Trying to decide whether to paint my 53 Hotrod black or glacier Blue? What are pros and cons for the Hotrod black? I have seen pictures of f100s painted with it and it looks good. But I have seen some cars I am fairly sure they were painted with it but it does not look very good. That is why I started thinking about the glacier blue. What would be you choice?

 

My choice would be Meadow green! Ha ha. But between black and glacier blue, I'd go with glacier blue.

 

Hot rod black has been overdone to death. I would pick a different color.

 

Is the truck original or darkside type of restore? Post some pics. The only real opinion that matters will be yours or your wife's if you are like a few of us. LOL

 

My wife likes the black. I just don't know what has to be done to take care of it and if it is hard to take care of to keep it looking good. My thought is to go with the black and find someone who can paint the American flag on the front with the red and white stripes coming off the blue into flames if that would not be un-American. I had pictures under my profile but I cannot get to them I was going to suggest anyone who wanted to see my truck to go there. My truck needs to torn down and rebuilt. I am trying to find another cab since the floor boards in mind are rusted really bad

 

Black can look great. However, black shows every imperfection in the bodywork and black is notoriously hard to keep clean. Also, if you are in a hotter climate black is the color guaranteed to keep you sweating in your truck on sunny days.

 

Hotrod black is a matte finish and as such does not reflect light the same way that gloss black does...it does not show imperfections. Matte finishes have come a long way since the days of painting your truck with DP90 and calling it done. Early flat finishes were a pain to keep looking nice because any scrubbing on the surface would leave the spot glossy and thus would ruin the overall flat appearance. Today there are many grades of non-reflective clear coats that are durable and not as susceptible to shiny spots. Any basecoat works with a satin clearcoat over it so you won't be limited by what color a given "hotrod" paint vendor offers. Have fun with it...

 

I am using Hot Rod Flatz paint and the satin finish cleans up quite nicely with plain water. They make a large variety of colors Hot Rod Flatz. Maybe you and your wife can find a compromise.

As CharlieLed noted the old flat finishes, which my truck had when I got it, were hard to keep looking nice.


Before



After

 

Its hard to see with the lighting but it does look nice but plain.


Cover was painted using can.





So I was debating the same thing, except I was thinking Sheridan Blue vs Matte Black. I read up on Blitz Black (John Deere) and was convinced based on durability, ease (single stage) and $$. Also since I'm a very inexperience painter I found out they sell it in an aerosol can, which I thought I could fix the imperfections with. I was WRONG. The sheen on the can was much higher than the one I sprayed. Long story short, it does look nice but now I wish I went with the blue. The flat black look is just too common and since I didn't do all the body work I should have done, every small ding and dent is really visible. I will keep finish the rest in black and later point change the color.