Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion PORCELAIN SIGN RESTORATION......

i've seen WAYYYY more repop signs aged to look old then fraudulently passed off as originals as i have perfectly restored originals passed of as unrestored. first, its much cheaper to start with a $15 repop & easier to age (free). the original will cost more in the beginning then add to the cost by restoring it & would still be a gamble to actually pass it off. i restore signs for me to keep & occasinally do one for a customer. luckily, i know how to do the resto process & it provides me a way to have a very presentable wall hanger without breaking my budget. my wallet is much happier with a nice looking $150 restored sign on the wall than a pristine $800 original.

Good point, that was the good thing about Layne and Jim, they didn't make the sign perfect and you could tell there was work done by looking carefully. I think that it would be fairly easy to spot a restoration even more so than a repop, look at folks like treasureray, they make lots of money selling repo garbage, the restored market has tanked. there was an article in PCM I think many years ago about restored signs being worth about half to 3/4 of a good original, it's way less now. Personally I would much rather own an 8 or above sign and leave it alone than a resto. the signs I had done (3) were very rare and I doubted at the time I'd find another, that of course was pre ebay. I've had a couple done since then but they didn't have any value to me as is. The ones I've sold I have made very clear about the resto. I offered one to someone on here and he declined because it was a resto. Down the line who knows, hopefully it stays in honest hands. I think the sheer volume of repo stuff has overwhelmed ebay and antique malls but I also think it's relatively few people who blatantly deceive and most of us know who they are. Of course that doesn't help when this stuff changes hands a few times.

Wow Bob, I guess I'm a newbie. I've only been collecting for about 18 years. Never worked in a station, but I did hang out at a couple stations my buddies worked at, and prior to that the station my brother worked at. Yeah, they cleaned and even painted the pumps and curbs and light poles but not the signs. I later found out why. I have a friend that used to own several stations. When he'd place an order for oil, ATF, anti-freeze, etc. there was a place on the order form for signs. He said the signs were free and he wished he would have ordered a bunch because he sold them for pretty good money when he got out of the station business.
Good to see you back by the way!

Like Rick said, what they did to keep their stations presentable back in the day is different than what's going on in the hobby today. I've seen some incredible sign restorations that very few in the hobby could tell had been restored. Sooner or later someone is going to get screwed when they think they are buying a mint original but its actually a restored sign. Not the same thing as a touched up sign as Bob mentioned.

If you watch the auction results you'll see that restored signs (when they're advertised as such) don't bring near the money of an unrestored sign in lesser condition.

Sellersrodshop, As the value goes up the higher the probability someone will pass off a restored sign as original. Think in terms of a $5000 restored sign VS a $15,000 mint original.

What can I say Bob? Been at it since '65, the 'Ol man started in '50. A couple of weeks ago the local Model A Club stopped by after the Unique Tin Car Show. A couple of them, who collected with Dad, commented that I had a nice collection, for a newby.... LOL

Here is a good example, http://www.ebay.com/itm/VERY-RARE-ORIGIN...=item336c5c8aaf

This guy tried selling this on this site for $1350. now it is on ebay for $1500. It was and is advertised as a restored sign. When is the last time you saw an Oilzum sign for sale, If this was not advertised as restored it would have been snatched up immediatley, But, if this does get sold, the buyer may not advertise it as being restored if he sells it and that is where the trouble starts

Sign restoration is a skilled trade..... I would not consider any sign restorer an artist. The works of art, are the original pieces. Art is the ability to capture your thoughts and images as you interpret them. Not coloring between the lines!

I think artist is a figure of speech, like when someone is very good at their profession, not in the literal sense.

Sorry.... My post seems a bit abrasive.

thermoman - I wonder if you've seen the work of a really good sign restoration expert? Say on a Conoco minuteman or a Kelly Tires girl in the car? These people are truly artists in my book - in all senses of the word. Sign restoration is DEFINITELY NOT coloring between the lines! No offense, but I just want to give credit where I think it's due. No matter which side of the "restoration" fence your on - I can respect their talents.

To further the debate.....

Some of you have said they would NEVER buy a restored sign, and restoring a sign devalues it to the point of being undesirable.

Ponder this.
What if the said sign was, say, one of only two or three known, worth pretty big $$$, and had neat graphics?

Touch it up and have a crappy sign?
Restore one side?
Restore both sides ?

Just curious......

I would probably just have a crappy sign, if it were only one of a couple known. For me, restoring it just wouldn't be an option, no matter how rare it was. I don't think I'd touch it up, either. That's just my opinion, though.

I have an old Triple Diamond International sign that needs restoring, does anyone know of someone in the business? I would appreciate a name-fone number. Just want it painted up nice,not the full porcelain treatment. Tnx Terry

"BOB" GLAD TO SEE YOUR BACK & OK ....WE MISSED YA BUDDIE!

Lebaron and VanKannel are the two I know of. Have not used either - but seem to do nice work that I have seen. No contact info sorry.....

Earl, oops wrong forum. Mike, The problem I have with restored signs is that there are some very good restorations being done that are practically impossible to tell they have been restored. Sooner or later someone is going to get screwed.

Touched up doesn't mean a sign has to look crappy. I've touched up a few signs that looked very presentable, but on close inspection it was easy to tell they had been touched up.

If I had a really rare sign that had allot of damage I'd probably just touch it up or enjoy it as is.

What would you do Mike?