Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Terminology help for the new/inexperienced.

On my way home from the annual trek out west to enjoy the car culture and auto/petro auction. (and get out of the cold weather) As always had a great time ... picked up some more knowledge for ceramic coatings for my side gig detailing cars. But ... some experiences got me thinking about passing on some help to those newer in the hobby...if you have anything to add as an experienced collector feel free to chime in.

At an auction or sale ... 'restored' is supposed to mean brought back to original or better condition. It doesn't mean bolting things together that never existed together and adding lights and paint. That's called a fantasy piece ... research the item. Just because it has fresh paint doesn't mean it's restored.

Secondly...and this one has me irritated...where do you think the huge influx of neon is coming from? When someone claims it's an original sign ... check to be sure it's not an original porcelain sign that's had a can added then punched for neon. It's no longer an original sign when it's been doctored like that. Research and know the difference.

I get it, at the end of the day it's the buyers responsibility...but I hate seeing thousands of dollars spent on a misperception. Ok...rant over.

Good idea for a thread, i can always go for some more knowledge. I'd like to see what some of you guys share.

There is so much fantasy stuff out there that is being passed original or reproduction, and its neither one. But, its not just this hobby, There are twice as many "Super Sport" Chevelles out there today than what rolled out of the factory.

If I have, say, a Standard Oil Pump, and I change it to a Shell pump, is there a term for that.(in the muscle car world its called a clone) and should something like this affect value?

Also, pumps.....To Gut Or Not To Gut???

IMO changing the brand of a gas pump from Standard to Shell does not alter its value or make it now fantasy. Keep in mind most often buyers for restored gas pumps are not super knowledgeable pump experts, just people looking for décor for their garage, man cave, or car collection. Usually gutting a pump is fine if its a 50s pump and preferred IMO, earlier visible pump wont look right without the internals.

Back in the day if a station rebranded from say Gulf to Texaco they just repainted the pumps. I've seen photos of pumps specifically made for Gulf, Mobil and Sunoco rebranded when the station brand name changed. Not all that common, but it was done.

Ok. I have a vending machine that was rebranded from Coke to Pepsi.