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Funny you should ask, I just washed her and set down in my lawn chair in the garage and was contemplating painting it this year versus leaving it be.
My nose has a spot touched up with good fits but lots of spiderwebs. Ditto the rear. The rest is cracking paint that is "believed" to be original or VERY old laquer. As it stands it shines for photos and that's about it. Up close- shows age everywhere. If/when I do paint it I will not go so far as to be afraid to drive it and park it!
The blue car is my unrestored '54 and its ~50 year old paint. The gold car is a '53 belonging to CF member YESA59. Both have demonstrable patina, as does the grumpy old man looking on.
HEY chatt, do not repaint. original paint is sooo much cooler. Those are not cracks, they are lines of personality. And it's only original once. Keep it and enjoy it the way it is.
Case in point. I once had a '72 SB Coupe red on black. It had original paint with some primer on the front where it had been fixed a number of years before I bought it. The black int. was original but somebody had installed a ZZ350. I drove that car everywhere, everyday and got way more attention then the restored trailer queens that I would park next to. Sadly I sold it to put a roof on my house but you get the idea.
Not mine yet but I am trying to acquire it since last year. This is a one repaint, different color, orignial Daytona blue car that hasn't seen the light of day since 1978.
Joe
My car's got a mess of stone chips, cracks to fix, body mount shims to line up the door to the jambs, so I've been thinking about a repaint too - but it's going to have to wait for other projects on the go. Fact is it is about due for a proper body off job in a year or two anyway.
Been thinking about changing from Lynndale Blue to Carlisle Blue, my tribute to the enduring legacy of one of the most fun things we do with it every summer plus all the great people we've met there. I'm just not resigned to the notion yet that the newer, lighter shade of Carlisle Blue will be as striking as the deeper and midyear-correct Lynndale.
So a well-patina'd driver's a great thing. Every chip tells a story (and hopefully a good one!) It's a lot easier to enjoy a patina car than a perfect one since the roads we head out to sometimes can turn to dirt or gravel.
My '66 convertible has lacquer paint that was applied in 1974...
...making that paint 41 years old.
Far from perfect, it has typical lacquer crazing if you look closely but no spider webbing of any significance. It has rock chips that have been touched up. Still it's not an embarrassment and I'm not afraid to drive it anywhere. If it gets another chip, I'll touch it up and not give it a second thought. There's a certain freedom in having old paint on your car. I think there's a big difference in older neglected, abused paint and older, well cared for paint. I would never ever consider repainting this car.
03-16-2015, 11:04 AM
PATINA CORVETTES (old paint)
