Restoring License Plates - Crack Repair?

30Tudor

30Tudor

Senior Member
I am in the process of restoring some llicense plates. One the plates (see picture) has a crack around and through the mounting holes. Any thoughts on how to fix these? Options being considered are brazing, silver solder or regular 50/50 solder? Technique?

Thanks for your advice.
 

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I used a very small acetelyn torch. It has to be strong because this is what holds the plate on.
 

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There is one Fordbarner that cuts license plates vertically for the numbers or letters that he wants, then welds them back together to form the plate that he wants. I hope he chimes in here.
 
Thanks for your replies. Unfortunately I don't have a TIG welder let along enough experience to try it on very thin metal. I am now down to thinking about either silver solder or brazing. Silver solder sounds like it should be the easiest, however, a lot of people warn about warping the steel with the heat with all alternatives. I have an extra plate I can practise on.
 
30Tudor said:
Thanks for your replies. Unfortunately I don't have a TIG welder let along enough experience to try it on very thin metal. I am now down to thinking about either silver solder or brazing. Silver solder sounds like it should be the easiest, however, a lot of people warn about warping the steel with the heat with all alternatives. I have an extra plate I can practise on.
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If you can't weld it, find someone that can.
 
I wanted to update this post I created earlier this year regarding repairing cracks and holes in a licence plate.

I ended up using silver solder after speaking with a welding expert. He assured me it would hold up as good as anything. I haven't put the plates on my car yet, however, I am very pleased with the results.

I used the technique outlined at http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87382 which is fairly straight forward and extremely easy to do with precision. This technique works very well with a plate that isn't flat which makes roller application of the numbers difficult. I don't like the hand painted approach as it just doesn't look authentic no matter how steady your hand is (http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/111.cfm) as it is hard to get the thickness uniform. My plates probably turned out better than the originals (see pictures) which would not make a purest very happy. I guess if I had been making these in a jail I wouldn't have cared as much.

I was able to match the original color based on a spray bomb/can I found at a hardware store. I would never (emphasise "never") use a spray bomb approach again as I ended up spending more time fixing problems (particularly orange peel and cracking) because the paint takes forever to harden making the multiple layers a challenge. I tried drying the paint using a lamp and under the hot sun and it helped - but not much). I concluded you need to use a good quality paint where the volatiles flash off quickly. I am doing another set for a friend this winter using sign paint so we'll see if that works better.

Hope this is useful to somebody out there.
 

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Beautiful job and thanks for explaining it.



Why does the second plate has no number.

..
 
Ross/Kzoo said:
There is one Fordbarner that cuts license plates vertically for the numbers or letters that he wants, then welds them back together to form the plate that he wants. I hope he chimes in here.
Click to expand...

I use a TIG machine without any rod. Glassbead the plates to get them clean, clamp the plate to a steel or copper plate which is used as a heat sink, and proceed to fuze the crack. It is actually quite easy and anyone with a TIG should be able to do the job. Gar Williams
 
I can see having the problems that you describe with spray paint.
this brings to mind a process that an old timer instructed me on regarding 'restoring' such lic plates. he used/uses a powdercoating process with great success. you might investigate this prior to doing your friends plates.
 
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I was told that the blank plate was it was provided if the original plate was stolen. The police apparently wrote the old number on the blank plate. I guess it identified to everybody that the original was stolen and that people should report it if they see it.
 
I loved this thread as I have some plates to restore at some time. But, how do you get the bends and dents out?

Mike
 
My plates were pretty straight to begin with so i was able to straighten and fix everything with my fingers. I recall seeing an article where a person use pieces of wood and a hammer to tap out the dents in the letters. Google "Licence Plate Restoration" and there are a couple more references in addition to the ones I posted above.

John Hamilton who also posted on this thread looks like he has it figured out based on his before and after shots above.
 
To have two license plates using the same numbers when only having one good plate to start with, I have cut the needed numbers from junk plates and gas welded them together with steel welding rod to make up a plate for the missing plate. Dremel grind the welds down to blend them in and body work the plates like one would work a model A fender. Takes time but it is worth the extra work.
 
In Massachusetts, you can not use an altered or restored plate and the RMV can reject the use of a particular plate if the paint is not in good enough condition. Gotta love us liberal Massholes. No not really
 
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