Turning old signs to new signs
For some projects, I’ll get called on to make an old sign look new. Here is a recent example – Bel Air Shells in Garden Grove, Orange County CA.
The original sign seems like it has been there forever, but it’s probably about 40 years old. The design appears to have had neon in it. It had been painted and repainted, the neon and electrical components removed, then lettered by a sign painter with the current company name. More layers of paint, along with vinyl letters, followed. Finally, the paint had started chipping and peeling off. Even the address numbers were made old style – cutout plywood.
So, in thinking about how to approach making a new sign, I dreaded all the scraping, fixing peeling areas, etc. that would be necessary to bring it to life.
But – there was another way. I had the exact dimensions. I could use an overlay material to avoid the paint issues almost altogether. The overlay would be 1/8” aluminum composite – a plastic core with a thin veneer of aluminum both sides.
The face panels have a baked white enamel finish, so I masked the white letters and graphics and rolled on black paint. I peeled out the masking material and there they were – sign panels ready to install!
One more thought on that – many sign shops would use white vinyl letters and graphics, but those would eventually peel and shrink in the sun. How much better it is to have this powerfully strong layout with no chance of that happening. I expect this sign to last 10 years, easily.
See the sign in progress in the photo below…
Sign refurbish in progress – here you can see the two overlay panels (larger one underneath, smaller one on top). The sign was cleaned and loose paint scraped, primed and the returns painted black. The panels were installed with silicon on the back and screws to hold them in place. Later the screws were primed and painted black.
Here are photos of the completed sign…
You might be thinking about getting this kind of project done, Do you know where to start? I can tell you - contact me, Paul Borne (president of Big City Signs) to find out more.
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