My retro Speed Shop sign build

[L84ARACE]

This is a project I've been messing around with this winter. It started out life as a 8"x10"x8' long piece of hvac ductwork that I pulled out of an attic, and radiused the ends for an art deco look.
**Warning: I have no idea what I'm doing but here goes....

Here is a basic mock-up of the general idea before paint & lettering.

The main body primered and ready for paint.....

After painting the base coat with a $2 roller from Dollar General I am ready for lettering. I made a stencil with a font in AutoCad and printed it out to trace.

Much more to come.......

 

[nine4gmc]

Looking good!, What did you use for the engine turned strips?

 

[L84ARACE]

.....I carved out the letters with an exacto knife and traced the grooves in the metal with a pencil......

Traced in white.....

And the white is on....

And here we go with the black outline. See my practice letter 'E' in the background? I am trying to teach myself how to letter as I go so bear with me. I am using regular latex paint and some craft brushes that I had from Hobby Lobby.....

Coming along.......

More to come later.....

 

[Catadj78]

 

[L84ARACE]

Just some 1/8" thick 1 1/2" flat metal stock. I'll have more on that later.

 

[GN4WHLN]

You sir, have my full attention. That looks very cool and fun.

 

[Garage Junky]

Awesome idea, and great repurposing of duct work. I'll be checking in for updates.

 

[58Yeoman]

Lookin' good. I'm surprised that some metal worker hasn't made an Alemite cabinet clone...at least one that's similar.

 

[L84ARACE]

Fully lettered.....

Adding some stripes on the sides......

To be cont'd.......

 

[fnieto]

Bitchin!

 

[eastbaysubaru]

Looks great!

-Brian

 

[38Chevy454]

Looks great, nice repurpose of the old ducting!

 

[^&right]

VERY cool!

 

[Beater5liter]

Jealous...of sign and skills.

 

[howsths]

An awesome addition for your shop! Great work!

 

[dladcock]

Wow. Very creative use of "stuff". Now, are you planning to hang this in the house.... it is that nice, or in the shop? Lighting of any sort?

I ask about the lights because I just found a source of LED lights on a ribbon and I just know they would be cool on a project. Just haven't figured out what the project should be.

Great job!

dla

 

[colt zantop]

I'm so glad you made a separate thread for this! Looks great so far!

 

[G19Tony]

For someone that doesn't know what he's doing... You sure know what you're doing!

 

[jon72vega]

Very Cool!

 

[gjz30075]

For someone that doesn't know what he's doing... You sure know what you're doing!

Agree. Following this one.

 

[L84ARACE]

Wow. Very creative use of "stuff". Now, are you planning to hang this in the house.... it is that nice, or in the shop? Lighting of any sort?

I ask about the lights because I just found a source of LED lights on a ribbon and I just know they would be cool on a project. Just haven't figured out what the project should be.

Great job!

dla

Yes I have a strand of 7 bulbs that will be mounted in the top metal trim piece to give it a marquee look. Will have pics later.
It's going up in my garage as a centerpiece.

Thanks for the comments everyone

 

[dladcock]

Lights will be sweet. Looking around your shop, I can see that your "don't know what I'm doing" makes my I thought I knew what I'm doing look like ****.

Good job.

dla

 

[70Swinger440]

I know what the half circle piece is at the top. It's half of a '62 Plymouth dog dish hubcap.

 

[L84ARACE]

Lights will be sweet. Looking around your shop, I can see that your "don't know what I'm doing" makes my I thought I knew what I'm doing look like ****.

Good job.

dla

Thanks, I'm much more familiar with the woodworking end of things, metal fab is a little out of my depth right now.

 

[L84ARACE]

I know what the half circle piece is at the top. It's half of a '62 Plymouth dog dish hubcap.

Thanks, I really wasn't sure what year it was. It had been laying around my garage and I figured I'd put it to use.

 

[rburke65]

Looking great buddy! Very nice!

 

[Blackmarket]

Very cool. Waiting to see the finished product.

 

[pancho400cid]

Great "vision"....

Great execution......

 

[Capt Chrysler]

Nice work! Can you tell me more about the font program for the letters?

Capt. Chrysler

 

[Model A Fan]

That's quite a cool sign. I am constantly finding myself inspired by people's resourcefulness and ingenuity here. My subscription list keeps growing and this will be going under the folder "Cool Project Ideas" (that I will try to replicate, but maybe weakly). I love the sign and will keep following this one for sure.

 

[1/2 Cup]

To quote another member Rivenhewn, form, function and aesthetics, well done.

Sweet.

 

[gungatim]

That looks AWESOME! very creative. now you need to put it outside to weather for a while and those idiot pickers will come and pay huge money for it...

 

[joshs74nova]

That looks really awesome. My uncle had a speed shop and it got picked by American Pickers last year. Google Rocco and Cheater's speed shop neon. He sold the original sign years ago to someone from up north and he has since redone it.

Your idea looks great and unfortunately gives me another new project. Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[L84ARACE]

To engine turn the metal trim I used a wire brush attachment for my drill press with a hose clamp around it to keep it from fraying.

For the center piece I took the Plymouth hub cap.........

And hacked it right in half..........

I plan on drilling holes in the 7 circles in the hubcap and illuminate them somehow.

 

[Falcon67]

I should not even be looking at this, got too many projects already. Excellent re-purpose of material!

 

[Gixxer603]

Looks great

 

[L84ARACE]

I drilled holes in the top trim piece for my marquee lights.....

Twist in the bulbs......

Lit up........

I will probably find some different softer bulbs that are round instead of these......

I polished some old brass bolts and used them for the trim fasteners.....

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Very nice work! What type of primer did you have to use to get it to stick to the galvy sheetmetal?

Tommy

 

[L84ARACE]

Nice work! Can you tell me more about the font program for the letters?

Capt. Chrysler

AutoCad is a drawing program which has several of it's own fonts within. But actually what I did was find a font on the internet and copied & pasted it into ACAD and traced it. Then I printed it out to full scale how I wanted it. Luckily at work we have a large printer that can handle up to 36" wide sheets of paper.

 

[L84ARACE]

Very nice work! What type of primer did you have to use to get it to stick to the galvy sheetmetal?

Tommy

I just used some regular no name brand rattle can primer and it stuck. This was an old piece of ductwork, probably 40 years old, so it was pretty dull. Maybe that helped.