I've got kinda mixed feelings on the whole faux patina thing. There've been a few (fresh) cars and trucks done up this way that seemd kinda cool at first glance but after closer scrutiny appeared a bit phoney. I'm still undecided. When the majority of the car has a old finish, new or mismatched pieces need to be refinished so they don't stick out like the proverbial sore thumb.
My heap has seriously a distressed finish. It's not just a little worried, It's suicidal! Unfortunately, there are a few pieces missing this finish. I had to have the gas tank dipped to get all the funk out of the inside. That stripped the paint off the outside too. The front apron, the rear frame covers, the trunk lid and the sides of the frame are all new stuff. So, my challenge is to try to duplicate the finish on these pieces.
One of my brother's friends who is a graphic artist offered to help "match " these parts but I haven't heard from him in a while so, I decided to get started on it myself. The first stop was the local paint store. Not the auto paint store, just regular paint. The car was last painted in the mid 40's as near as I can figure so, I'm guessing it was just painted with lacquer or enamel.
I popped the hinge pins out of the driver's door and carried it into the paint store to get a color match in some oil based enamel. the conversation went something like this:
"Can you do a color match on this door?"
"we don't sell automotive paint".
"I don't want automotive paint, I want semi-gloss, oil based enamel".
"OK, which color?" (there are easily 20 shades of green on the door,what with all the fading and stuff, slong with black where the paint has peeled off in spots and silver where paint splatter has hit it at some point in the last 50 years).
"how about this spot right here?"
"OK, but it's not going to match the whole door"
"that's OK I need it to paint some other parts and I want it close. What can I thin this stuff with to spray it?"
"naptha or paint thinner, whatever you do don't use cheap lacquer thinner, it'll make the paint blush".
"cool, I'll use the cheap lacquer thinner".
"and if you leave it out in the sun a lot, in about a year it'll get kinda chalky".
"Yeah, now you're getting it. I'll leave it in the sun as much as possible. Thanks."
I sprayed all the new parts except the trunk lid with DP90 first. Then I ripped up some funky shapes of masking tape and strategically placed them over the DP90. The trunk lid will get DP74 for a little variety. Then I sprayed the green. Had to let it dry for over 24 hours and it was still really soft. Next I rubbed sand all over it, not sand paper, SAND from the sand blaster. Some of it stuck. I hit the whole area with some fine steel wool. Then I wiped a few spots with a rag that had a little white paint on it. Made a few scratches with a screwdriver. This is too much fun. I wasn't the slightest bit careful installing the frame covers or the front apron. that gave me few more scratches in the soft paint.
So far all these bits look pretty good. They don't match perfectly but they don't look out of place either. Hell, the front fenders don't match at all with all that red showing through but I'm not painting them.