Refinishing License Plates

mmindling

mmindling

Senior Member
Hi, this is Martin in Ohio. Have a set of California plates from 1928.
The attached pic shows colors as dark blue and yellow. Question is for refinishing these myself. Are there any posts or directions on the process?

What kind of paint - lacqer or enamel? Best brand to use? Spray on the main body? Should a roller be used to do the raised letters? Clear coat when finished??

Want to do a nice workmanlike job on these for my car *A 11739*
Thanks for all advice and comments.
Regards
Martin Mindling
 

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A lot of states will only accept original plates for registration IE: NOT RESTORED ONES. You restore them after you get them ok'd. Another ques. How are you going to register an Ohio car with Cal. plates in Ohio???? ken ct.
 
I was thinking of doing a set for myself again. NOT to far ago you can restore them yourself..When you add the COST of BOTH colors at today's prices,,, you are better off sending them out who restores them. They already have the color paint on hand i am sure. They don't buy just to do 1 pair. What you can do [if you have a bead blaster is to strip the plates down/metal prep and then prime ..and then send them out. And that's if you want to have something to do with the restoration. OR buy the 2 colors that come close to the original colors in a spray can. BLACK is BLACK...L.O.L. but you yellow is something else.. Make sure its FORD BLACK....L.O.L. don't know if that's frame black,body black,satin black,flat black, carb. black or Japan black...ha ha ha might be shock black????good luck and HAVE FUN...that's the name of the game..IF you are going to use them for your car [take pictures first and send them in to the MVD. first,,,then restore them .
 
Ken, when it comes to old cars, Ohio is a little more foregiving than some other states. *A 11739* is registered in Ohio as an historical vehicle and the tag is on the rear of the car. I keep the second tag under the seat. So far, no issues with the police - they have other things to chase down here in Appalachia.

The CA plates came with the car, which I purchased in Costa Mesa ten years ago.
Want to restore the plates and display one on the front bar. From my experience so far, this should not get the Ohio gendarmes uptight.

By the way, the cost of permanent historic vehicle plates in Ohio is $35. Now, that's a bargain.

Regards,

Martin mmindling@aol.com
 

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Here is what I do when restoring old plates .First I bead bast them with a plastic medium. Repair or straighten as needed .Wash them off with soap and water ,let dry.Make sure they are ready to prime and then prime with Krylon primer . Usually two or three coats of primer .After primer coats are dry I paint with the proper color .I check with the DMV of my state or what ever state the plates are from to make sure the color is correct.Believe me the DVM knows the correct color.I wait for the plates to dry and then apply the color of the numbers by hand with an artist brush or with paint pens .Then after a couple of days I apply two or three coats of clear coat .I'm sure there are several ways to do it ,but this works for me .JMO.
 
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I live in S. Calif. and bought already restored plates for my 1930 TS. Took them down to the local DMV, where they carefully examined them as to color and size, and then approved them. They did have a book to look in which I assume listed the original color and size, but they did not care that they were already restored.
 
Finding YOM plates here in Alaska is pretty much a lost cause. What a lot of us have done is to have the rear plate Alaska (historical or otherwise) and the YOM plate on the front, typically from a state where we are "from", since most of us are not native to Alaska. In my case, I have a '31 Texas Commercial plate for the front. As stated above, no one has ever given us a hard time about this on our old cars.
 
I had mine done by Duane Wells in Michigan. He did a very good job. I couldn't buy the right paint (two colors) for what he charged. It was $40 plus shipping. Unless you are really need to try it your self, I would have a professional paint them.
Rusty Nelson
 
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wrndln said:
I had mine done by Duane Wells in Michigan. He did a very goo job. I couldn't buy the right paint (two colors) for what he charged. It was $40 plus shipping. Unless you are really need to try it your self, I would have a professional paint them.
Rusty Nelson
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I agree with Rusty. I'm pretty handy at this sort of thing, but it's VERY difficult if not impossible to get the same quality results as a professional who has the proper equipment, the right paint, and the know-how. Plus, most pros do this for a very reasonable charge.
 
Slight dents in the smooth background can be smoothed by gently rubbing with your thumb on a thick pad of newspapers. I was BLESSED to get professionally restored '29 Calif. with my coupe. Paid an arm & 2 legs to get 14" square cornered frames!!! Bought 3 @ $16.95 each. Bill W.
 
Luckily here restored plates are ok. You send one in to get validated and pay a one time fee. The state applies a sticker to the plate and all is ok. Historical plates are a whole different story with milage restrictions. Still a one time fee for the plate, used to be a popular way to plate antique cars. Any more most people like to drive them and you do not see as many Historical plates, but a lot more of the validated plates. I am still looking for a matched set of 18 county 1929 plates that are restorable. Rod
 
Rowdy said:
Luckily here restored plates are ok. You send one in to get validated and pay a one time fee. The state applies a sticker to the plate and all is ok. Historical plates are a whole different story with milage restrictions. Still a one time fee for the plate, used to be a popular way to plate antique cars. Any more most people like to drive them and you do not see as many Historical plates, but a lot more of the validated plates. I am still looking for a matched set of 18 county 1929 plates that are restorable. Rod
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Rowdy .Google Antique Mystique .They are out of North Platte .Click on Automobilia .They had some 18 county plates last time I checked ,not sure of years .I purchased some 14 county plates from them to restore .They are reasonable .
 
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There is nothing hard about restoring plates .All it takes is patience and common sense .It's like switching from 6 volt to 12 volt .If you are mechanically inclined and have the desire ,you can do it .JMHO.:)
 
wrndln said:
I had mine done by Duane Wells in Michigan. He did a very good job. I couldn't buy the right paint (two colors) for what he charged. It was $40 plus shipping. Unless you are really need to try it your self, I would have a professional paint them.
Rusty Nelson
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Do you have contact information for Duane?
 
Will check them out. Hope they have a matched set. I already have a single plate if I don't locate a set. Thought I would likely find a set in Overton, but their supply never seems to contain sets. Was one set in Red Roof antiques but all of the plates there were 3 times the price anywhere else. I went to school with the gal that owns that place and she is abit greedy with her commissions compared to other shops in the area. BTW are they still having the Snowbird swapmeet in Holdrege in January? Normally I read or hear something by now. Rod
 
Here in Georgia you have to bring in your antique tag, it has to be real, they take a pic. of it and you have to keep a new Ga. tag with an up to date sticker in your car in case your stopped for speeding :eek:,.. so far I have not :rolleyes:.

no sticker required for the antique tag, in 2012 my tag and tax was $25.25, an outrage:eek:.

One good thing about GA. law, is that you can not bring an "A" model into the state with black wall tires and black wheels ;).
 
Thanks, the tutorial on license plate painting is great!!
The part I can see will be troublesome in my workshop is the silk screening.
Just in case, does anyone have contact information for Deane Wells in MI??
Thanks and Regards,
Martin
 
Hi Martin, I'm in Ohio too and I'm using Pa. plates front and rear along with the historical Ohio plates. I was told this was ok as they are considered decorations. The really cool thing is I found out the that they were the original 1930 plates for my car when it was first registered in 1930. They were found under the back seat by the previous owner when he bought the car from the second owner in Pa about 20years ago. They are pretty faded but I'm going to leave them as is.
Bill
 
joe plumber said:
Here is what I do when restoring old plates .First I bead bast them with a plastic medium. Repair or straighten as needed .Wash them off with soap and water ,let dry.Make sure they are ready to prime and then prime with Krylon primer . Usually two or three coats of primer .After primer coats are dry I paint with the proper color .I check with the DMV of my state or what ever state the plates are from to make sure the color is correct.Believe me the DVM knows the correct color.I wait for the plates to dry and then apply the color of the numbers by hand with an artist brush or with paint pens .Then after a couple of days I apply two or three coats of clear coat .I'm sure there are several ways to do it ,but this works for me .JMO.
Click to expand...

I paint the color of the numbers first then mask off the numbers with cintact paper. Using an exacto knife I trace around each number leaving about an 1/8 of an inch over hang then spray the backround color this leaves a nice edge. Just like Marco discribed the way he painted bumper brackets.
 
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