Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Decals or Pump Plates?

Hi guys:

Another restoration question. I noticed a great deal of restorations have decals on them, instead of pump plates. The cost on getting 2 porcelain reproduction plates is about $40 or so, and the decals are around $20 a pair.

Outside of drilling holes for the plates, is there any disadvantage of getting plates instead of decals? I figure the plates would look nicer.

neither..I would get a pin stripper to paint the art work from the brand you choose, much better looking than a decal or repo pump plate..

this was painted on..

Apply your decals to magnetic sign material, hot glue screw heads on and it will look like a sign. Pump can be changed to another company as your collection changes direction w/o having to restore another pump[s]

i was thinking of using double sided tape like the one used on auto badges on the plates. how do you guys feel about that? i had the panels painted but i didn't get the screw holes filled so they are still there.

If I understand correctly....the screw holes are already there in the doors, and you have had steel panels painted and decals applied.
If the new panels are the same size as the previous pump plates. Then why not drill holes in the panels to match the doors and attach with screws?

the panels had a rectangular Texaco porcelain signs that left screw holes. i wanted to put decals after they where repainted but forgot to have the shop fill them in. the new porcelain sign is a little bigger then the original sign. so i either have to drill new holes and i don't know if i want to drill another set of holes. thats why i was thinking about double sided tape. or maybe ill get lucky and find signs with the same holes.

If the pump is a Texaco pump put on an original Texaco pump plate back on. The holes will line up and it will look better than a decal.

the porcelain sign defiantly looks better then a decal. but its dates 1986 so its not original and its beat up. the pumps looks new and it wouldn't look as nice with a beat up sign.

ok, so buy a new sign from vics. or if you put a decal on it your going to see the holes...i would either buy an original firechief sign, or a repo sign. unless you can live with the extra holes, then use a decal. chris

No offense to those that sell reproductions, but texaco signs are common and you can find an original in any budget range. Might be different if you were putting it outside and there was a risk of it being stolen....go original if the holes are already there.....I had T-Way design an old Texaco ethyl for me made out of magnetic material as there were no decals available i wanted. Turned out great.

Did any of the gas company's in the 50's use decals????

Just thinking aloud-what about putting a strong magnet on the back side of the panel to hold the plate in place without causing any damage to the paint?

Alex,
would you post a picture?
Randy

they did use decals in the 50's- more economical..

yes buying the signs from Vic's they are bigger then the one that was on so it will cover the holes.

thats what i was thinking to Dave, glue a magnet sheet to the back of the sign so i can change it any time i want.

Here is a pic of my Bennet 76 that I did a Texaco Ethyl. This actually has the Standard Oil bezel (window frame)...but I liked it as Texaco. I had an original globe and wanted to do it Ethyl. No one was making the decal I wanted at that time so I found some pics of an old Texaco Ethyl decal and had T-Way do his magic. I even did the "lead" sign in magnetic as well.

Forgot to add the pump.....

Easier to see:

so who is this T-way, and how do i get him to make those for me?

I have used rare earth magnets to hold original pump plates on and they are so strong, its hard to pry them off. I've never had any paint damage from them either! They're available in just about any size. I use some the size of a dime and they're very reasonable!

Either go to user list above to look him up or send a private message or here is his web site.
http://www.t-waysgraphics.com/

Thanks Alex, will do.

Alex, i found this picture with a pump thats has the same sign as yours.

Great picture! That's a pretty funky looking bracket coming off of the globe mount for the pricer box.

its picture from a gas station her on Long Island back in the day.

That's it. i think it is a neat decal. wonder what the posters on the fure chief pumps were for????

What I find funny is, a car wash is 95 cents and a gallon of gas 11 cents. Today at 4 bucks a gallon that's a 36 dollar car wash.

So, it's finally assembled. Looks great just need little tweaking. as you can see in the second picture. There are two sets of holes on one door. There was originally a Mobil sign and then a Texaco sign when i got the pump. When i had the doors painted i forgot to have the holes filled. My two ideas are, one get magnetic signs big enough to cover the holes or leave it so if i sell it the new owner can put what ever brand he wants. Any suggestions on what to do?

Any suggestions on what to do? [/quote]

at this point not many options- pump looks good..