Is flat black over?

That's not flat black, that's bare carbon.

Flat black is perfect for track wheels. Brake dust? What brake dust?

how about a semi-gloss?

Flat black/ bare carbon. Same difference.

John deere blitz black. Looks great with piss poor prep and easy to shoot/touhh as concrete.

It all depends to me on how well you spray it. A crappy half-assed rattle can spray job will look blotchy and terrible. Spraying it with a flat paint and not a flat black primer with a proper spray gun will make a huge difference. I like the gloss stripe idea too.

MK1 GTI's like my car came with flat black rocker stripes on other colors, but of course the black ones didn't. I'm tempted to add them to my car anyway because it would be an interesting contrast.

Do the best bodywork you can and then plasti-dip that sucker. When YOU are over it just peel it off and paint it the next hot color of your choice.

Plasti-dips a good way to go too. I've seen some awesome ones like a brand new beetle with a retro theme look and a plasti-dip flat sky blue and a pearl top coat that honestly looked like a Hot Rod Flat paint job. Like any paint job the prep work makes the difference though.

How about both??

That is my $2005 Challenge car. It is sprayed with flat black rattle can. I then masked the logo out carefully with tape, and sprayed clear gloss on top of the flat (to make it look like gloss). Came out beautifully.

I am currently a fan of matte finish (as opposed to flat- they are not the same).

Gloss black is THE most unforgiving finish you can put on a car.

Hmmm... Can't get the forum pics to post.

Check my SVX in my garage.

SVreX wrote: I am currently a fan of matte finish (as opposed to flat- they are not the same). Gloss black is THE most unforgiving finish you can put on a car.

^This. Matte or satin not true flat. As previously noted, actual flat looks unfinished. Matte or satin look like it's meant to be that way. As a bonus it does still hide crappy bodywork and you can roll on rustoleum satin black and it looks good. This is 2 coats with zero prep (didnt even wash it) and no sanding after. Just rolled it on and went cruising.

emailed you, Jim

I already have Summit's "Hot Rod Black" which I believe is a semi gloss. That is what I will use if I go that route. I have wondered how it would look if I changed my mind and cleared it later.

I will have to do a test panel and see if I like it.

IMHO true dead flat black has always been over. I did mine in satin or matte with gloss stripes:

The "hides crappy bodywork" deal is a fallacy; since it still reflects light flaws will show.

Over? It's not quite jumped the shark yet but the Fonz is definitely up on his skis. Although I love the fact that I can beat the snot out of the car without worrying about the finish I'm getting tired of it and have been threatening to pull the body and put real paint on for the last couple of years but what with building and painting others I just haven't had time.

Jeff

My flat black plastidipped FD still draws way more people at meets than it ever did when it was factory gloss black. That being said, I've had it this color for two years and it's time for a change. I'm re-dipping it this spring with the new anthracite gray metallic color they're selling and hitting it with gloss on top of that.

If you're picky you'll drive yourself crazy trying to fix all the small flaws that show up with a gloss black car. Gloss black looks great if flawless and very clean, other wise not. It's nearly impossible to get a decent dust free finish in a garage. I've done it many times. If you want to spend the time getting it perfectly straight followed by a base coat/clear coat finish, followed by many hrs. of "color sanding" and polishing you'll have a great looking black car.

Saw a flat dark grey 2011??? mustang with matching grey wheels with just the rite amount of dark red highlights and black trim and I must say it looked great.

all black shows crappy body work. if you are afraid of your body work skills paint it appliance white.

^^ Color accents will go a long way toward making the car look finished, rather than just in primer. The key is minimal/tasteful application of one accent color.

That said, I think matte white can be a good look, too.

Flat black done over a surface that could have handled gloss black is fine.

Flat black over cellulite bodywork is not in.

Flat black and camo always looked to me like it was a poor attempt to disguise a stolen vehicle.

You should paint it the way you want to and what makes you happy and not even worry rather or not others thinks it is "in" or "over" I frequent the HAMB and am always amazed at the number of folks that ask "would this still be cool or traditional" and there are always answers from the hot rod police advising what they should do. For all I know the answers may come from those that don't even own a hot rod or car they built. The car hobby is about doing things your way and what you want!

Personally I'm tired of the flat black craze. However, I do blame it on my town where the hip thing to do is rattle can a car/truck flat black and paint the wheels the brightest color you can find.

I second the idea of using both. Do one of your Miatas matte black with gloss black stripes and another one gloss black with red stripes. That way you're getting what you like and you're also not succumbing to others' opinions.

I like the matte black much better than flat black paint.

SnowMongoose wrote:

DO WANT .....

Paint your car in chalkboard paint.

You can write your autocross number and class on it, lol.