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Completed ProjectMack Trucks Neon Sign Watch as volunteer restoration specialist Cal Weldele restores this large neon sign. Click on thumbnail for larger image |
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Large cans make up the lettering for the "Mack Trucks". These cans are filled with neon tubing and transformers to power the neon. The cans are then covered with the large opaque letters as pictured on the right. The cans have already been repainted; and are now being measured for neon.
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This large bulldog sign is mounted above or below the lettering. This sign is backlit with fluorescent lights. Some of the plastic is cracked and the metal area of the sign will need to be repainted.
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The plastic cover is taken off and the electric wiring where the fluorescent tubes are held is visible.
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This sign was found in a "sign grave yard" after the Great Flood of 93' in St. Louis. So all of the electrical components are removed and discarded. The shell of the sign can now be sanded and painted.
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After the sign is painted, new fluorescent tubes and wiring are installed.
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Since some of the plastic around the bulldog was cracked the bulldog was cut out. New plastic is measured and will be cut to size.
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Here is an image of the finished bulldog sign lit up. When it is unplugged you can see that the cutout of the bulldog is spaced away from the plastic underneath it by about an inch.
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After work on the Bulldog was complete, work began on the neon lettering portion of the sign. After precisely measuring for neon, it was then made and installed into each of the letters of the sign.
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Here are two images of the lettering lit up, the first letter is shown without the cover, and the second has the cover, as it will appear when the sign is complete. The coverings for these letters have been remade with new plastic and new rubber edging.
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Each section of the sign is mounted to a cross beam so that it can be hung from the ceiling to specially designed racking inside the Antique Warehouse.
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The 'Mack' section of the sign with and without the letter coverings, fully mounted and lit, waiting to be hung in the Antique Warehouse.
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The sign is now hung from the ceiling with the specially designed rack. Above and below are images of the two sides of the sign hung together above the St. Louis 2004 Exposition's Mack Fire Truck. |
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