Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana Project of the day, hanging a Sinclair neon sign

Part of the collecting hobby has to do with displaying what you have. This is a project I helped with; not as hard as a restoration and we were able to see the results in a couple of hours. We needed to hang up a 48" Sinclair HC sign. The neon tubes were removed from it for shipping. If you do remove the tubes, make sure you mark them so you know which one goes where. Also, they will break if you are not careful.
The sign has glass or plastic standoffs that the neon tubes are fastened to with copper wire. You need to snug up the copper wire so the tubes do not move but do not tighten them to tight! First you need a steady work area;



Put the standoffs on first, then start on the tubes on the first side.



Make sure you have plenty of adult supervision for this part;

Once the first side is finished, repeat for the back side;



Wire the tubes together in series; from the transformer to the first tube, through the rest of the tubes and back to the transformer again. Plug it in to make sure everything works before you hang it.

Next, find a volunteer to climb the ladder. (May have to promiss him a couple beers after he gets done.



Make sure the sign is supported, the wiring is correct and nothing will fall against the tubes.

Finally, plug it in and enjoy the glow and buzz of the neon.

2 COOL Wes.... Thats not on the base is it? LOL....

Hi Wes- neat sign- Was this an original neon or was it make into a Neon- never saw one before?? thanks Don

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Wanted 5 quart cans

Looks good Wes. The satisfaction is when it is up & glowing

Hey, Whats that sign in the back with a ARCO man removing a Sinclair sign?

The Arco man taking down the Sinclair sign was used in some parts of the country when Sinclair stations were rebranded Arco. The Sinclair distributor back home switched to selling Arco along with a lot of other stations east of the Mississippi. The man is about life size.The sign is two piece tin, single sided. One part of the sign is the man and the second part is the Sinclair sign. From what I have seen, this sign is hard to find in good shape due to the tin rusting. Not a common sign as it was designed to be a tempory way of showing people that Sinclair is now Arco. I would guess they were only hung up from 6 months to a year.

I remember seeing the Sinclair-Arco transition signs in Mississippi around 1970. Turns out Arco didn't stay very long. In fact, Sinclair is starting to make a reappearance here in MS. There is a newly rebranded Sinclair C-store in Pontotoc.