Dulling down door opens and hood surround

[Clem Z.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

those guys from texas said on TV they use steel wool to do this

[Dick W.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

Clem, the Gold Scotchbrite pads and steel wool would accomplish the same thing. I would start off with the gray Scotchbrite and then switch to the gold. I believe it would be just a little faster.

Just looked at 3M website, the 7448 pad might just be the ticket

[Chuck S.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

Chuck,Sander,are the scotch pads avaliable at like the home depot , or is this strickly automotive paint supplys?...

Automotive paint stores. You might find Scotch Brite at Home Depot, but if you do, it will be way too course for what your trying to do. As Clem mentioned, another route you can consider is 0000 steel wool. That would have been my first suggestion, but I like Sander's suggestion of very very fine Scotch Brite. It's probably cleaner, especially on a light color...no particles breaking off, color transfer on light color, etc.

...I know that no two judges will be on the same page when it comes to judging the paint on any given car. so my approach will be only to do whats only necc. to achive some of the points...

I know Dickie says there are standards for paint judging that should avoid such issues...But...Unless the standards say judge the door jambs for appearance, and if that's OK, go to color, I don't know how there wouldn't be issues.

For example...Let's say the exterior judge is looking for atypical paint gloss, and gets down to look behind the head light doors...If the car was painted in lacquer, that area behind the doors WOULD NOT BE glossy. Would I dull that area up for judging?...probably not.

[Dick W.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

Chuck, et al, the new guidelines have been in place for 2 or 3 years. The flow chart tells you whether or not to use the jambs in the equation. If you read the Restorer they were published in the Judging Chairmans column. I would suggest that all go back and read the column

[Sal C.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

Has anybody ever looked at Bowtie or "Survivor" cars. I think that these "dulling" jobs that are showing up border on ridiculous.

[Chuck S.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

Has anybody ever looked at Bowtie or "Survivor" cars. I think that these "dulling" jobs that are showing up border on ridiculous.

Sal, we need your input here...are you saying that "dulling" is being "overdone"?

[Sal C.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

Chuck, It's just my opinion, but, yes I think some are taking it to extremes. The paint that was applied to the door jambs was not any "flatter" than any place else, it simply was not buffed. I'm seeing cars on the field that look as if they are prepped for paint in those areas.

[Chuck S.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

Chuck, It's just my opinion, but, yes I think some are taking it to extremes. The paint that was applied to the door jambs was not any "flatter" than any place else, it simply was not buffed. I'm seeing cars on the field that look as if they are prepped for paint in those areas.

Thanks for you valued opinion. I'm not surprised at this outcome since many restorers have never seen unbuffed lacquer. I remember unbuffed lacquer as having low gloss, maybe eggshell or semi-flat...Is this correct, or should there be more gloss than that?

[John D.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

Has anybody ever looked at Bowtie or "Survivor" cars. I think that these "dulling" jobs that are showing up border on ridiculous.

I agree. On my white 67 with original paint the difference in gloss between the door jambs and the exterior surfaces is not huge. The paint on the bottoms of the doors looks like it was sprayed "dry".
On a restored car with lots of clear the difference in gloss between a hood and an inner surround area dulled down with steel wool or scotch brite is huge and very obvious...thats not original appearance.

[Terry M.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

I agree. On my white 67 with original paint the difference in gloss between the door jambs and the exterior surfaces is not huge. The paint on the bottoms of the doors looks like it was sprayed "dry".
On a restored car with lots of clear the difference in gloss between a hood and an inner surround area dulled down with steel wool or scotch brite is huge and very obvious...thats not original appearance.

I agree. My vote: It is like putting lipstick on a pig.

[Dick W.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

When we restored cars for a living, we did the forementioned areas with paint flattened to 70% gloss, very close to what most call eggshell. Mimics unbuffed lacquer very closely

[Chuck G.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

Has anybody ever looked at Bowtie or "Survivor" cars. I think that these "dulling" jobs that are showing up border on ridiculous.

Chuck, It's just my opinion, but, yes I think some are taking it to extremes. The paint that was applied to the door jambs was not any "flatter" than any place else, it simply was not buffed. I'm seeing cars on the field that look as if they are prepped for paint in those areas.

I agree. On my white 67 with original paint the difference in gloss between the door jambs and the exterior surfaces is not huge. The paint on the bottoms of the doors looks like it was sprayed "dry".
On a restored car with lots of clear the difference in gloss between a hood and an inner surround area dulled down with steel wool or scotch brite is huge and very obvious...thats not original appearance.

I agree with Sal and John.

I've seen restored cars where the painter actually painted the jambs and gutters in flat paint. Same color....but flat vs. full gloss on the outside.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Buy a can of Krylon gloss paint. Spray it on a piece of metal...or a piece of fiberglass. Let it dry, and look at the gloss, unbuffed.

Chuck

[Chuck S.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

When we restored cars for a living, we did the forementioned areas with paint flattened to 70% gloss, very close to what most call eggshell. Mimics unbuffed lacquer very closely

I agree with you, Dickie...Spraying the original unpolished areas with flattened paint (eggshell, 70% gloss), rather than dulling the shiny surface mechanically, is the way to go if you have that in the plan before you begin; of course, that is not the question the poster posed.

Trying to get steel wool, Scotch Brite, or very fine paper into all the corners and crevices uniformly will drive you nuts; as a perfectionist, I would say it's impossible to not leave some evidence that the surface is "dulled", rather than "as sprayed lacquer". Since spraying with flattened paint is much easier, you are also more likely to use that paint wherever you need to replicate unpolished lacquer on hidden areas, overspray, etc. rather than do just the minimum tedium to please the judges.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

Has anybody ever looked at Bowtie or "Survivor" cars. I think that these "dulling" jobs that are showing up border on ridiculous.

Real Bowtie inner door:



Note that there is less gloss than BC/CC, but it sure doesn't look "dulled down." There are other pictures in my album that show other doorjamb areas with similar gloss.

Patrick

[Jim R.]

Re: Dulling down door opens and hood surround

sweet, I owned a 69 that my friend has now its a original car and the paint gloss inside the door jamb looks (shiny) like yours, i like the glue job looks like the guy used a hot mop !