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Just purchased this Amoco sign today....It has a bend in it which straigtens out when mounted to a wall. However the sign is double-sided and I would like to hang it. I am afraid to try and bend it back to normal shape for fear of busting some of the porcelain paint. Anyone had any experience/luck with straightening a sign? Good idea/bad idea?

Thanks,
Clayton

I think some things are better off left alone & this is one of them..

It cracked when it was bent and it will pop off if bent back and then it is gone so get creative with the hanging of it because it would not look as cool as it does now when it's straight.
That sign has great colors and I would sugest just cleaning it with a toilet bowl tough stain remover like I use on my dirty porcelain signs. It would take the rust streaks out.

Dave,
I'm not questioning your knowledge in any way, but have you actually tried this on a bent sign only to have to porcelain pop off?
I'm asking because I have a bent Pennzoil sign, not bent quite as bad as this, but just like the original poster, I sure would love to get it straight.
I know this isn't the first time someone has asked this question, and the advice is always the same, leave it alone.

Last year I dug out a 7ft porcelain Spur sign that had been rolled into a tube. I tried to straighten it out as best I could. However it seemed that even straightening the minor bends caused porcelain to pop off along the seam. It always sucks to bend it back and then listen to pops and snaps for the next five minutes as the porcelain pops off.

Just a note. The Spur sign was the thinner porcelain/metal fron the 60's. You may have better luck if it's the more robust, older kind......

Just my experience if it helps.......

Yes you will do more damage by trying to straighten it out just put it against a wall with the best side out and enjoy it.

The problem with trying to straighten porcelainized metal is you are dealing with three surfaces, the underlying metal and two surfaces of porcelain. Each of these surfaces are under different tensions so straightening the piece is going to cause expansion of one porcelain surface and compaction of the other one. What will happen more often if you try to cold bend the piece is fracture of the porcelain.

If you could heat the area to be straightened and apply pressure to that area I believe it would be possible to eliminate some of the damage. However that would be a complicated process.

Here is a Tidewater sign that I straightened. You can see the additional porcelain loss in the before and after straightening pics. Evey sign I've tried looses more porcelain if it is near the bent areas.

Rod,
To what angle approx. was that bent prior to you trying to straighten it?

at least the damage
on the amoco is at the edges
and not at center of the sign. nice
survivor

at least the damage is at the edges
and not at center of the sign nice
survivor

Years ago I drove over some bent up Gulf signs. It did straighten them out with mimimal porcelain loss. They were kind of junk anyway so I wasn't that concerned.

All of these seem to have been much more creased than the orginal posters. His, like mine below, is more of a slow roll.

I don't know, I may get the guts to try the drive over trick some day. It's just that to have it go bad would really suck!

Steve, by the looks of your Pennzoil Sign I think I would get 2 thick pieces of plywood and 4 C Clamps and gradually compress the sign in the middle, like a sandwich before doing the "drive over method!" After compressing tight and flat, leave pressure on for a couple days for the metal to relax into flat position.
Ed Steagall.

PLEASE, Question my knowledge because I'm not right,,,, all the time at least,,, ha ha ha!
Yes, it's something learned by experience, terrible terrible experience,,, ugh!
It quickly gets you used to liking each sign just as it is because it's soooo much worse when you try to make it better.