patina or no patina?

[biodiesel84]

I really want to do a restomod thing on my 84...old school, but updated with subtle little things that take a few minutes to notice...the truck is blue and white two tone and is patina'd pretty good...as good as I want it to get for now anyways...the hood and the bedside tops are rusted and the paints faded...when I bought the truck, I had all intentions of doing a patina finish on it and doing painted shop door signs on it...I run a street rod interior shop and was going to put the business name, slogan, and phone # on the side and patina it...now I'm having second thoughts...I would like to do some wheels like tvblazer's, but in an 18 or 17 and do a 5/7 static drop on it...I also have some 99 tahoe buckets to go in it and I'm going to put a 55 chevy dash into it also...I am going to go totally retro with it...the seats will look like they were made for the 55 era and I'm also thinking of going with a 73ish front end (which negates my patina on the front end). I also, have a little bit of body work to do to it, but not much and I was wondering if when I repair it I should go with grey primer or go with blue or white primer/sealer depending on where the repair lands in the paint scheme...I have a guy that does outstanding paint jobs and my shop and his shop work hand in hand...there are a ton of cars that he paints that we do the interiors in...he said that if I got it prepped and ready to paint and bought the paint materials, he'd spray it for $300...this is a friend only sorta advertisement favor for me and him...alot of people would see the truck when the come to my shop and most everyone wants paint done also...so this way I could show them his work...

my plan was to paint the shop doors and leave it patina'd until all the bodywork and interior is done and then have him paint it back factory blue and white two toned...

please give me your opinions on whether I should just have him go ahead and paint the truck first or should I ride out the patina thing...I love the look, and I know it's my truck and I should do what I want, but there's alot of people that I have told that I want to patina the truck and they look at me crooked...a really good friend of mine has been threatening to take the truck in the middle of the night and primer the hood... ...I just don't want people thinking I'm crazy that's all...but maybe I shouldn't care...I do have a bad interior shop...lol

Chuck.

[Captkaos]

I was trying to find a pic of one I loved but can't find it, but my though is if you like it, keep it.

[Dragon]

I've enjoyed the Old Shop Truck, and Barn Find look for years, before it was referred to as a "Rat Rod", or "Resto Rod".... My '77 has a Natural Patina Finish, Thanks to the previous owner parking it under a Pine Tree for several years at night....  It too is a "Project" Truck, and eventually want to refinish it, and I like it's current look, but I'm getting kind of annoyed with some of the idiots who call it a "Rat 4X4", along with those that ask me why I've allowed such a "Nice Looking" truck to get that way(I've only had it a year, so I'm still trying to get the necessary repairs out of the way, before I tackle Body & Paint)....   I have been thinking about an Old Shop Truck look for my truck, but I think I would rather stick to the Trail Rig look, so I don't have to deal with the "Rat" Idgits....