Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Porcelain repairs on signs?

I posted a large Mohawk Tires sign in the For Sale section, if you look at that picture you'll see that the first part of the sign is in pretty decent condition, but the second half is far less so. I would think this would be a worthwhile repair on the major damage on the second piece. Not a full blown restoration mind you but more a sympathetic one so the panels more closely match.

This got me to wondering whether anyone in the forums has repaired signs using repair kits like are used on porcelain tubs and sinks? I've never used these kits, though have seen repairs done on some DIY home repair shows on the TV and it looks pretty straightforward.

My guess the hardest part would be color matching/mixing?

Any ideas on this?

NO! What works is whatever brand of filler you want to call it. Bondo!! then paint to match

Larry

I think restoration takes away from the sign. If a sign is porcelain, I feel you should keep it that way. The material cost(paint) can get expensive. I would leave as Is. I did clear coat a Firestone Sign I have because It looked bad and Now looks great. That's is as far as I would go. It is only original once!!

Just paint in the missing colors. The only difference that a sign restorer would do is fill w/ Bondo to get the relief then Repaint the whole sign. In the past most have found out that a total resto is not worth the cost EXCEPT for their OWN ENJOYMENT. When it goes to auction, it was wasted money.

A GooD sign restorer will fill and only color match and (blend)the damaged area. anybody can paint a whole sign. well maybe not everybody

If you repair it, will you mark it as restored so the next buyer will know it is not original?

you repair it, will you mark it as restored so the next buyer will know it is not original?

If you couldn't tell it had been repaired then someone did a darned good job. I've never seen a repaired sign that I could,t tell it.
I've repaired several porcelain signs using the body filler-touch up method. That it tackling only the damaged portions of the sign. ( paint doesn't stick to porcelain. I try to recreate crazing, rust stains for the blend effect. Paint has to be tinted to match surrounding areas, and on and on and on.
35 + years sign painting help a little too.

I've seen a few restored signs that look excellent but none that should be marked. Madison,I think you are splitting hairs on that one. Carry a quarter, pocket knife, keys or razor blade for a quick tried and true test. Never saw a blade slide on a restored sign like porcelain. None of the above should scratch porcelain with light pressure but the will scratch or catch on a restored area.

Have you ever seen a repaired sign by Amistadi?

I wouldn't want to do a repaint except in a case where the whole sign was a loss... I have a Dr Pepper for that, it's a 1 out of 10, the metal being good but the paint totally gone. As far as marking it restored, have no problem with that at all.

That Mohawk sign is indeed missing a bite off the upper right corner of the far right end, probably cut to fit an awning is my guess. What got me to thinking about the restoration was how good panel 1 was compared to panel 2.

I figured repairs by a professional would be costly and was wondering if anyone had used the aftermarket porcelain repair kits which to me would seem a far better technique than bondo for a decent resto especially if the sign were going to be spot repaired rather than a full paint job.

I think if you have a sign that is otherwise junk, then it's ok to repair and touch it up. I picked up this flange sign the other day and had in mind to try to fix it. I woundn't even want it in the condition it was in. I didn't spend a lot of time on it, i just cut the top of the bulls eye off and welded in new metal, welded up a few pin holes, filled the chips and touched it up with a airbrush. No need to mark it, you can tell, but it looks a lot better hanging on the wall.

Decent repair and as you say it looks good at distance.