Old License plate restoration

[Jim S.]

[Brad K.]

Re: Old License plate restoration

Where do you plan to get the replacement stickers? E-bay? Or do you have another source?

[Jim S.]

Re: Old License plate restoration

Brad,

Had not thought about it . Are you saying you can get older year stickers on E-bay ?

[Jim D.]

Re: Old License plate restoration

Brad,

Had not thought about it . Are you saying you can get older year stickers on E-bay ?

There are several places that sell repo stickers for most states. Google is your friend.

P.S. Jim, If you use lacquer paint, you won't have to wait 7 days between procedures. Enamel will wrinkle as you found out.

[Jim S.]

Re: Old License plate restoration

Hi Jim,

Good tip and heads-up for some of those who were asking me how-to .

Mine will probably always remain wall art, and my painting skills max out at rattle cans .Should one assume, again for the sake of the others , that if you were going to use them on an old car , that the lacquer paint would hold up better as well ?

Jim

[Brad K.]

Re: Old License plate restoration

Jim.....Yes you can buy repo and original stickers off e-bay....I have purchased several....But....When I applied for using an original license plate for daily use on my '59....they phoned me and asked where had I obtained my plate and sticker.....I was honest with them and told them "e-bay of course". They then told me that I should never, ever apply with this office in the future. They got downright incensed with me and told me that "original" means "original" and that I needed to be the "original" owner of the car as well. And the license plate should literally be the "original" plate on the car. Absolutely none of these expectations were in any documents prior to my sending in the application. if you or anyone else plan to take advantage of your particular state's licensing laws....Deny that you ever heard it from me....but I think you might be a little less than honest with them. There is absolutely no way they have any records of which car had which license plate over 50 years ago.

[Jim D.]

Re: Old License plate restoration

Brad, you didn't say which screwed up state treated you like that. Fortunately in my state, Wa., they don't care where you get a plate or if you restore it. In fact, if you have two plates, you can put them on two different cars because that plate number is not "attached" to any vehicle. If it is "run" by a LEO it will come up as non-existent. Sorry your state is the way it is.

[Jim S.]

Re: Old License plate restoration

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Alright , Update !

Just finished the second plate following my own procedure, Here it is, still Tacky .

The only thing I did differently was use my finger in a damp paint thinner dipped rag on the small letters. It is faster,easier and more controllable than the paper towel swaps, and therefore caused less damage , or smudging , to the surrounding area !

You now know everything I know so have fun and good luck.

Jim

[Brad K.]

Re: Old License plate restoration

There's more to the story.....The lady that phoned me from the State License Bureau (Missouri) must have been a young newbie on the job. When I sent in my application I took a photo of the plate that I was to use on the car. It was a 1959 plate with a 1960 sticker, because that's what you put on a 1959 car.....because the license expired in 1960. Anyone who bought a new car in 1959 knows that. "No!" she replied....."What you need is a 1959 plate AND a 1959 sticker". "That's OK", I said, "I'll put on a 1959 sticker for you..." That's when she blew up at me and started in about the "originality" thing. That's when I just gave up.....

[Domenic T.]

Re: Old License plate restoration

Brad,
I had a somewhat similar situation here in CA. I own a few motorcycles from the 50's and only one had plates. I also have a 1964 motorcycle that had the same black & yellow plate. when I had the 1957 inspected after restoration I asked if I could use that plate as it was the same color and I had paperwork that it was actually my plate. She refused telling me that the plate had to be a 1957?? Maybe there is a letter code on different year plates but she looked to be about 30 years old and they don't even have records that go back that far?

Dom

[Brad K.]

Re: Old License plate restoration

Yeah.....I just kind of gave up....Sometime in the future I think I'm gonna call the Director of Revenue and ask him for the REAL story on how to get an original plate on my car......

[Tom B.]

Re: Old License plate restoration

You've inspired me to tackle my plate restoration. I've used your process on other items over the years (such as finned valve covers) but was skeptical about trying it on my plates. In Ohio they don't care where the plate came from as long as it's the same year as the car and is in serviceable condition, original or restored. We didn't have stickers on our plates back then either. We actually buy an antique plate which is registered to the car and has to be carried in the trunk when the vintage plates are on the car. I'm just worried about matching the creamy white and red letters correctly.

Tom

[Jim S.]

Re: Old License plate restoration

Tom,

That's me , Mr. Inspiration . I had no idea this post would spark so much interest . I really was just trying to kill some time by sprucing up my wall art . I have to admit however, that even for me it took on a world of its own once I decided to do it , and how good you could get them to turn out .

Your post brings up two more things I learned during the process .

One of them is that the internet is indeed your friend. I got the exact colors for the plates by reading what others had tried and used before me. The posts ranged the gamut from taking your plates to a paint store for color matching and mixing, to naming the exact maker and color name of the rattle cans I wound up using .Took all that time and guess work away ! So see if you can find a post where somebody has already tried , liked, and will name the color used on their old Ohio plates .

Secondly, the second blue and yellow Cal plate was the third one I did this way . It came out so much better then the first two that it surprised
me ! I guess the old adage of "practice makes perfect" has some merit after all . So if you have some old plates you don't care about, or as much about , I would practice on them first. Then do the "original to my car and I want it perfect " plate afterwards.

Have Fun !

Jim

PS. You mean this white and red ?

[Jim H.]

Re: Old License plate restoration

Jim,

Will you share w/us the paints you used on your California plates? Your colors look dead on.

JCH

[Brian M.]

Re: Old License plate restoration

Speaking of wall art.Assorted pics 2014 555.jpg