Patina Revisited
Posted: May 4, 2015, 4:58 am
I'm in a philosophical mood tonight. Where the rubber meets the road I really do not care, at least not enough to lose any sleep over what someone chooses to do to their truck. It's theirs. I may not like it but I do not have to. Some things are not my style such as suspension swaps, frame clips, in the weeds, EFI, anything referencing rats, air bags, WWW tires after 63, frame swaps, big inch wheels...excuse me rimz and many other things. Folks can do what they want with what they have. I'm not a "patina" fan but lately I have thought some on the subject.
A recent build thread has disturbed me, not in an anger kind of way but more in a thought provoking manner. The thing is it was a "stock restoration". It was well done but by the end it was not a enjoyable read for me. Honestly my thoughts were How much money can you throw at a Slick F100 and it stick. It was not a restoration, it was well beyond that. They never were that nice when they left the factory. In my opinion it was almost obscene. I don't know, a six figure F-100 was just too much for my little brain. It might as well been silver plated.
It made me think of the hobby. I remember when it was not a hobby but more of a lifestyle or something. Growing up old cars were fixed not just to be cool, because they were, but because you had too if you wanted to drive. In mid January underneath the greasy belly of a 62 Galaxie with only an occasional visit from tom cat who laid on my chest to keep warm was not done for the love of the hobby, it was done so maybe I could milk some more miles out her. Maybe just maybe I can get that FE right. I was too late, took her for a drive and she burned the tires. My victory was shortlived The daylight drive revealed the rings were gone.
Things seem so much different now. Maybe it's my age and the fact I have not been in it in a while. I puked in my mouth a little when I read a question about how to make an FE sound like a 5.0. In forum land everything seems so extreme. In the real world what was common like wrenching on these old relics or even seeing them seems unusual or odd. I looked for a 3 speed floor shift.....they don't make them anymore. I went to put tires on my Jeep......theres so many dang types of tires, it boggles the mind and none are what I would consider a "common tire". A plain old tire with out all zig zag graphic is now a special item. It amazes me how hard it is to fine a smooth blackwall tire locally. Like I said everything seems extreme or either a specialty. Hence I get to patina.
You can look at patina different ways. Fake rust.....that's just nuts. The thing is, some guys will cut our real rust, replace it with a perfect panel then apply fake rust?? OK but why? What's the allure? is the look anti establishment? Anti big money? A class struggle? Laziness? Economy? A marketing tool? Maybe it's all of those things or none of them. Even some of who I would consider old time restorers...hotrodders will chime in on a well aged original.....Don't change a thing on that truck......
I think the patina thing may be deeper rooted than many will admit. I think it's about hopes and dreams. I think it's about what could be. Remember all the paintings of the muscle cars, 50s cars all parked around a rotting falling in gas station? I think we like to remember them that way. When you could buy them with a pocket full of cash. One thing I have always enjoyed about Slick 60s folks is they seem to be like that part of the Patina concept. For a long time a Slicks 60s Ford was well......Cheap. Nothing special. The last of.....Them...... Seeing a six figure restoration of one makes me think they may be....Crossing Over.....You know going the way of the 32 Ford, 40 Ford, 57Chevrolet, 65 GTO, 68FE Mustang GT, and 70 Chevelle. Crossing over from a car high school kid could build to luxury play pretty. Patina looks like what that mythical American kid dreamed of finding. A thought that comes to mind is...... Does it have to be fake?. That extreme thing again I guess.....
Returning from the abstract, my and my son's project is about to commence. That 64 would not make a good parts truck. A lot of that truck is too good to scrap and too rough to restore. I'm not setting out to build a patina rod. I just want to fix the old truck. Financially it's go or show...I'm choosing go maybe one day It will be shiny.....that's the goal.
I would like to think this is going to be like a story a coworker told me. He graduated in 64. He said when he was in Jr High a neighborhood boy built a car. it looked like heck for a long time. Primer spots here and there. Unknown to that high school kid that was building the car.....all the younger boys were keeping up with build. He was their hero. At 70 years of age, he still remembers when that fellow pulled in the drive with his car all shiny. It's a journey thing...at least for me.
A recent build thread has disturbed me, not in an anger kind of way but more in a thought provoking manner. The thing is it was a "stock restoration". It was well done but by the end it was not a enjoyable read for me. Honestly my thoughts were How much money can you throw at a Slick F100 and it stick. It was not a restoration, it was well beyond that. They never were that nice when they left the factory. In my opinion it was almost obscene. I don't know, a six figure F-100 was just too much for my little brain. It might as well been silver plated.
It made me think of the hobby. I remember when it was not a hobby but more of a lifestyle or something. Growing up old cars were fixed not just to be cool, because they were, but because you had too if you wanted to drive. In mid January underneath the greasy belly of a 62 Galaxie with only an occasional visit from tom cat who laid on my chest to keep warm was not done for the love of the hobby, it was done so maybe I could milk some more miles out her. Maybe just maybe I can get that FE right. I was too late, took her for a drive and she burned the tires. My victory was shortlived The daylight drive revealed the rings were gone.
Things seem so much different now. Maybe it's my age and the fact I have not been in it in a while. I puked in my mouth a little when I read a question about how to make an FE sound like a 5.0. In forum land everything seems so extreme. In the real world what was common like wrenching on these old relics or even seeing them seems unusual or odd. I looked for a 3 speed floor shift.....they don't make them anymore. I went to put tires on my Jeep......theres so many dang types of tires, it boggles the mind and none are what I would consider a "common tire". A plain old tire with out all zig zag graphic is now a special item. It amazes me how hard it is to fine a smooth blackwall tire locally. Like I said everything seems extreme or either a specialty. Hence I get to patina.
You can look at patina different ways. Fake rust.....that's just nuts. The thing is, some guys will cut our real rust, replace it with a perfect panel then apply fake rust?? OK but why? What's the allure? is the look anti establishment? Anti big money? A class struggle? Laziness? Economy? A marketing tool? Maybe it's all of those things or none of them. Even some of who I would consider old time restorers...hotrodders will chime in on a well aged original.....Don't change a thing on that truck......
I think the patina thing may be deeper rooted than many will admit. I think it's about hopes and dreams. I think it's about what could be. Remember all the paintings of the muscle cars, 50s cars all parked around a rotting falling in gas station? I think we like to remember them that way. When you could buy them with a pocket full of cash. One thing I have always enjoyed about Slick 60s folks is they seem to be like that part of the Patina concept. For a long time a Slicks 60s Ford was well......Cheap. Nothing special. The last of.....Them...... Seeing a six figure restoration of one makes me think they may be....Crossing Over.....You know going the way of the 32 Ford, 40 Ford, 57Chevrolet, 65 GTO, 68FE Mustang GT, and 70 Chevelle. Crossing over from a car high school kid could build to luxury play pretty. Patina looks like what that mythical American kid dreamed of finding. A thought that comes to mind is...... Does it have to be fake?. That extreme thing again I guess.....
Returning from the abstract, my and my son's project is about to commence. That 64 would not make a good parts truck. A lot of that truck is too good to scrap and too rough to restore. I'm not setting out to build a patina rod. I just want to fix the old truck. Financially it's go or show...I'm choosing go maybe one day It will be shiny.....that's the goal.
I would like to think this is going to be like a story a coworker told me. He graduated in 64. He said when he was in Jr High a neighborhood boy built a car. it looked like heck for a long time. Primer spots here and there. Unknown to that high school kid that was building the car.....all the younger boys were keeping up with build. He was their hero. At 70 years of age, he still remembers when that fellow pulled in the drive with his car all shiny. It's a journey thing...at least for me.
on the cheap of course !
It's an inspiration to me. It really IS the kind of work I would do, if I had the time, talent, and gumption to put in. 
