Paint Finish Question

bobgreco

bobgreco

Senior Member
I am getting ready to paint my 1929 CCPU and am now starting to wonder about the finish. According the Paint & Finish guide, the commercial bodies were not polished, so they looked more like a satin finish. My long term goal is to get the truck back to as orignal as I can, within a reasonable cost.

I would like your opinions on whether I should go with the literal interpretation and leave it satin or finish it nice and shiny. I worry a bit about people thinking it was a bad paint job.

Would there be a difference if I ever take it to a fine point judging?

Thanks a bunch and how about my Badgers knocking offf #1 Ohio State yesterday!

Bob
 
I'd like to see photos of trucks that have been restored with the dull finish. If they look like the finish on 1930's Alfa race cars they would draw a crowd for sure.
 
Well, I gotta be honest, we agonized over that very thing on this truck. We kept trying to spray the single-stage urethane paint with a flattener added and get it dirt-free and all the same intensity between all the panels. After about 100 hours of failed attempts, we finally gave up and only painted the inside of the bed, the interior, and the undersides in the eggshell level of gloss. We did not get any point deduction at French Lick where this truck won the Ray Matthews Award however if I were to do it again, I would probably shoot the sheetmetal in lacquer while it is still available.

The other option we considered is if it were to be a fine-point only vehicle never to be exposed to the elements, we would likely shoot it with basecoat and not apply any clear to it. One final drawback to the flattened urethane paint is you cannot "wax" or polish the finish, --even to remove fingerprints, etc.!!

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If you were to show your satin finished truck at a national MARC or MAFCA meet, you would not lose poiints for the satin. See the Judging Standards. Your fenders and aprons remain gloss because those parts were originally dipped enamel. Like Brent indicated, getting a satin finish to be consistent and even is easier said than done. Go for it, it will look great. I've seen just a few, and the contrast between the satin bodies and the gloss fenders and aprons is great looking. It's also exactly how they were done, unless the buyers paid the dealer extra to polish out th bodies.

Dave Lopes
 
If you are going for fine point judging why not paint the body with Nitro-cellulose lacquer as original? Although the newer paints are far superior, I think they look over restored.
 
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