56 Drive-In Theater Sign Restoration
Class 7: Monday, April 13th
Throughout this class, students documented the metal sign in order to have multiple reference pictures. This ensured that the final result would be accurate to the original sign. The sign was in decent shape with some damage to the edges as well as rust build up. There was also a build up of white “dust”, which was later removed. Some of the letters were worn down and couldn’t be seen clearly.
Here are additional documentation pictures of the lettering, sides of the sign, and the end pieces. The sides had metal strips that needed to be re-bolted to the sign at a later date.
This picture shows the back of the sign. As you can see, the paint was vibrant and paint samples could be taken from the area. Metal strips would have to be installed at a later date in order to stabilize and strengthen the back.
Later in the class, the students figured out that the paint colors were much more vibrant when washed with a soaked cloth.This picture shows the comparison in the paint colors. We then matched the paint colors using the Sherwin Williams sample book. Maria recorded the final sample colors so Professor Abraham could purchase the paint. The students had a difficult time deciphering which blue was used. We decided that the lighter blue was added later, and the darker blue was the original color. While half of the class was working on the paint samples, the other half was creating an AutoCAD template.
Below are images of Sophie cleaning the sign with a damp rag.
Before sanding and removing the rust, students matched up the AutoCAD template to the sign. There were some differences at first, but we realised that the sides aren’t symmetrical. Metal reinforcement strips were added to insure that the middle wouldn’t fold up and dent. At the end of class, students began to sand the paint down.
Class 8: Wednesday, April 15th
Below are pictures of the students looking at the AutoCAD templates. At this point, the students were thinking about laser cutting wooden templates for the lettering.
Class 9: Monday, April 20th
Students continued to remove the paint. Once we realised that sanding was taking too long, we switched to paint scrapers. Students were careful to not scratch the surface of the sign. Professor Abraham opted to not remove the rust with Naval Jelly. The primer coat would seal the rust so that it wouldn’t eat through the coats of paint. Students finished sanding and scraping the sign. Once all of the paint was off, the students used paint thinner to clean off the metal sign including any remaining paint.
Class 11: Monday, April 27th
Professor Abraham purchased additional reinforcement strips for the back of the sign, and installed them around the perimeter. For many of the students, this was their first time using a drill. Once the sign was completely stabilized, students to turns to spray on a grey primer coat. The signs were allowed to dry overnight in the workshop shed.
Class 12: Wednesday, April 29th
Students lightly sanded the first primer coat and added a second coat. Below are pictures of students spraying the second coat of primer paint.
Class 13: Monday, May 4th
Students brought the sign into the building and painted the first coat of “True Blue” paint. The first few coats were painted on with coarse haired brushes, which we later found out they created unwanted brush strokes which can be seen in the image below.
Class 14: Wednesday, May 6th
Students sanded the first coat of blue paint and were allowed to practice painting letters for the sign. There was discussion later in the day with graduate students about how to properly paint the letters. The wooden stencils were basically tossed out, and we opted to either hand paint or use decal paper. Based on the practice letters, Professor Abraham and the graduate students leaned towards using the decal paper. Below is an image of students sanding the panels.
Class 15: Monday, May 11th
Students took turns and used rollers to paint on a second coat of blue paint. By using roller, some of the brush strokes were eliminated.
Class 16: Wednesday, May 13th
Students sanded the second coat of blue paint with a very fine grit of sandpaper. Coarser sandpaper was used to remove and paint build up around the holes. Amanda volunteered to use her air brush equipment for next class in order to get a smoother coat of paint on the signs.
Class 17: Monday, May 18th
Students sanded the blue paint down once again. Amanda allowed many of the students to use the airbrush equipment to add another coat to the sign. The paint sprayed unevenly, but the class decided to just thin the paint out in the next class and add another coat.
Class 18: Wednesday, May 20th
Here is a picture of Amanda using the airbrush gun. I helped her spray one of the panels, but the paint was spraying to thick so it began to run. We adjusted the gun and got the consistency and spray pattern just right. We decided to sand the one panel down in the next class and repaint it.
Amanda worked individually to add another coat of paint to the sign and correct the drips. Because this was the last week of the quarter, Professor Abraham decided to hand the project over to a few graduate students that were staying in Savannah for the summer.
Class 19: Monday, May 25th
At the request of George and Missy Elder, undergraduate students in Preservation Technology are restoring a drive-in movie theatre sign located in Statesboro. The students are restoring six panels in total, which will be reassembled and placed in the history museum in Statesboro. The project helps teach the students proper restoration techniques including documentation, paint matching, tracing, cleaning, and painting. Over a six week period, students documented the sign, created templates, scraped the existing paint off, sanded, cleaned the metal, applied primer paint, added a top coat. Several graduate students will help to stencil the letters and numbers back on the sign, which will complete the project. These hands-on techniques can be applied to future restoration projects.
