Faux Wood Car Paint Project: 1931 Buick

Partial Faux Wood Trim Restoration

The owner wanted to minimize changes to the original interior.  He removed the 5 pieces that were most damaged. Of course my advice was to do them all at once.

After my work was done and installed, I was fortunate to have full access to the car for shooting pictures. This car is so gorgeous that I decided to create a larger pictorial blog post. 

I shot video and images of the graining process for this project and added it to The Perfect Wood Grain Car Graining Course. 

Bill, a retired architect, bought this gem in 1989 in all original condition. He painted and re-chromed, had a new top installed and made other needed repairs, but mostly left it alone. For example, the upholstery is all original. 

The owner of the media blasting shop I use was concerned that his process might damage the old, thin metal. 

A low pressure sand blaster was used instead. This got the job done and gave us the light texture we needed for maximum primer adhesion. 

I followed my standard process of creating a sample panel with 4 variations on the original grain for the customer to choose from. 

Base Coat Alternative

For the base coat, I used a spray can product called Montana Gold. Formulated for murals, this product offers a much wider range of colors than paint or hardware shops, and they had a nearly perfect match for this project.

I normally use and recommend 2 stage auto paint for any car color and clear coats because interior parts like dash boards are exposed to direct sunlight and high temps.  

I made an exception for this project because the car spends 99% of its life in a garage out of the sun, and the spray can saved the customer quite a lot of money over a custom two stage color. I did use a 2 stage clear with UV protection.

Also, Montana makes a very high quality product formulated for durability, color fastness and adhesion to a variety of surfaces. 

Bill was very happy with the new grain and, surprise surprise, now wants to do the rest of the interior pieces! 

’31 Buick Details and Images

Apparently Buick (or Fisher?) applied an adhesive faux mahogany on the dash and ashtrays but painted the other escutcheons. 

The owner is a retired architect. He built two garages on the spacious view property.

And about that view… Olympic Mountain range in the distance.

Side view with the “suicide door” door open.

The Buick Straight-8 (Fireball 8) engine. A successful workhorse for Buick, in use until 1953.

Thanks for reading.

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