Speaker pole

[scalebowler]

After 3 years I finally got some speaker poles made. Started with the two speakers from the I-70 drive-in in Kansas City which I bought replacement parts from the original manufacturer. After I got those working I bought a junction box from the Starlite Drive-in in Neligh Nebraska and then for about a year I did nothing with them. I then got two more speakers that came from the Council Bluffs Drive-in (which was really cool since that was the first drive-in theater that I ever went to and they tore it down right after I went there) and I decided that those should go on the other junction box so I swapped them out and went on a search for another junction box. Contacted the I-70 and was told no but got a tour of the projection booth instead and then the following year I asked again and was told yes and got one of the Simplex junction boxes with the plastic colored dome on top. Bought some new parts for that and then everything sat for another year until today when I finally got the parts together and had a local gas station weld it for me. The weld is not perfect but I think it will hold and I can hide that once I paint it but they only charged me 30 bucks to weld both stands so I can't complain. Especially since the other places around town wanted 30-100 dollars to just weld up one. I plan to paint a small picture of the sign from each drive-in that the speakers came from on the base and I also got a cheap paint brush to paint the pole with so I can get the brush strokes (trying to make it just like the drive-in poles ) will post some more pics once I get it painted and wired up. Might even see about getting the light in the boxes to work again.

[sc1101]

Is the car part of the staged retro look? Kidding. Nice job on that. It will look even more awesome all painted up. I love the old drive in stuff and the memories it brings back.

[Creighton]

Speaks and car look great.
Creighton

[Eric]

great display... is that blue dome a light in the middle? Nice set up!

[scalebowler]

Is the car part of the staged retro look? Kidding. Nice job on that. It will look even more awesome all painted up. I love the old drive in stuff and the memories it brings back.

Haha no I was actually seeing if they were the right height by comparing this to a picture I took at the last time I visited the drive-in. This pole needs just a few inches taken off of it since it's a little too high.

[scalebowler]

great display... is that blue dome a light in the middle? Nice set up!

I think at one time it was. Have not had the top of that box off for a while so I don't remember if there was a light socket in there or not. I'll mess around with it when I go to wire it up and see. It's actually one of these boxes here

[cola62]

If that lit up it would look really cool.

[cohammer]

We still have a drive in not to far from me but with no speaker poles it just don't seem the same. Just tune it into your radio but the grand kids love it

[sc1101]

I agree if it lit up it would look sweet.

[SLIDER]

Count me in too!!  Got to get that light working!!  Looks awesome, cant wait to see your finished pictures....
Lucky we still have a few drive-ins left that are unmolested from the 50s.  Make at least one trip per summer.

[rayg]

cohammer, We have a drive in about 50 miles away and what some folks had was the drive-in speakers wired up to a radio hanging on the window for that authentic scratchy mono tone drive-in sound.   

Slider I got the same speaker hanger with the light, does yours only light up half of the top? I was told the lighted side was away from the car to help you find it in the dark and  the other side wasn't lite so there wasn't a light in your eyes during the movie... makes sense.

[Kilroy]

It also was a beacon so you wouldn't  smash into the pole.

Ray, I think there is still the Wyoming-Ford Drive In downriver from us

[scalebowler]

cohammer, We have a drive in about 50 miles away and what some folks had was the drive-in speakers wired up to a radio hanging on the window for that authentic scratchy mono tone drive-in sound.   

You know that's exactly what I plan to do with these. Also want to get a pair of those in car heaters and the junction box for them. Don't plan on using them but they are just one of those things that I think would be cool to have. Also saw the board in the junction box does have a spot for a light bulb but the socket was removed long ago. I did find a replacement online and I'll order that sometime soon.

[scalebowler]

Does anyone know where I might be able to find some disk blades from some farm equipment? I ended up cutting the fitting off one of those stands because they welded the base plate on upside down which was a safety issue because of the beveled edge being exposed (could just see someone walking up to the speakers and splitting a toe open on that) and long story short I ended up re welding the part and got the base too hot and is now very warped.

[Kilroy]

Unless you live near farm country, Try Ebay, or a John Deere Dealer.  I would also see if there is a Tractor Supply stop near you.

[scalebowler]

Unless you live near farm country, Try Ebay, or a John Deere Dealer.  I would also see if there is a Tractor Supply stop near you.

I actually have to hit tractor supply for some parts for my welder so I'll ask them. Think I might end up trying one outside of town since the one I was at before is kind of in the middle of the city. There are a ton of farming communities around me so I might just take one day and start hitting all the tractor dealers near by

[Kilroy]

i would think they can order you one.  Or  go to a Lighting shop, or Lowe's or Home Depot. Maybe a metal shade would work....

[Rebel]

Love it. Wife and my self fogged up a few windows a King Drive In, Russellville, Al. Still going strong today,,,,,,the drove in that is.


http://www.drive-ins.com/theater/altking

[Pat Pixley]

Here is one I did for myself .


I've done other for people   using other thing for the stands

[Eric]

Make it out of the MDF or thick heavy wood and router the edges like those off ebay and paint it... find that fitting that the pole fits in
then screw it to the material and hammertone it all.. I thought that looked really clean.

[scalebowler]

Those are some really nice looking bases but I kind of really want the disc blade. Was even thinking of possibly getting one of the notched ones and putting some lighting under that too. Just need to call some case and john deere dealers because I learned tractor supply orders theirs online and has them shipped to their store.

[scalebowler]

Got the disc blades! Were kind of expensive since I had to go to a John Deere dealer (although they were cheaper than the ones tractor supply was going to order for me). Like these ones much better than the other ones because these are kind of domed instead of being flat like the other ones I had were. Got some new pipe couplings and once I get those ready I should have two new bases made and one extra one for my parking meter. Too bad I can't find a source to get a ton of these for a low price and then I could make up a bunch of these for my candy machines and anything else that requires a pole mount.

[scalebowler]

Base after I welded the pipe fitting onto the disc blade



Base after painting it



Base with pole installed (actually went as far as taking a cheap paint brush and painting the pole with that so I could get the brush strokes like the poles at the drive-in have. Probably going a little too far on authenticity but whatever)

[scalebowler]

Also I DID NOT paint the pole with the junction box on it. That paint on the bottom of the box is from when the drive-in painted the poles and what I used to match the paint color (turns out rustoleum "aluminum" paint was a dead on match and may be the exact thing they used). With these drive-in speakers I prefer to leave them as they are when I get them with all the dirt, scratches and rust. Only thing I did replace was the speakers inside and the cords just to make them functional. Kind of feel that if I restored them I would be taking away some of their history.

[tkaz]

Wow, that came out great!  I like the idea of the disk harrow blade, are they heavy?  I have been looking for something similar for a lighting idea, and I think they would work out.

[Eric]

Very nice.... good work and great idea.  

[Eric]

Question those blades aren't sharp are they? .. they are used to just till the ground right... looks like the edges are
turned under... again great idea... what made you think of those?

[scalebowler]

Wow, that came out great!  I like the idea of the disk harrow blade, are they heavy?  I have been looking for something similar for a lighting idea, and I think they would work out.

Thanks! They are pretty heavy. These ones are about 18 inches in diameter and I have not weighed them but I would guess they are about 10-15 pounds.

[scalebowler]

Very nice.... good work and great idea. 

Thank you!

[scalebowler]

Question those blades aren't sharp are they? .. they are used to just till the ground right... looks like the edges are
turned under... again great idea... what made you think of those?

They are kind of sharp. Not like a razor blade but they will cut you if you run your hand across the edge. Actually one of the reasons I had to remake the bases because the gas station that welded the first ones welded one disk on upside down (they were flat ones not curved like these ones) and I could just see myself walking up to them at night or in the house barefoot and cutting my toe on them.

I got the idea for using the disc blades a few years ago when I contacted my teacher asking if he knew of anyone who could make a stand for me. He ended up having me call up a guy he knew and he suggested using one of those discs. He was also going to make them for me too but I ended up having a hard time finding them and it took a few years to find some discs I could afford so I ended up having to make them myself.

[Creighton]

Job well done there! Congrats.
Creighton

[Rebel]

Great job. Those disc make a great cook surface on an outside Turkey fryer after plugging the center hole.

[scalebowler]

Tried today at putting the logo from the drive-in that I bought the speakers from on the base but that did not go too well so I just painted over it. Maybe I'll decide to try again sometime  in the future but for now I'm just going to leave it as it is. Too bad I can't find a picture of their sign that's not a photograph. Could take that and print it out on some decal paper and just put a decal on.

[Creighton]

Send the image to my email. Should be able to fix it.
Creighton

[scalebowler]

Did not have them wired up yet but I did take the speakers outside to see how they looked with the rest of the setup. I think once they get wired up to light up they should look much better (and once I built a nicer stand to hold the sound equipment). Ended up watching Killer Klowns from Outer Space.

[sc1101]

Killer Klowns. LOL Look out for those cotton candy coccon's. Set up looks really good. The whole neighborhood will be over now.

[Creighton]

Cool, Great job.
Coming along well. Minor progress here as well.
Killer Klowns is right up there with several from the era.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mBVrY2B3zE
Appears to be in Italian but holds true to the original.
Creighton

[scalebowler]

Got my light socket for the junction box today and I think I discovered a design flaw with either the socket or the box. It seems that with the socket I got the terminal board in the center casts a shadow so that only half of the dome lights up and it looks really bad. So I plan to leave this one as it is and light the other speaker box that I have. (that one is only a light that lights up the pole so all I need is a low voltage light bulb. No big deal there)

[scalebowler]

Also have some plans for my theater. Since I just got a welder I was thinking about building a screen holder that will look similar to a real drive-in screen with some large letters hanging on the back that say "(what ever I decide to call it) Drive-in" and maybe a lighted sign showing what's playing. Figured it could be done quite easily using some electrical conduit and making it so the screen hooks onto the structure and everything else is hooked up to the structure (if that makes sense. I'll get some drawings made up soon). Also plan on replicating the drive way lights that they have at the drive-in. Figure I could make them out of some pipe fittings and some smaller diameter disk blades.

[scalebowler]

Got a chance to bring the speakers back to the drive-in. They worked GREAT! Pictures are not the best because the sun was going down pretty quick.



Think I pretty much nailed the height for the pole. Pretty good considering all I had was some pictures of my car and a couple random measurements from an old speaker pole installation drawing I found online