Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Texaco Pump Plates from the 50s

THE CORRECT ANSWER….

There are extremely curved plates that were intentionally curved for visible pumps. Those were obviously manufactured that way.

HOWEVER, 50’s pump plates are NOT curved for gas pumps. Steel comes on rolls/coils and is stamped in a press to make a square. The curve on pump plates is just the curve from the original coil of steel from before it was made. This is the same from pump plates all the way up to 6 foot signs. The closer to the center of the coil of steel, the more ‘natural’ curve it’s going to have.

When steel signs are made, the rolled up coils of sheet steel are pulled from a reel, then run through a straightener then a feeder feeds them into the stamping press. The straightener doesn’t always get the natural curve out of the steel from the coil.

Don’t overthink this guys. They did NOT make slightly curved pump plates for certain 50’s pump models. They were all made the same.

-Steve