I know this may sound strange??, but I was wondering if any of you guys had ever painted a street rod or Camaro in a Matte (non shiny) finish. My 68 plain Jane Camaro is in need of a paint job, and I kind of like the matte black finish I have seen on some motorcycles and Rat Rods. Are there any pitfalls? Does this type of finish rust or collect dust easier than a shiny paint job? I am talking about a finished paint job, not just primer...

I think part of the problem with matte finishes is that the coating tends to be a little porous (has to do with the way the solids for the paint are ground up- coarse grinds for flat/ matte and fine grinds for gloss) so dirt and water can work down into the paint easily. The worst that might happen is to have a repaint come up every few years or so. Rust shouldn't be a problem if you have some good sealing layers of paint underneath.

Jeep did factory matte finish on wranglers a couple years ago. I haven't seen one of them since. They looked like they skipped the buff line at the factory.

We just painted the V8 Corvair matte black early this year. It has been driven a lot, and has been easy to clean and maintain(dust, dirt and bugs just get blown away at the car wash).
I really did not think I would like it, but my mind has changed. It looks cool.
Chris

I agree Smits67, it looks way cool! I am worried about the longevity of the finish though. Choptop pointed this out via the imperfections needed to attain the "matte" finish. You would think stuff would collect in the pores and deteriorate the finish faster. I live in New England, so that stuff happens no matter what type of finish you have on the car!!
Anyway, I am thinking Matte Black finish, with all of the chrome emblems, bumpers, etc...
My only problem would be people asking "When ya' gonna paint it".
Smits67, what type of paint did you use? I would guess that the painting process skips some steps needed to achieve a perfect shine...

I just saw a corvette in my buddies shop and it has a matt grey finish with a checker design on the top. The guy that owns the car is an Airforce Pilot of a CF-18 and the paint job resembles a tactical fighter squadron. I thought it was kinda neet and went up to see if it was primer, and no it was not. The finish appears to be an airplane paint. Very durable, but also very flat. This might be the perfect paint for a matte finish to check into aircraft paints or post a question for Sherr20 in Bench Racing. There are a few pilots from the military that frequent this site and perhaps they can shed more light on that subject.

create your own with cans of flat black spray paint.
or just put some pigment in some primer

it may be ghettoish, but check my signiture

my car is ( i assume spraypaint ) matte :X


I can however say, the sex appeal of the car is not the same as a gloss black

IMO atleast

Alligator,
I knew you would ask me that question. The truth is, I do not really know what type of paint it was.
I will ask the paint guy this weekend. If memory serves, it was an epoxy of some sort. He claimed it was tough as nails.
The Corvair was painted matte black with a gloss red stripe down the middle of the hood and deck lid. It looks pretty cool.

Thanks Smits!!

IMO, I would be careful that it doesn't always look dirty or oxidised.

Bowtie,
I agree with your concern. Granted Dad'd car has only been painted for 6 months or so(so I can not tell you how it will hold up over the long run), but it has seen thousands of road miles, lots of gravel dust, millions of smashed bugs. A trip through the car wash, and she is good as new every time.
It does not look oxidized, but just...well, matte! :D
It seems to really fit the theme line of road course race cars or something like that. Perhaps Mad Max without all the blood.......

PPG and Dupont have come out with Matte topcoats.I believe Duponts is called Hot Rod Black. Its expensive.Cheaper way is to just add flattener to single stage urethane.It will be tough and UV resistant.

Alligator,
Dads car was top-coated with black epoxy primer/sealer.
For the record: It is holding up well to every-day driving.
Chris

Originally posted by hugger_sixty_nine:
The guy that owns the car is an Airforce Pilot of a CF-18 and the paint job resembles a tactical fighter squadron. I thought it was kinda neet and went up to see if it was primer, and no it was not. The finish appears to be an airplane paint. Very durable, but also very flat.It could be that "stealth" radar-absorbent paint. May only be stealth on non-metal surfaces though.

It's not necessarily a 'stealth' type paint\coating.

A lot of aircraft are painted a dull, matte finish, especially camouflage-colored aircraft, as opposed to a shiny finish. It's not really anything special.
He probably just has a friend in "the paint shop" who 'loaned' him the paint or painted it in their hangar.
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It's fun to pretend smile.gif

I'm in a military town (Fort Gordon is here in Augusta), and worked for a year with my brother and his crew. They are mostly retired military. When I got my Maco we used to talk about painting it with the radar-absorbent paint that was used on the Stealth. It's fiberglass and has enough odd angles to probably work.

I like shiny things though.