Patina and clear coating - Opinion on this option

[Me2carcrazy1]

My '76 Bronco is original uncut with original paint. It has the patina that you see on most cars that have been sitting outside. It is light brown surface rust on the hood, top of the fenders, top of tail gate, and along top of doors under the window. It looks classic this way but I have heard that surface rust "patina" can keep eating. Rust never sleeps. Some say just clear coat it. Others say treat the rust and paint it of the rust will keep going. Clear coat won't stop the rust. There is no other rust on the Bronco except for the patina.
What do you all think about clear coating over light surface rust? Is it just postponing the inevitable day of when you have to strip down and paint to save the metal?

 

[1970 Palmer]

I guess the question is, how long do you expect this new finish to last? How do you plan to use, and to store the vehicle? Hope you don't expect it to hold up parked in Grover Beach, or Pismo Beach, I see your from Santa Maria.

Rust requires oxygen. If you seal it with a clear coat, it my not stop 100% of it, but for sure it will really slow it down. The possible problem I see is adhesion. Paint requires "some tooth", or you might say requires a sanded surface to about 320 grit to adhere. If you sand it to 320 the patina is going to go away. Maybe you could scuff it with a course "red" 3M pad.

One thing I would not do is to use a gloss clear coat, IMO that looks very fake. Maybe a semi gloss, or a satin gloss if your going for the patina look.

If you like this style, give it a try, you can always sand it off and do a normal paint job.

John

 

[suckerpunched]

the gloss works ok over old paint but gloss over surface rust looks fake to me too. I am doing this now on a 1960's F100, and using gloss clear. It had a couple dents I wanted to fix and quite a bit of surface rust on the hood. I repaired the dents and blended in the paint, will do the same in rusty part of the hood. before the clear goes on I sand the color back down so that a little primer bleeds through and the paint looks like it is worn thin.
If you want the rust part to stay like it is. I would use a semigloss clear on the whole thing.

 

[Me2carcrazy1]

The morning marine layer around here does kill paint jobs and the rock chips from all the farm and construction trucks destroy the rest of the car paint, body and glass. I will only drive this occasionally, no Pismo Beach dune driving and will park it in a nice heated garage.

Thanks for the info on clear coating options. I have completely painted a few of my own cars. If I don't like what I see, I just strip it all down and do it again.

 

[Yeller]

I’ve been using linseed oil on mine for several years. Truck is daily driven (30,000 miles last year alone) and am very happy with the results. It’s a great metal preserver is washable. Gives a nice satin finish once it’s been on for a while. I just reapplied after 3 years. No way I would clear coat, those in very dry climates might get away with it and if it never sees a lot of sun you might be ok but rust never sleeps and it will eventually bubble. From what I have seen it seems to accelerate, you can’t get it clean enough to stop it without changing the patina.

 

[suckerpunched]

Yeller, it looks awesome. I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[1970 Palmer]

Once upon a time, several years ago I drove a 32 High Boy roadster. I drove the car for ten years with a bare steel (never been premiered) Rod Bod reproduction steel body and three piece hood. I eventually stripped the car and had it powder coated with a thick baked on primer.

I had my doubts, but I was told to spray it with Gibb's Oil. I sprayed all of the frame/body/doors/trunk lid/hood pieces/dash/and the gas tank on both sides with the Gibb's Oil. I used a light coat, almost just a mist. Then I used a cotton rag and wiped it down, almost removing all of the oil. About each year, you would begin to see finger prints begin to show on the bare steel. I would do the wipe down with a scotch bright pad, and respray/wipe with a cotton rag and they would disappear.

When I finally did the powder coat primer, and base coat/clear coat paint job the oil did not create any paint problems.

I never found this product in a store, It's sold on line.

I originally heard about it for coating machine tools from rust on The HAMB.

It would be a cheap method to seal your patina EB. One can lasted me for years, you use very little, and it goes a long way. It was about $20/per large spray can.

John

 

[Me2carcrazy1]

I have seen Youtube videos on linseed oil but forgot about it until Yeller mentioned it. I don't recall that it lasted that long but it sure would be easy to do. I will look into it some more as it sounds like a good option.

I will also check out Gibb's Oil. Haven't heard of that before.
Thanks.

 

[Yeller]

Most will tell you to cut it 1:4 with mineral spirits to help it dry, I just use it straight and park it in the sun for a couple of days. It takes a while to lose its “rubbery” feel, which makes since, it’s the primary ingredient in original linoleum. After a few weeks I’ll wash it and the shine subsides some which I like. I just recoated mine after 3 years, it was past due but not terrible. My truck sits out a lot, pre COVID it spent at least 2 weeks of every month sitting outside in a private (very secure) parking lot at the airport. Best show car I’ve ever owned. Drive the wheels off of it, wash it rarely and just enjoy it. Spent many years building street rods, I’m over polishing, sweating over every rock chip, bug splat and big bump in the road instead of being out enjoying them. I most certainly do not miss having a panic attack every time I had to visit a parking lot.

 

[DirtDonk]

I think Project Farm on YouTube did a comparo recently with Gibbs oil as part of the mix. Don't remember what the video was testing, but I don't think it was as a metal preservative specifically. Maybe a penetrant? I think that's what the video might have been.

You could also try Naval Jelly to convert the rust to a different type of material. Probably come out black looking, which to me is ok too because quite often an old paint job starts to show a black or dark gray layer before it actually shows red/brown rust color.
My '71 had black areas all over it for probably 15 years before any of them actually started to rust. Because of that, I was reminded about the rust-converting primer paints and used some of the flat black primer on the rusty areas. I don't mind patina either, but I don't like rust that keeps going while you're not watching. Which I'm usually not for extended periods!

Unlike a painted spot though, I thought of Naval Jelly as a treatment, that would only convert the rusty areas exactly, and leave the paint around them still paint. Hence it's still "natural patina" but without the rust component.

Paul

 

[sprdv1]

https://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34373

 

[sprdv1]

Most will tell you to cut it 1:4 with mineral spirits to help it dry, I just use it straight and park it in the sun for a couple of days. It takes a while to lose its “rubbery” feel, which makes since, it’s the primary ingredient in original linoleum. After a few weeks I’ll wash it and the shine subsides some which I like. I just recoated mine after 3 years, it was past due but not terrible. My truck sits out a lot, pre COVID it spent at least 2 weeks of every month sitting outside in a private (very secure) parking lot at the airport. Best show car I’ve ever owned. Drive the wheels off of it, wash it rarely and just enjoy it. Spent many years building street rods, I’m over polishing, sweating over every rock chip, bug splat and big bump in the road instead of being out enjoying them. I most certainly do not miss having a panic attack every time I had to visit a parking lot.

This guy knows his stuff