1935 Gas Station Resurrection

[DelayedZ]

Also don't leave it on overnight, had a Toyota that I was prepping, totally forgot about it, started working on other stuff. Came back the next morning and every body panel was wavy, oops.

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[HD FLHX]

I thought this was pretty neat and worth sharing. With all the BS that goes with Facebook it does have some shining points at times. I sold my old planishing hammer to a guy from a town about 25 miles to the NW of Perry and in conversion he showed me pics of a truck he was building. It had ties to the Milwaukee railroad (they had a rail yard in Perry) and what turns out to be a local painter. I shared the pics on the Station Facebook page and within 2hrs of posting it I had the entire back story on Raner's Decorating. One of many reasons small town USA is the best. FWIW the current owner is planning to leave the natural patina intact. A little piece of Perry history will live on.

 

[SkywalkerCR]

Joe,

Thank for the answer on the aircraft stripper. Another question that I am curious about.

You have had the opportunity to work on auto body sheet metal from cars of several past decades. How would you describe the sheet metal thickness and malleability of the 53 vs the later Ford models you worked on?

The reason I ask is that I have a friend of mine that has told me that the sheet metal used today is not really repairable due to it being so thin. He also said that the dies today are made differently from those in the past, and that the stamping process is shorter between draw times and that affects the metal....in his words it make the panels on new cars....truly throw away.

Thanks in advance for your answer and opinion.

Also, I love the Earl Scheib sign. I remember these commercials when I was a teenager.

 

[Loose Ctrl]

That is an awesome story. Thanks for sharing.


Aircraft paint stripper can build heat if left on to long, chemical reactions and all of that. I agree that moving it around will stop those reactions from happening or at least slow them down significantly. I've never left it on over an hour or so unless it was in small patches when trying to get the last bit of stubborn stuck on ****.

 

[HD FLHX]

Joe,

Thank for the answer on the aircraft stripper. Another question that I am curious about.

You have had the opportunity to work on auto body sheet metal from cars of several past decades. How would you describe the sheet metal thickness and malleability of the 53 vs the later Ford models you worked on?

The reason I ask is that I have a friend of mine that has told me that the sheet metal used today is not really repairable due to it being so thin. He also said that the dies today are made differently from those in the past, and that the stamping process is shorter between draw times and that affects the metal....in his words it make the panels on new cars....truly throw away.

Thanks in advance for your answer and opinion.

When I was still doing collision work for a living I worked on everything late model. It was a GM dealership so Olds, Buicks, Pontiacs & GMC trucks were our bread and butter, but I also pulled in a far share of Ford work because of my family. Every now and then an import and even a few BMW's. Generally speaking todays body panels are noticeably thinner than what used to come out of Detroit. Imports seemed even thinner as compared to the 90's/early 2000's domestics at the time. I'm sure some really smart person could go into how the metal alloys are different with some scientific analysis, but all thats beyond me.

This pic came up on my Instagram feed today and its a good example of your question. On late model cars today its very easy to tear a hole in a panel with a stud gun when pulling dents out. When pulling a dent out with the slide hammer the pin will rip off taking metal with it leaving a hole in the panel. Using the same stud gun on say a car of the 50's you are more likely to pull stud off without any harm to the metal and the dent usually remains.

 

[C_F]

Wow, Dino even got a full-on peck on the lips!

The story above about the Raner truck is pretty neat.

 

[Ss95003]

I just spent 3hours reading through this thread. What a great build and story. Congrats on a very cool place.

 

[SkywalkerCR]

Joe,

Thanks so much for the reply. Yes, I too have heard many "horror stories" from my friend who owns a body shop. The latest one he relayed to me was about some of the lower end Japanese and Korean cars. He told me that on several models the front fenders are bolted to the inner fender assembly with speed nuts that are spot welded from the underside. These fasteners are in turn exposed to all of the road dirt and soon corrode. He said if you have to remove one of the fenders, you have to take a reciprocating saw and cut through the bolts to get the fender off since most of the bolts have become corroded and will break the spot welds on the speed nuts if you try to remove them in a conventional way. The cars today are being designed to be "efficiently assembled" without consideration for dis-assembly repairs.

I think the stamping technology is also different today. It used to be that panels would be stamped through a series of dies (as many as 8 draws) to get to the final shape. I think today most stampings are completed in as few as 2 to 3 draws.....and you are correct, the metal alloys are probably formulated for these fewer draw processes.

Love the Dino cam picks! Dino could have his own dedicated thread in GJ. What a hoot....or you could publish a fashionable "coffee table book" with a collection of the pics from the Dino cam......LOL.

Please keep the progress pics coming on the 53.

 

[firebirdparts]

That is great that they are going to preserve that suburban as is. Those are great looking trucks.

 

[shortykorte]

Look who I ran into yesterday, Denise and DeNephew the Dinosaurs. Guess these are 4 footers for $1600 each.
The guy is in central Florida.


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[signcrafter]

Just saw your place on the news tonight unfortunately. Hope they catch that piece of ****.

http://whotv.com/2018/02/26/perry-police-searching-for-sinclair-station-vandal/

 

[txvwnut]

If he’s found can we all get a turn at him.

 

[SkywalkerCR]

It is time for some good video forensics, to look at the video footage 1/2 frame by 1/2 frame. You may be able to identify the suspect's coat and shoes for sure.

I would also contact the local pharmacies and see if anyone came in looking for first aid products for cut knuckles or fingers.

These actions may seem extreme, but more examples need to be made of these kind of people.

Just my two cents!

 

[Bob275]

People. Just. ****.

If only he broke his hand...

 

[HD FLHX]

True story...I had no idea channel 13 picked up this story until signcrafter posted on here.

 

[95riosnake]

Any damage other than the glass? That's a shame. Probably a drunk taking out his anger, but still a royal POS no matter what the state of mind. Even in a small town you just can't have nice things.

 

[N72727]

I saw the comments on Facebook and am glad you were able to repair the damage that could have been worser. Maybe this guy was drunk and will remain an isolated case. I'm sure most of the people who pass by admire your work as we do here.

 

[rmalkow2]

Sorry to hear that one bad apple had to mess with your display. You've made it fun for a whole bunch of people besides this jerk and had fun doing it. Hope the cops catch him.

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

What a Richard Cranium, hope they find him.

 

[HD FLHX]

As mentioned last night we had an incident where a jackass for lack of a better term felt it was necessary to punch the glass and break it out on the Power X pump Saturday evening. I have video of him on 3 different cameras. All the footage has been turned over to the police dept. I'm disappointed more than anything, but thankful it was something that could easly be fixed. No damage was done to the pump other than the to the glass face which has already been replaced.

I posted it on the stations facebook page Sunday afternoon and within 3 hours Perry news ran a story. The Perry Chief and local radio station ran stories on it yesterday. Channel 13, a Des Moines NBC station ran it on the 6 oclock news last night. The local support has been tremendous. That initial post on the station page had over 120 shares and 11k + views in 24hrs. Keep in mind Perry is roughly 7500ish population in size. I am very grateful for the local support. I feel confident the guy will be identified and an arrest made. If nothing else I think a bold statement has been made to not screw with the station.

 

[Loose Ctrl]

It's sad to see this happen. Unfortunately, it's a game younger people play around here. They find it manly to go around punching glass and screens without injuring themselves. It happens to gas pumps, ATMs, vending machines, phone booths, newspaper machines, almost anything with a glass front that sits outside with quick easy access.

 

[TimeWarpF100]

The chamber actually already does an annual car show downtown in August, usually the first or second friday evening. If they wanted to use the station to help promote it I would be fine with that, but I'm really not too interested in hosting anything.




Location has a lot to do with it, its not like its sitting outside my garage at my house. Being in the downtown business district the general mentality is its public space, even though it is private property. I expected it and am fine with it, they're not going to hurt it. I was actually surprised how many people would stop and ask permission to take pics with their cars in the front when I first set the pumps out. Now they just pull in and do it. The growth of the facebook page locally probably has contributed to that. I usually share any pics I come across with cars in front of the building.


I finally located the last can I needed to complete my can display. This is the entire early to mid 50's Sinclair product line.

Awesome!

All the stuff from my dad's Sinclair is most likely part of the earth now. It was left at the house when we all moved. Including the gas pump I am sure. Unless my older brother took it.

 

[slodat]

Joe,

You may want to think about switching out the these cameras with a model that does ultra-low light. All of my outdoor cameras have this type of sensor. They show full color with just my outdoor dusk til dawn lighting. And a lot of good detail. My goal was identification. Just a thought to consider..

 

[Big Dad]

Bad deal ,no idea why someone would do that other than maybe just a bad mood or jealous .

 

[zmotorsports]

As mentioned last night we had an incident where a jackass for lack of a better term felt it was necessary to punch the glass and break it out on the Power X pump Saturday evening. I have video of him on 3 different cameras. All the footage has been turned over to the police dept. I'm disappointed more than anything, but thankful it was something that could easly be fixed. No damage was done to the pump other than the to the glass face which has already been replaced.

I posted it on the stations facebook page Sunday afternoon and within 3 hours Perry news ran a story. The Perry Chief and local radio station ran stories on it yesterday. Channel 13, a Des Moines NBC station ran it on the 6 oclock news last night. The local support has been tremendous. That initial post on the station page had over 120 shares and 11k + views in 24hrs. Keep in mind Perry is roughly 7500ish population in size. I am very grateful for the local support. I feel confident the guy will be identified and an arrest made. If nothing else I think a bold statement has been made to not screw with the station.

It ***** that happened and takes place at all. It's sad what our society has become as far as vandalism and lack of respect for others. Hell, most people don't even respect themselves let alone anyone else's property.

I really enjoy following along on your little piece of history here.

 

[53PontiacSD]

Yeah, I agree with ZMotorsports, no respect. I'm with txvwnut, can we have some time with the jerk when they catch him? Glad you got it fixed.

 

[C_F]

That's great that the news & Police are on it so quickly! Hopefully someone will recognize the logo on the back of his jacket.

I'm glad he didn't have anything else in his hand, to do further damage to the pump.

 

[mmavet]

No respect for anything any more.

 

[HOTFR8]

Local paper today had a thing on Graffiti tags here even on cars in the street. At least you have footage of them breaking the glass. Hope they catch them and make them pay for the damages.

 

[BUGTHUG]

The one good thing is at least the glass is flat and not some obsolete curved glass model. Still *****

 

[95riosnake]

On the positive side of things, it's really impressive to see how much support your shop has in your community regarding the vandalism. It has to be a really good feeling to know people really appreciate what you've done for that landmark of a building. You've praised small town living many times in this thread, and I have to say I'm quite jealous.

 

[xtremek]

Uugggghhhhhhhh. I don't get this. I guess it's good that I don't. Sorry to hear about this.

 

[HD FLHX]

Awesome!

All the stuff from my dad's Sinclair is most likely part of the earth now. It was left at the house when we all moved. Including the gas pump I am sure. Unless my older brother took it.

Thanks Randy, Glad to see your back on Facebook. Hope your doing better.

 

[HD FLHX]

A couple original pretty rare items for display in the office. A Power X banner that would have been part of the Power X promation package, This would have been put around the base of the gas pump.

20180222_180229 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20180222_180701 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

I recently was able to obtain an original station attendant shirt. I am looking for a attendants hat like pictured if anyone happens to come across one please message me.

2018-03-02_04-36-48 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20180223_040844 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
2018-03-02_04-35-45 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20180223_040803 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

This poor boxer still doesn't know what to think of Dino..

20180227_101540 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20180227_101606 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

Power X pump repaired from what I hope will be a very isolated incident.

20180227_110820 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

 

[N72727]

Another Sinclair station attendant. The legend says : Cairo, IL 1940.
Love the bow tie. ©SHORPY.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

One of my great pet peeves is vandalism! I think this calls for a small TV placed in one of your windows with the screen to the outside playing a continuous video loop of the idiot that did the vandalism with a sign below asking for the identity and providing a phone number to call.

 

[HD FLHX]

An arrest was made this morning. I will update this when I get home.

 

[HOTFR8]

An arrest was made this morning. I will update this when I get home.

All that publicity must have helped.

 

[signcrafter]

Just saw it on the news. Glad he was caught.

 

[mmavet]

An arrest was made this morning. I will update this when I get home.

Now that calls for a happy dance.