Patina Shine Without Clearcoat: How To Use Linseed Oil To Bring Out Some Gleam! (2024)

I love Arizona, and I love cars from Arizona. But one thing I don’t love about Arizona is baked paint. Arizona, Colorado, Texas, eastern Washington…great metal, salvageable interiors, roasted paint. They all look like they’ve been sunburned, the way the original color is gone and the heat rash of rust has appeared. I know, I hear you Rust Belters and East Coasters preparing your “aw, shaddup!” comments now, and I know you’re right. There is a difference between what you call rust…which is automotive leprosy where things fall off at random until the whole thing just dies…and something that can be cured with some sander time and a spray gun. And ordinarily, I’d be all about that, but one word says to try something different: patina.

Faked patina bites. But real patina, like the kind this 1954 Dodge Royal is wearing, that’s the kind where it’s difficult to just repaint it. Most of the car still wears it’s original color, the two-tone looks good, it’s just a little bit of heat rash. I can see why someone would want to preserve this look on a car that’s lived this long in original condition. For years, the usual go-to plan was to clearcoat over the patina to provide a protective layer. It’s been done, and you can spot it a mile away. The car itself is a peach of a find for the north, and being an early Hemi car, it needs some love. So with some boiled linseed oil and some mineral spirits, you can shine up worn paint without going the full Discovery Channel route. Check out the work below!

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6 thoughts on “Patina Shine Without Clearcoat: How To Use Linseed Oil To Bring Out Some Gleam!”

1. jerry z February 1, 2020 at 5:36 am

   Please stop with the patina BS. It’s another word for I’m too cheap to paint my car. I especially laugh at people who restore everything on the car except the rust and paint. Really? Even a Maaco paint job improves the car 100%.

   1. Riverratcustoms February 1, 2020 at 8:55 am

      Whats wrong with preserving an original aged finish? They are only original once. I guess there are those that just don’t understand… Oh wait!! Your the guy with the high dollar, perfect paint “do not touch” car that everyone walks by and looks at the rat-rod down the row instead. Little jealous are we? Not everyone can afford to throw money at their projects. The fun part of these type of cars is that you do everything yourself and get the satisfaction out of it with minimal investment. I recommend not watching Vice grip garage because that’s all he does and he is damn funny.

      1. jerry z February 1, 2020 at 9:36 am

         You did read my post, I said Maaco paint job. Far from high dollar.

         And it’s only original once? If it’s worth more original than repainted, then yes leave it alone. But everyday run of the mill cars, no.

2. john February 1, 2020 at 8:01 am

   Fix the rust throughs, and don’t treat it like a piece of old furniture. SOS pads and linseed oil? Olive oil is much more healthy… 🙂

3. Ricky D. Hildebrand February 2, 2020 at 6:52 pm

   A little to much conjuring up Red Green going on here. First off I use a very cheap aftermarket version of a scotch brite pad and some CLR to remove the maximum rust,and minimal paint. Those brillo pads are the worst. Thats why your blue paint is not shing to it\’s maximum,along with over buffing the surface woothout stopping to clean up the paint/buffing residue

4. 71C10SWB February 3, 2020 at 5:11 am

   I didn’t watch the video, so if the guy mentions this, ignore the warning. You need to do some searches on Linseed oil and old rags. Left alone they can spontaneously combust. It’s not worth me losing my shp over.

   https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=linseed+oil+spontaneous+combustion

   Concerning the patina look. I like it, but I don’t like it faked. If its a fake patina job, I prefer to just start doing bodywork and painting. I painted my C10 with Rustoleum and some tractor supply hardener (with a gun). Is it perfect, nah. Put it shines and I don’t sweat paint chips.

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