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I dropped the as tank from my 69 today so I could revel in the beaauty of my tank sticker. Well, it was still there after 47 years of road schmutz and gas spillage, not to forget mouse poop. When I did this on my other 69 (a 427/400 coupe) back in 1995, the car was a relatively 'new' 26 years old. It was perfectly legible, altough the paper was extremely fragile. I put a new tank in the car, just to preserve the tank sticker.
Now, this one is another story. My eyes are 21 years older, and certainly no better then the last time. But I can't read much on this one.
Are there any forensic scientist geniuses out there who know what to do to remove the grime, and not remove the print underneath?
I dusted it off with a paintbrush (I watch the nature channel) and removed a lot of yuck, but it is still largely illegible.
Since you didn't complete your profile, I have no idea where you live. But if you reside in a city with a nice museum, talk to a curator in the art department. They should be able to give you some tips.
Not saying they will stop and help you, but they may offer some ideas. NASA has done some incredible restos on "lost causes." The sticker on my '70 BB looks like yours. I struck out while grazing around JSC's brain trust. At the time, NASA was going thru changes mandated by the current, soon to be former administration, and making NASA a worldwide force for proving climate change, or at least that was a persistent street rumor. Good luck for all of us with roached tank stickers.
RB
Hi sd,
I think you might work at getting a full size copy of another original 69 Corvette Order Copy that's in better condition. There are some in Bizzoco's 69 Corvette Guidebook and Dobbin's 68-72 Vet Vues Fact book that you could blow up.
Putting it right next to your sheet and then looking back and forth from one to the other may help you to spot some letters and numbers and their position which 'may' begin to help you decipher 'some' of what's printed on your sheet.
Having the sheet be readable is really great but listening to what the car has to say about what it is works too…..so don't be too dismayed if lot's of the information is lost on your sheet.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan
The part glued to my gas tank was all that was left. But there was quite a bit of information I could read on it. So I took a sawzall and cut a square of the gas tank out and saved it with the paper so I wouldnt damage the paper.
There are folks that are experts in 'document restoration'. They also know how to remove that sheet from the tank without further damaging it. AND that document can be photographed in many different wavelengths of light to help make the initial printing visible again.
Do some research on these specialists and, hopefully, you will find one in your area to assist you. If not, you might pick up some good tips from internet research (last resort).
From your photo it looks like fuel has spilled out of the tank and over your tank sticker. I have the same problem with mine. While the paper is relatively intact, nothing exists on it.
You can call one of your local larger museums and ask to speak with a paper conservator. That's what I did and sent some pics, they informed me that most likely there isn't anything that can be done.
What typically happens is the type set will disappear. If any gas leaked or splashed over the paper, the "letters & numbers" are gone, add to that the glue, chances are slim.
What you can try to do is backlight the paper. If you can lift up an edge of the paper, shine a flashlight from behind and see if you can see any of the typeset.
When I did mine all I could see were the "boxes" that where printed on the paper, all of the "letters & numbers" that should have been inside of those boxes were gone.
I am sure you know this, but be extremely careful with what you have found. It may not look like much, but it is the only tank sticker you'll ever have for the car.
One thing you may try is to get a high resolution HDR picture with a good DSLR camera and try manipulating the exposures in photoshop. Do you have a friend that's into photography?
Here's the pic of mine I used to pull codes from. The PO had badly damaged it removing it from the tank. This is what you want to avoid.
Last edited by JohnnyQuik; Dec 21, 2016 at 08:29 AM.
Document restoration folks have fluids which can dissolve glues, but which will not damage the paper or the printing (if there is some left). Also, these sheets were printed on 'impact' printers...so there could be some residual impact image of what was printed.
If you want to have ANY chance at salvaging that document, you need to AT LEAST discuss this with someone who has the right background and skill-sets to work with it.
At least you have one. Mine was in good shape when I removed it in the 80's. Unfortunately, someone (not me) trashed it thinking it was from another car.
At the time I wrote all the info on a separate piece of paper, so at least I have all the numbers etc.
any forensic scientists out there?
