Preserving Patina - How To Tips and Tricks

[wngrog]

If you get the metal soaked with oil and Fluid Film there is no way it can rust. I keep them covered but I use them a lot so I feel the treatments stop the progress.

Thanks for the compliments. I love these old piles too

 

[wngrog]

@daniel.watters

 

[UncaMo]

I might have missed it in my skimming of the thread... How much BLO will I need to do an FJ40? Quart, Gallon, 5-Gallon bucket?
I'm guessing a gallon will do the job and then another gallon every once in a while to keep it fresh.

 

[wngrog]

Quart. It’s just a thin coat.

 

[UncaMo]

Quart. It’s just a thin coat.

Thanks! That was my guess.

 

[reddog90]

@wngrog Do you wipe any fluid film off after it soaks in a while?

I removed a skid plate, cleaned it up real well, shot it with fluid film and sat it in the corner of the garage to soak in. That was last weekend and it's currently covered in dog hair and dust that's stuck in the FF. I don't really care since it goes under the truck and will get dirty, but I was just wondering if I should expect things treated with FF to hold crap or deflect it. Or did I spray it too heavy? You mentioned somewhere that your 45 was muddy but cleaning it was very easy since you had treated the underside with FF.

 

[wngrog]

Film.

Leave the film

It’s so awesome. Leaving the film is what it’s famous for. It is soaking in but it’s also going to catch dirt and make a film. If you want it to be pretty at any time, pressure wash it off and stand back and smile.

 

[Runnin On Empty]

So after reading this thread and screenshotting several ideas from you fellas, I’m trying to figure out my best plan of attack. I’m excited about the possibilities.

I have no idea what the original color was, and the paint isn’t “bad”, however it has a lot of rust trapped beneath it.
I currently have the engine/transmission out and going to clean up the underside.

What would y’all suggest on paint and any ideas on original color?

 

[Runnin On Empty]

And this

 

[wngrog]

Looks like it was white.

 

[wngrog]

If you like the new color keep it.

The places where rust is bubbling up. Take a paint scraper and chip the paint back to where the paint is solid. Treat the rust and oil it up and peel out.

 

[Runnin On Empty]

Looks like it was white.

Dang, that was definitely not the color I was thinking. I was thinking a baby blue-ish, just from the floorboard and door sill. But you’ve got the experience so that works for me! What would you suggest on the paint, as far as a scrub and oil down?

@wngrog i’m actually in Hattiesburg, so not TOO far from you.

 

[wngrog]

Look on the inside of your glove box walls and inside the door of your fuel door for the color there. I see the blue now.

What year is it?

You have plenty of paint there. I think I would do a buff and shine on it first to get the paint right then I would go back and work the rust spots with Converter and BLO/Fluid Film.

You met Jerry yet?

 

[reddog90]

If you like the new color keep it.

The places where rust is bubbling up. Take a paint scraper and chip the paint back to where the paint is solid. Treat the rust and oil it up and peel out.

I have a couple bubbles on my front bib. Scrape them to expose the rust, scrub with CLR, treat with rust converter, then oil with BLO? Do I need to tape off or try hard to avoid any rust converter overspray on the bib?

 

[Runnin On Empty]

It’s a 05/1975. My dad bought it in ‘98 in Jackson, MS. It had just been painted, or appeared that way. He used it in the logging woods for a solid 10 years and beat the hell out of it. He parked it under the barn in ‘08 and I pulled it out in 2016 and started bringing it back to life.
No, I haven’t met Jerry.

 

[wngrog]

I have a couple bubbles on my front bib. Scrape them to expose the rust, scrub with CLR, treat with rust converter, then oil with BLO? Do I need to tape off or try hard to avoid any rust converter overspray on the bib?

I think you can do a better job of stopping it if you can get to it. Bubbles are just incubators. Get rid of them. Just don’t sand it down. Keep the rust there. It will soak up the Converter or you can skip the Converter and just use Fluid Film. It soaks in and kills the rust too. I use both. If your paint is terrible like Patina you may get some discoloration from the rust Converter but I was able to scrub it away with CLR.

 

[wngrog]

It’s a 05/1975. My dad bought it in ‘98 in Jackson, MS. It had just been painted, or appeared that way. He used it in the logging woods for a solid 10 years and beat the hell out of it. He parked it under the barn in ‘08 and I pulled it out in 2016 and started bringing it back to life.
No, I haven’t met Jerry.

You need to. He’s the Mac daddy Cruiser mechanic.

@USMC22

 

[gericurl]

Thanks for all the info. My truck was too far gone (IMO) so now it's got shiny new paint. My resto buddy that I had help me replace quarters and wheel wells, sill, etc... does a good faux "patina paint job". He shoots primer, single stage paint, sands it back to imitate natural weathering and induces oxidation with an acid mixture he made up. Then he cleans it and does pretty much the same BLO preservation treatment to the whole thing. Sometimes he uses wax. (he hates when people clear coat patina'ed cars. I do too).
My buddy's work (forgive the non-Toyota truck):

Before_After.jpg

• gericurl
• May 20, 2019

Faux Patina/Rattle Rocket

The body panels were all mismatched with the bed and cab.

Beyond looking weird out of the gate, clear coats require a chemical bond to function. That means they need to be applied before the paint is cured. Clear coating old paint (even in good condition) results in cloudy de-lamitation after not very long. It simply won't stick. Then you are stuck removing it, and probably just janked-up your sexy patina that was the way God intended. Now you're going to hell.

My friend charges the same (or a little less) for a "patina paint job" as a regular one, and although I LOVE the look of an old truck, I feel like I can usually tell when they are faked. Maybe it's because I work in Photoshop all day, and I pay very close attention to realism and following that to fake things that don't exist in camera. If we had gone down that road we would probably not be friends anymore. I would have been VERY particular about the faux aging. With a standard paint job, the outcome is pretty well defined.

After the original paint has faded, my personal order of paint preference (no offense intended if you don't agree):
1. Naturally patina'ed and preserved truck (not just any one will do, the acceptable examples are not a dime a dozen)
2. Single stage painted truck
3. Faux patina'ed truck — the right way
4. Dual stage painted truck (to me, it does not look right on a vintage vehicle, even in "original" colors).
5. Naturally patina'ed truck — clear coated
6. Faux patina'ed truck — clear coated

I DO however have a vintage front license plate I will be applying the 89nOlder preservation guide to before I mount it.
Just need to find a vintage patina'ed font plate holder to match. Great thread.

Ushuaia.jpg

• gericurl
• May 20, 2019

Vintage Ushuaia License plate.

 

[wngrog]

Awesome. I love the idea of a guy that can faux a job to maybe Match in doors and fenders to a great truck. I agree on the fake patina but it’s still pretty cool. I’d never do it unless I found a perfect truck with a bad hood or fender and had to blend it. Thanks for contributing to this thread. I’m certainly no expert. Mine is all trial and error.

 

[gericurl]

...Mine is all trial and error.

I heard that... And I felt it.