The fine art of painting cars
HOW many times have you seen on Facebook someone asking about painting their Land Rover? It seems to come up time and time again. Often people are told it would be sacrilege to paint their dilapidated Land Rover and they should preserve the patina. Where did this obsession with patina come from? I feel that many people confuse patina with neglect. A couple of years back my 109in rolled down a hill and smacked into a tree. The rear body was buckled and beyond my ability to repair, so I managed to find a nice straight, secondhand replacement. The challenge was that it came in multiple different shades of peeling green paint and made my Land Rover look like something spawned from
Scrapheap Challenge. With no spare time, I drove it around like that for many months.
Rupturing my Achille’s tendon gave me some down time (nearly six months, in fact) and so I set about stripping off all the paint and repainting in one, consistent shade of green. I was delighted but not everyone shared my enthusiasm because, apparently, I had destroyed the patina.
A car that had suffered body damage and found itself wearing a mismatched rear end? Is that really patina? Come on now.
For me, patina is an old Land Rover wearing its original faded paintwork. In some places the paint or galvanised trim may have rubbed through to expose bare metal (I’m thinking from decades of sheep squeezing past, or perhaps the farmer’s elbow resting on the door, etc). There may be the occasional ding or dent, but no significant nasty tears or signs of abuse. The vehicle should present well and not look abandoned.
Anyway, you see these Land Rovers that have had most of their paint sanded or chemically stripped and the owner bravely asks about repainting. After the initial wave of people telling them not to paint it, you then get the second flurry of people sharing low-resolution images of their Land Rovers that, “I painted with a broom and it came out brilliantly.’’ Soon followed by comments such as, “that looks mint,’’and “love it, what colour is that?’’
Now, I’m going to let you into a few little secrets here. Number one: almost all newly-painted Land Rovers will look quite presentable on a photo uploaded to Facebook. Number two: painting your Land
Rover with a paintbrush (or broomstick for that matter) does not give a quality level of finish. Number three: painting your Land Rover using a roller will also not give you a quality finish. Number four: you cannot get an accurate idea of colour from a Facebook image. I am sorry to be the one to dispel these myths, but someone needs to say it.
Paintwork is something I hold very close to my heart having now painted quite a few Land Rovers. If you want what I would describe as a quality job, this is what I’ve found. First, you need to strip off all the paintwork and start from bare metal. Modern paints will often react chemically with old paint and how well do you think it’s adhering to the aluminium after 40-plus years? Remove all trim, lights and other fittings – painting with things in-situ looks terrible. Ideally you should also remove as many body panels as possible to ensure a complete and comprehensive job. When it comes to applying the paint, you need a compressor (a good one that you’ve bought, not a rental), a decent paint gun and quality paints. You also need plenty of time, so trying to paint an entire car over a weekend whilst you have your rented compressor is not going to work.
Here’s the other painful truth, if someone tells you they can paint your Land Rover to a decent standard for just a few hundred pounds/dollars, they are lying. Here in Australia, you can expect to pay in excess of £15,000 for a quality job. Easily more for something concourse.
“Where did this obsession with patina come from? I feel that many people confuse patina with neglect”
Why am I talking about paint so much this month? Well, I have just returned from a solid day in a professional paint booth. This was my first time in a proper facility and what a revelation. No dust or bugs – the booth is completely sealed and the environment carefully controlled by an extraction and climate control system. It was not a particularly cheap exercise and I still managed to get paint runs on my first batch of panels, though when it came to my 80-inch I was more familiar with the set-up and managed to achieve a finish I am really proud of.
The major stress came with getting the panels back to my workshop unscathed. I was reluctant to wrap everything for fear the paint might still be slightly tacky, so as a consequence I had everything loose and spread out across the deck of my trayback. It took me a couple of agonising trips, and thank goodness it wasn’t raining.