the rubber seals.

BTW....you get better results if you have the water (no soap) in the bucket warm. Give it a try.....you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Dave

wash it good and shoot it with clear coat

I use matte finish clear coat

I've never tried this but what about trying one of those rust stopper products in the spray can like Permatex makes or some such? You could try in inside the bed or something just to see how much it changes the "patina".

I think you would ruin any patina by putting a clear coat on it. What is the point of painting patina? Isn't the beauty of the patina the ageing of the surface? Shine what is there if you have to but to clear coat it doesn't make sense to me.

Patina is natural, you arent supposed to protect it, or any of that... just let it be..

These stovebolts will outlast us all anyway.

I would avoid putting anything on the body that might affect a future paint job. Anything that's soaked into the paint and body could lift on a fresh paint job,
Scott

Wow! Thanks a lot everyone. I am not looking to clear coat it, but I would like to protect the spots where I have almost bare metal showing. I don't want to ruin the patina, I just want a little peace of mind as far as rust and stuff. Thanks for all of the ideas and stuff. Anyone else?

Kyle

Very good point Scott.

In Arizona we typically clear seal copper once it has been acid washed to the desired patina. The problem is with so little rain, that is the only way to get it to the color you want. We do this on custom garage doors and fascia boards all the time.

Granted, if you wanted to repaint in the future, it would off course have to all come off and of I course I wouldn't recommend acid washing a steel truck!

I used rust converter on my 49,the brand name is Klean-Strip.It turns rust to black primer.I think I bought it at Walmart.
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Floyd

Not a bad looking truck. If it were mine I would just leave it alone, besides patina will grow on you just think how good looking the old Chev will be in another ten years.

Diesel, kerosene, tranny fluid, W-D 40, Hum...
And some of you guys were concerned about the gasoline smell in the cab...
My wife would kill me.