Posted on April 23, 1999 at 18:03:49:
What color paint should I use to faithfully restore my old gas pump?
The book,
Gas
Pump Collectors Guide, has a chapter all about the colors used by different
oil companies on different gas pumps. The authors list PPG paint codes for
many oil company colors and explain the color schemes used in two-toning
by many oil companies.
In January 1999, automotive paint companies and the U.S. EPA agreed to enact
The National Rule. This is a comprehensive plan for environmental compliance.
For us, collectors and restorers of old gas pumps and signs, this means that
most old style paints will no longer be available after present stock is
depleted. There is a variance to the rule for lacquers applied to antique
and classic cars. New EPA compliant paints are formulated differently and
often cannot be mixed to match old color formulas.
All this new technology does have an up-side. Many auto paint jobbers now
have computer color scanners that will make up a compliant paint formula
from even a small sample of paint color. Collectors can have known accurate
colors scanned to get the paint they need. One way to do this, is to have
a jobber scan an original porcelain sign or pump plate that contains the
company colors you need.
If you find formulas for oil company colors that are acceptably accurate,
please share that information on our Shop
Talk forum. Search the forum for the words - color - or - paint - to
find messages relating to this topic.