hey guys, i need to get my front licence plate refurbed. is there anybody out there that knows a good place to go to in the west coast area? thanks
Ha ha ha i have 56 and 63 plates to be redone. i need a place too. I was told by a DMV agent that its illiegle to refurbish them! Even he thought it was insane. Man i wish my 53 vicky was as nice as yours.
Yes, it is illegal to refinish them, at least in CA. But done all the time. But refinish them after they are cleared and registered as they require inspection at time of registering them. If they look too new and possibly not original plates, they likely will deny them even if they are old but restored. I wouldn't chance it. FYI, if you ever sell the car with the plates down the road, the next guy might possibly run into trouble with the restored plates too. It is probably a small chance, but good to know. Obviously repaint them exactly like the original and don't try to make them look too perfect and better than new.
Come on guys, do it yourself, it's just like PAINT BY NUMBERS from when you were small ! Honestly, I redid a set of 36 Ill Noise plates myself, sandblasted them, straightened, painted the black with Rustoleum an lettered them with white One-Shot. If you dont have a steady hand, get a hard rubber roller from a craft store and use that for the numbers/ letters. It really is some-what simple and you get that great feeling of doing something for yourself. PLUS it don't cost ya hardly nuthin!!! Mike.
PM plate peddler... He's a license plate collector and I know he has had a few redone. His are all 99% wyoming plates, but he'll know. He's also my brother.
Ok boy's, Call me , seems all i do lately is Ca. plates www.vintageplaterestoration.com cell# 817-727-9185
Take a look at these http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=443296 or search in the cl***ified section for 1932 license plate arkansas colorado These were done by a guy named Ken his e-mail is ks12@verizon.net I can not remember what he charged me but he will be glad to tell you. He has done several for me and even fixed a few holes etc. They are beautiful.
in Beumount, CA. there is a guy that does this for a liveing ill get his no. for you if your still looking he goes to alot of model A convention and local car shows around here to sell and restore those the ones he has are restored and clean reg. ill try to find his card tonight when im home
I had no trouble registering a pair of repainted Oregon plates with 55 tags for my 55 Chevy. Oregon has a one time registration fee for old plates attached to vintage vehicles.
Story told is that one plate restorer first put down the color of the raised number/letter combo. After this dried, the main color of the plate was applied and when still uncured, the main color was wiped off the raised number/letter combo(using solvent). When the main color is cured, light sanding on the raised number/letter combo can enhance detail.
thanks guys! yeah i already have them cleared by dmv, they are useabke but just not that great to look at, i didnt know it was illegal... i mean i have nooo plans on selling the car so i dont have the problem of sombody else having problems..
another thing is, they are a little bent up and whatnot, doesnt just need to be "repainted" these guys can do that too?
You can take very light rubbing compound, and then car wax, to restore many tags that are simply faded. I've done that with the black/yellow California tags with great success. Looks like the day they were issued!
That makes two of us... I've heard that story as well as the one where the guy who waited until the paint was dry just wetsanded the top coat off with 500 grit. His plates turned out nice. Bryan
I don't think it's illegal in California to restore plates. There are a bunch of guys doing it professionally, plus I had plates MADE by www.licenseplates.tv for MCD and they were new and perfect. Nobody at DMV blinked.
thanks patrick66, i shined them up a little bit, but they are too bent up, i should probably put a pic up. cause they arent just faded..they are a little rusty and bent up. the 56 is just for display, but the 63 the rear one is in immaculate condishion, but the front one is beat to hell.
I'm also looking for tips on how to do it yourself. I have a few fairly old NH plates from the 20s (first steel variety, not porcelain) I did a dumfuk move with. They were really dirty from being in a barn for many years so I ran them through the dishwasher. Nearly ALL the paint came off.... They are nothing I'm planning to use on a car but it would be nice if I could repaint them to display.
who really cares if it is legal or not? Do you think the people at the DMV will know? Or register them and ten restore them after or do you think the police will pull you over and say.....hey I am going to have to give you a ticket for a 632. What is a 632 officer....? That is restoring a license plate while not being in prison. ha ha......just do it.
hahaahah yeah really. lol but thats what i did, registered them first and am now going to get one referbed
look up oldpl8s here on the hamb. i think his site is www.oldpl8s.com i got a nice set of '22s from him.
question: I've seen plates re-painted and say the original color was orange and someone re-painted the plate red..not a huge diffrence but still not the original color, I'd ***ume thats against the law or something..whats the punishment for that?
Tell everyone that "Grandma used the '53 to push Grandpa's Drag Car"...Problem solved. Seriously,you can do it yourself. It's just more practice on your sheetmetal/painting skills. Black Paint and I think it's "Caterpiller Yellow" will make them look nice.
LIKE HE SAID, JUST DO IT! I repainted my 1936 Oklahoma tag several years back. Using in on my '36 Ford. Here the process seems the same. Ya keep a new up to date tag in the car and register the "vintage tag" on a special form. Never had any problems with the local gestapo! My tag was fairly good shape with no rust or cracks - but the yellow & black paint was faded. I carefully blasted it and laid down some bright yellow and hand painted the letters in black with a small brush. Tag looks great! I have a '49 Okie tag with plenty of patina - so much ya can barely read the letters on the rust/black back ground ground. I don't want a new looking old tag so I'll just get some tan or off white, thin it way down, and only lightly touch up the letters.
haha alright! yeah iv been considering it. Getting it referbished is on my birthday list, and my bday is the 8th of april, and that was going to be a gift from my mom. soo.. if my mom is willing to pay for it as a gift, i say let a pro do it!
Heck at the Vacaville Ca. DMV they hand out the business card for the "plate restorer" guy! So you can call that DMV and ask them for their Lic. plate man. Kevin LFD Inc.
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