'21 Bell New York Telephone Co. Hubcap

[magicbrain]

Just bought this '21 Bell New York Telephone Co. Hubcap - no other bidders for some reason? - looks to be in pretty good condition, just some minor edge chips & dirt/paint/varnish to remove.

[Key2871]

Good price to boot, congrats. Take another picture after you clean it up. Are you going to touch up the chips? Or just leave it as is.

[Sargeguy]

It looks like it just has paint and some adhesive stains.  Try Heavy Duty Easy-Off oven cleaner.  Then you  can re-sell it for $200

[Key2871]

Oh Yea, now that I look closer at the pictures,  it  looks like someone painted the wall and didn't care they got paint on it.

[magicbrain]

After a scrub the hubcap is looking pretty good - the only damage are some small edge chips here & there - Will try some Easy-Off on the more more stubborn varnish? & some black paint around the edge.
It's a little hard to see in the pictures and as others have found on their signs, there are two sets of finger marks in the white enamel on the back.

[Key2871]

Looking good! You got a deal.

[Fabius]

Nice sign at a good price. Once recently sold on eBay for about $220.

[Key2871]

Yea, no surprise. YOU did very well

[Sargeguy]

Don't worry about adhesive on the back-it addes character!.  Sometimes there is dark staining around the edges of signs that can be really tough to remove. 

I usually heat the sign in the oven on LOW for a few minutes before hitting it with the EZ Off. Make sure you do that outside and wear a mask when you use it.  It is lye so it will irritate your lungs if you inhale any.  Be careful if you are using steel wool, it may leave a gray wash on the sign.  If that happens, use a product called Iron-Out.

[magicbrain]

Don't worry about adhesive on the back-it adds character!

Agreed - I going to leave the back as is - the front has a brownish film from about 12 o'clock to 4 o'clock I will try to remove, other than that I am very happy with it.
Will leave it out in the sun for awhile before using Easy-Off with Scotch-Brite pads for nonstick cookware - these work really well without doing damage.