Quote Originally Posted by iceburgh
Just got done with my '32 I have a total of 304 hours total in the body and paint.....but it is now flawless
Not really that unusual to put hundreds of hours into a street rod finish. If it's an original car, you have 75 years of wear and tear. If it's a 'glass car, you have the flaws that were in the original it was cast from, plus some manufacturing flaws due to shrinkage in the glass and such. If it's a steel car, you have the flaws that will be in the stamping dies. These companies can't spead that cost over a few million bodies, so they have to spend a lot less on the dies than a new car manufacturer would, so it is going to be a compromise.

Compounding the problem is the high level of professionalism that the hobby has risen to. Todays older, more astute builder expects a much higher level of workmanship, than the high school kids who built these in the '50s. What is now a "street and show paint finish", was the "full-blown showcar finish" of the past. Rods have truely become rolling art, except, of course rat rods, which are more like a comfortable old sweatshirt, complete with holes and stains. :-)~