Conversation on original paint

AnthonyG

Well-known member
Good morning from Water Gap Pa. I need to preface the morning! Was a beautiful Christmassy seasonal cold dry sunny morning in Our area, Bushkill Pa. & decided to take a ride in the ‘35. She fired right up nicely & engine thrived on the cold air once warmed up! Beautiful 25 minute ride to Water Gap on the Delaware River! Anyway it was decorated nicely & lots of people out, I stopped in a small local Deli & had a breakfast sandwich, was amazed Pork Roll egg & cheese had found its way here as it’s really a Trenton area phenomena, lol. Anyway I came out to 1/2 a dozen people around the car, one obviously a car crazy like me & he immediately said “wow, I can’t believe the paint is original, for 80 years it looks amazing”. I thanked him but said I don’t think it is. He says back, “think your wrong, look at the piping, wear thru on the edges & door jams & it’s easy to see it’s only one paint job, w very original lookin very straight finish”. He seemed knowledgable enough but I’m still skeptical. I bought the car in 2013 in a garage where it had been for 30 years, all covered with many blankets & old sheets & 30 years of stiff piled on that! The 2nd owner ( who had passed away 30 years prior) put it there prior to passing & there it sat for 30 years & widow sold to me! Car polished up nicely with small nicks, a couple door dings & wear on edges to bare metal. I was happy with it & thought it was fine as a fun driver for cruise nights & rides on nice days. Paint polished up so nicely I assumed it was a very nice but very old repaint with lacquer paint as it buffed up so nice. So thought it’d be an interesting conversation on FB. What are the signs to know? Did Henry use lacquer paint in 1935? Did Henry paint them after assembled so piping would be painted? Or any other interesting stuff!
Merry Christmas to you all
 
No lacquer or painted piping on U.S.-manufactured '35 Fords. (The '32s were the last of the U.S. lacquer-painted bodies; '33s in Canada). All upholstery trim and fender welting was added after the body was painted.
 
As requested here are some pics the day I looked at it after removing about 15 covers, LOL even interior had covers & as I’m sure it’s a very old re-upholstery job also survive the 30 year sleep from 1983 to 2013!
 

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No lacquer or painted piping on U.S.-manufactured '35 Fords. (The '32s were the last of the U.S. lacquer-painted bodies; '33s in Canada). All upholstery trim and fender welting was added after the body was painted.

Hi David, not sure if it is lacquer just assumed as it buffed up from dull easily. Could the original paint used in ‘35 be polished / compounded back to shiny?
 
What type primer & paint was originally used on ‘35 Fords. Could u cut thru the shine? The paint on mine retains a shine with buffing to the bear metal as I see from years of polishing the paint on mine. Tried to take pics of those areas but too much reflection to really see detail. The paint is definitely 1st prime & paint from bear metal. I can see that on chips & rub thru when I look at it with a 5 power eye loop. Fun to be checking as I never had previously as it was nice driver quality for me. I do believe the mileage on the body & frame @ 64K miles as I received pretty good providence in the form of the previous owners widow indicating husband bought from original owner. Plus still had & gave me the original bill of sale & original 1st Title. Cool stuff, I’ll see if I can find pics of them & post.
 
Found the original owners title & Bill of Sale pics. I have the actuals on wall in garage:D
 

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At 64K miles and evidence of wear through in some areas of the paint, about all you can conclude (other than paint where there was no paint originally) with near absolute certainty is that the car has had its pin striping redone. In your photos there is no way that much of it would have survived even with very infrequent washing, waxing, etc.


But, so what? It is a great looking car in remarkable condition. Enjoy!
 
Agreed DavidG, the pin striping has areas where almost gone & other areas u can see newer brush evidence where it’s been touched up.
 
Nope, '33 in the U.S. and '34 in Canada. It's well documented in the archives of both Ford U.S. and Ford of Canada.



A side bar of possible interest to some is that body-colored fenders, etc. were an extra cost factory option for Canadian '33s.
 
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