MTFCA Forum

I have a 1927 Coupe that is painted Channel Green, and I came upon a very interesting 1927 Ford sales brochure that described the "new" paint colors for the Improved Ford. In the brochure, it describes the paint finish as a "SATIN" finish, which, to my knowledge, has not been described before. I'm wondering if anyone restoring a 1927 Ford has painted their car using a satin finish paint? I suppose we could debate what a satin finish would look like, but it does not say the paint finish has a gloss. I've attached a copy of the document. Russ Furstnow

Russ

Fairly well known of the satin on the Fords with the new Pyroxylin finish.

Found a few years ago this introduction date info too,

And original cars if not repainted show satin, here is the underside of trunk lid of an original '27 coupe showing that low gloss finish.

But since lacquer isn't used today, most modern auto paints do a gloss finish, perhaps a good painter could dull the top coat.

i am thinking the"satin" finish is predicated on the extreme gloss of the black when it was new.

The lacquer finish on my restorations likewise is not extremely glossy like those using two pack finishes which look plastic in the extreme, way too slick for a model T.

In the blurb, it mentions that the the sheen will improve with subsequent polishing. I have found this to be true of lacquer finishes too. Sure, the finish is not ultra glossy, but it looks far more suitable for a period finish on a 20's car.

Allan from down under.

I am currently restoring a '27 Ford sedan. We came across the same page of that brochure. I also was looking at a factory promotional photo and it certainly looks quite like a satin finish to me. My inclination is to copy the finish of the car in that photo. I'm looking at the finishof the fenders compared to the body. Interesting.

Hi Eric, I think if you plan on showing your car, I would use glossy paint for the black and a satin finish for the body color. Just my thoughts, Russ Furstnow

My ‘26 was painted with a satin like finish which I really like….

Allan has found the clue, lacquer is a quick drying paint used then as it enabled a paint system to be simplified as it dried so fast contamination from dust etc rarely happened. it didn't need a drying room and could just continue down the assembly line to be further worked on. Drying happened so fast the spray gun was the only way to apply it. If the spray gun was too far from the surface or the temperature was too high it would reach the surface so dry it was as rough as sand, not quite as dry and you ended up with orange peel.

The faster a paint dries the less gloss you get, it needed to be compound polished and buffed to regain full gloss. Obviously Ford knowing this would take extra manpower/costs to polish the body, so it appears Ford decided to test the waters and see if there was any adverse reaction. The black lacquers gloss level was superior to other colors and although it could be further improved by machine buffing probably pretty well was equal to the black gloss enamels available on other makes of vehicles. I think the end result was if a customer complained they just set about polishing the paint until they quit using it a few years later.
By the 1960's the lacquer had improved so much when we sprayed it, when it dried the finish was virtually the same gloss level that of the baked enamel vehicles such as VW had that we just gave them to the owners without any more effort.

Problem was even if polished it gradually lost its gloss especially in harsh climates (sunlight) and needed to be polished/buffed again. A better lacquer (acrylic lacquer) replaced Nitrocellulose lacquer in the 1960's it was hailed as the magic mirror finish as after buffing it kept its gloss for years and did not oxidize in harsh weather. Australia and Florida were regarded as being the worse climate on vehicle paint. Ford quickly changed tact and went to baked enamel once the bodies became all steel, GM didn't and continued on with the lacquer but added a buffing section after spraying the bodies right up till the 1990's.

The low gloss of the lacquer can be seen even in black & white photos against the high gloss enamel on the fenders & running boards.

Interesting discussion on the 26-27 paints. When I restored my 1926 Coupe back in 1980 I sprayed several coats of Ditzler DL-1011 Ford Maroon acrylic lacquer. It was the first car I restored and I made some mistakes, one of which was laying on too much paint. Of course I polished it to a mirror like finish. If I ever get around to re-restoring this car (which it needs) I will keep this "satin finish" information in mind.

Here is my Duncan and Fraser wide body roadster, painted 9 years ago with lacquer. I did rub back and polish the flat trunk lid just to see if it was worth the effort. It was not. Allan from down under.

I have sprayed a number of cars over the years. Many years ago I wanted to make a car look like a "barn find" so I used dark gray laquer primer and fogged some red oxide primer on it to make it look like old faded paint with rust. I also sprayed another car with several layers of Laquer and fine sanded between coats finally using rubbing compound. and paste wax. Came out very nice.
Now I use catalized acrylic enamal but I do not put a clear coat over it. I just use some of the wash and wax from Walmart put on with a sponge and wipe with an old bath towel and it looks very good. Not sure just what paints are now allowed in California, but when I painted it that kind was allowed.
Norm