Japanning is a way to coat something so it ends up with a tough, shiny surface. In car history it was used as a finish, but the same idea shows up in decorative crafts too.
The Ford Mustang is a sports car made by Ford. It’s a two-door car (and sometimes a convertible) that’s designed for driving enjoyment rather than just commuting. People often mention it because it’s one of the most well-known car models in the U.S.
Plant-based paints are car paints that use ingredients from plants (like soy oil) as part of the recipe. The goal is still the same: make a coating that hardens and protects the car’s surfaces.
“Closed cellular” is a way to describe a coating that’s more sealed and less likely to let moisture through. That’s why some paints protect the metal better than more porous coatings.
A polyester primer is a base layer you put on before the final paint. The key point here is that it can be more “open” or porous, so it may not block moisture and air as well as some tougher coatings.
Duco is an old paint product used on cars. It was one of the common ways manufacturers got a durable, good-looking finish before they started experimenting with newer paint sources.
Airbags are safety cushions that pop out during a crash. They inflate very fast to help protect your head and chest from hitting the steering wheel or dashboard.
Hydraulics means using fluid pressure to move things. In cars, it can be used to power systems that need strong, controlled movement.
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Rose BB27: Okay. Nice. Uh, yeah. All right. I c- I could see that. I could see a good mix-up like
Emily BB27: So do they have crinkle fries that are like, they're not like round like the potato, they're like long like the cross between a shoestring or just a regular french fry with the crinkles on them? Oh, I was picturing the round... What are those? Waffle fries?
Emily BB27: Well, listen, you know what? I'm gonna turn that back on myself because I've not had an Arby's crinkle fry So, sorry. But what I do have is I wanted to go back to episode 26, to Brain Buster
Rose BB27: Yeah, and it's funny how, like, Japanning is well known in old... Like, we had that automotive magazine that talked about it from 1920. Yeah. Like, it was known as a, as an automotive thing, but also as a decorative enamel on, like, pottery and things. Yeah. But they're two sort of wildly different things. Yeah. One just talks about covering a thing in paint with a hose, just slathering it in paint. And the other one is completely decorative-
Rose BB27: Where to move the horses, put them on the hood ornament, but I can't think of any horse hood ornament other than a Mustang.
Now the question, uh, was what plant was Henry Ford making a paint from? He experimented with, uh, plant-based paints. What were they? Rizzo guessed soy, and he's absolutely correct Yeah, you'll be winning loads of street cred coming to your house by the truckload
Rose BB27: Uh, but i- this next part might help you answer that. That had the same basic chemistry as early movie film. So I think what we're thinking of is something that coagulates kinda thickly as a film. I mean, if it's got the same basic chemistry as, as early movie film, you know what I mean? It's gonna make a film layer. Well, that's what paints are. They're a film layer that protects things from the atmosphere. They're, um Closed cellular is what like an epoxy is Okay ... whereas like a polyester primer is porous, right?
Emily BB27: So wait, it So they were doing the parts in the black enamel- Yeah ... that was pretty good, tough stuff, and then doing the body in these beautiful colors. And so that's why, you know, you see some old cars where they have, like, black fenders and a color body. 'Cause it just made sense. Like, just hit all the other parts with black. I mean, when you're doing a hot rod, you'll have that. You'll have all these, like, underside pieces that are just getting a satin black, and you'll have them all hanging up on a rack and just spray a bunch of them at once. Um, Ford reluctantly used Duco in '27, but he hated paying for something that he didn't make, especially something that GM-
But in the '30s, like late '20s, early '30s, he started doing research to develop paint from plants, and most notably that was soybeans. And in '34, he made a synthetic baked enamel that contained 35% soy oil, and the next year he was using a million gallons to paint Ford cars with it
Rose BB27: Yes. Dairy, Wisconsin dairy farmers, I believe I heard an interview with Tammy Baldwin, Representative Tammy Baldwin saying that, yes, the Wisconsin Dairy Council, like, doesn't...
Rose BB27: Dan Woods built the milk truck. We're gonna build the nut juice truck.
Emily BB27: You get one more and then we're done. One more. Make it good
Emily BB27: I got four answers for my... I think this is the most answers for my questions that I've gotten. I'm gonna start with, uh, JD. She says, "Answering your BB question about hydraulics or airbags, I believe hydraulics came first, and trains have been using them forever. That is what I have in my memory, LOL, but I don't know if it's true.
Rose BB27: I want another cup Emily BB27: I'm not mad about it. Uh, it's a cute spelling. "Hydraulics gained popularity first, but airbags might have actually come first?" Question mark. "I know there was a factory car in the '50s that used them, and it was, like, an auto-leveling thing." And then Rose says, "Yeah, I'm not really sure about the airbag hydraulic question.
Rose BB27: As usual Rose BB27: The lost car company at the bottom of the sea and Michelin owned them at one time. yeah, so it's the two CV which is 48
Rose BB27: it like yesterday Emily BB27: It outlawed any car having any part of the car lower than the bottom of its wheel rim So it couldn't be, you couldn't be lower than your wheel rim. Yeah.
I bet I can put that between the spring and the frame of my car, and I can lift it up." And so I'm gonna do an excerpt from Customrama because it's hilarious.
Well, knowing Sandy was across the street and waiting for me to leave the restaurant so he could give me a ticket in front of all my friends and teach them that this punk was not going to get away with breaking the law again, I pulled out onto the street and watched Sandy start his bike. I told my buddy to start pumping.
Emily BB27: Y- yeah, yeah. And later he hooked it all up to electronics, but he had his putty
Emily BB27: Uh, 'cause she doesn't like it when we go into car episodes, I don't think.
Emily BB27: Yeah, so this Ron guy did it before it sounds like, or he, he did it on a... Maybe Richard or what's the guy's name? The Heinz guy?
Rose BB27: it did sound like he only did this car. I've, I've never really done a deep dive into this
Rose BB27: What is the year of the big rig from Steven Spielberg's 1971 movie Duel?
Rose BB27: Nice. Drop the gavel. Here comes the judge.
About this episode
The hosts pivot from food talk into a Brain Buster on historical automotive coatings, including japanning and Ford’s plant-based paint research. They explain how different coating structures affect protection, contrasting “closed cellular” layers with porous primers. The discussion also briefly detours into safety-tech trivia, comparing hydraulics and airbags, before ending with a Duel truck question.
