£100 paint job
My Lovely Austin twelve is a brushed paint job and it looks smashing.
A number of people in the twenties had cars brush painted when they were new because the paint at the time was better.
Go for it.
if you flat it back well enough afterwards, you could also put it on with a yard broom as long as its got a minimum thickness that is thick enough to allow the levels to be equalised. But obviously not recommended unless you really need to use the yard broom.
Joking aside, coach paint is properly put on with the biggest brush you can handle. Perhaps 3" for main panels and a smaller brush only for detail work.
When I bought the ORT it had been brush painted yellow with black wings. I got a pot of yellow mixed to match and as I slowly work around the car fixing little issues, I use a gloss roller to keep it looking a little less scruffy. The finish is a little like orange peel but as Jon says, a little wet'n'dry and it is surprisingly good.
Hi, I too painted three early VW Beetles with parsons parsolac coach paint they looked great. I at the time bought a very expensive 3" paint brush I think it cost £7 which was nearly as dear as the paint if not dearer. Before cellulose all cars were coach painted, once saw a big Austin 16 looked liked it had been sprayed but no it was coached painted. Hours prepping will pay dividends good luck and keep us posted, these stories are what makes this forum great. Mike
Further to above. All the cars were painted with Dulux or similar. the first one the paint was tacky next day. Such paints are now touch dry in a couple of hours. It is now quite difficult to get a glas fiinish on anything as small as a cupboard door unless painted horizontal. i had forgotten a 3rd javelin i painted for resale.. It was full of newspaper and bog. I left it outside for a few nights and so had to redo the doors.
Brush painted coats tend to be very thin so poor covering colours are best avoided. Greys, blue or green greys etc v.g.
Into the 90s the local metropolitan bus company employed an old codger who brush painted most of their repair work`.Saves time on masking and use vastly less paint and solvents.
I have repainted my Big 7 three times in the 49 years I have had it, also about 5 other cars and many other vehicles. Each time with coach enamel and a brush. As previously said modern paints have become harder to keep a wet edge even on a small panel. Always use the best materials you can afford especially brushes and take time to work out the best way round the panels. You might have to do some sections again but it is doable. It is hard on a small budget to justify spending more than a car is worth on its painting. The finish you get is only as good as your preparation. As for devaluation a cars only worth the enjoyment you get from it. Anything else and you are in the wrong hobby. Pete
I hand painted my ’36 Ruby and whilst I cannot say there are no brush marks, most people are surprised to find out it is actually brush painted. I used Tekaloind coaching enamel. This paint gives a very smooth, high gloss finish, but it dries very quickly and so the areas to be painted need to be kept as small as possible, keeping a wet edge is imperative to obtain a good finish. I am given to understand that you can add linseed oil to this paint and it will delay the drying process but I didn’t go down that route. I used the largest brush I could comfortably handle which for me was 2 ½”. I did pay an awful lot of money for some pure bristle specialist brushes, but in truth was disappointed with the result and bought some synthetic bristle brushes and these performed much better. It;s a case of trial and error to what suits you. You need to plan your sequence very carefully, keeping the and use the car bodies natural contours and features to hide the “joins” in painting. For example on my Ruby I used the body moulding as a natural break to paint up to the moulding in one session and then mask off and paint above on the next. Doors, wings, boot, bonnet etc were all painted off the car. Could I have spray painted the car? No, not within the close confines of my very small garage. Could I have had the car professionally spray painted? Yes, but then I could have had the whole restored by someone else but where would the fun or the point be in that? Enjoy it. Best of luck Denis S A picture of my Ruby all brush painted.
