I've got one good 1940 california lic plate that I'd like to use on my car but the law requires two. Does anyone reproduce the earlier style plates? I'd like to have a matching one made, or maybe even make one myself. It's a cool plate with a P above a C on the left for p***. car. In the upper left corner is 19, right is 40. Thanks for any tips!
Not that I can think of, but Safariknut could make you one and you could put it in a frame with a lexan cover over it and it maybe could work.
Hey thanks guys! I just checked out euro-sign and their plates look fantastic. Unfortunately I found this at the bottom of the page: "We do not accept orders for California License Plates from residents of California or ship these plates to the State of California. " If I go with these guys I may have to get someone to order them for me or something.
Just a thought and not to rain one someones parade here but...check your state laws before you try to run some of those reproductions. In Illinois it is a felony to run fic***ious plates and the Secretary of State (our DMV) does not have a sense of humor at all. Hate to see a brother get hosed for doing something like this. Bill
[ QUOTE ] Just a thought and not to rain one someones parade here but...check your state laws before you try to run some of those reproductions. In Illinois it is a felony to run fic***ious plates and the Secretary of State (our DMV) does not have a sense of humor at all. Hate to see a brother get hosed for doing something like this. Bill [/ QUOTE ] Same thing here in California. It's worse than running no registration at all.
Well, only one plate would be a repro, the other is genuine so I don't know if that would be a big deal. It might be. I'd prefer early '30s plates anyways so we'll see.
I'd get the repop and just use it for showing that you have 2 plates then I'd take it off the car. Much easier to get a ticket for no front plate than a false one.
That's an idea too. Then at least I'd have one to get my no front plate ticket fixed with. I wonder if I could artificially age it well enough to p*** as real. Hmm...
First, what year is the car? Don't you have to run "same year" plates? And B: I don't think it would matter to have a repro front if the rear is the real deal. It's not really fictious, it's registered number. Call your DMV and ask.....just don't give 'em your name.
[ QUOTE ] Just a thought and not to rain one someones parade here but...check your state laws before you try to run some of those reproductions. In Illinois it is a felony to run fic***ious plates and the Secretary of State (our DMV) does not have a sense of humor at all. Hate to see a brother get hosed for doing something like this. Bill [/ QUOTE ] A very good point.The plates I paint are NOT intended to be represented as original plates for daily use on a vehicle but rather as a show addition only. When I lived in M***achusetts(10+ years ago)they were extremely fussy about running both plates on a car and would stop you for not having one.However if you had lost the plate and had applied for a new one,you could run a TEMPORARY tag made out of cardboard if you wanted;as long as you had proof of application for a new one. I don't know how they would resolve the 1940 plate in California as they obviously are not going to stamp out a new one.As he already has one,it might be beneficial to take that plate to a local DMV and ask about having a reproduction made.As long as the other(missing)plate isn't being used already,it may be feasible.Never hurts to ask. Fortunately I live in a state where only a rear plate is required.I have YOM plate on my car and it is painted to match the colors of the car and I've never had a problem in-state with that.I've seen YOM plates painted every color imaginable and I don't think anybody really cares. I did get stopped once for the plates(and also doing 75 in a 55 zone)in Iowa but when I explained to the officer the law as it applies to YOM plates(a good thing to be knowledgeable about if you travel out of state)in Michigan I had no problem.He even let me go on the speeding charge! Ray
For car shows only, and in another country as well as I understand that its illegal to run a car with home made license plates in The States, right?(it is very unlegal here and many of our cops lacks humor as well...) a copy made out of resin might work...
I think RPW is on to something... cast one in resin using the orginal to make a mold then paint it and age it to look correct. Throw a few painted on rust stains and you're golden.
I run year of manufacture Ca 1940 plates on my 4o Ford. I found them nailed to a garage wall in an old house I rented 30 yrs ago. I kept them all these years, and had them restored by Mojo Art Works a few years ago. California law requires that they BOTH be original made in prison, and in serviceable condition. I took them to the DMV where a supervisor was called in to carefully inspect them, look up the law, and eventually issue the paperwork. I run front and rear. You can see what they look like by checking out the pics of Ranch Run 2004 at john@suede37.com
These are fakes made by the outfit in Fla. The car has the correct Md. plates in the rumble seat and it's properly insured. The real plates are on magnets. I usually forget to put them on. I can't believe nobody has ever questioned personalized plates for the year 1932. If I get pulled over, I'm sure I will get a traffic ticket for failing to properly display my tags, if I can't convince the cop that I had a senior moment. That's a far cry from fraudulantly trying to hood wink the government. I run the YOM plates on my 57. Our law says you must keep current plates in the car. I actually have 2 registration cards. 1 for the current plates and 1 for the YOM plates that register them to this vehicle. I do know that someone in another state got the fakes authorized in his state. All he needed was a picture. He was the first so if someone else tries to get the same number they will get rejected. When they first p***ed the law 30 years ago, there was only one woman in our state that could approve the YOM plates. You had to take the plates to Glen Burnie to get her OK. They now have someone in each office.
this is anecdotal only, but I run Florida re-pops (with the correct lic. number)and I live about a block from the police academy. Hundreds of cops see my car everyday. Hell, I even run open headers and drove around without a widshield for a few weeks last summer while I was prepping for paint. I think most cops have better things to do. I guess some thanks should go out to the Echo Park Locos who keep them busy? Seriously, of course you can get busted. . . but has anybody ever?
Just put License/tail lights on both sides and run your legal plate on one side and the old one on the other.
I didn't tell ya this.... Make sure your plate is dead nuts straight and flat with no flaws you don't want in the copy. Screw it to a flat board with flathead screws only slightly bigger than the holes in the plate. Mix up and pour plaster over it. Let set. Get the plaster wet, spray some water on it and it will lift off the plate, (if you sealed around the edges so the plaster couldn't get under it.) Let the plaster dry and seal with mold sealer or Lacquer. Wax with mold wax. Wax it a couple more times/ Wax it again in case you missed a spot. Make fibergl*** copy with two, maybe three layers of thin/light weight gl*** cloth. Paint it the correct colors. Don't try to get it p***ed for legal... CHP officers know fibergl*** fakes when they see them up close. I see nothing, I hear nothing, I said nothing....
What if you would apply for a personalised set of plates with the numbers of your vintage one? put the vintage in the back of your car, and keep the new ones under your seat. That way they are all real plates with the right number, wouldn't that meet all the criteria? Or keep looking till you find a set, and pay a little more..
Thanks for all of the great advice, everyone! I think I might just shop around for some '33 plates, same year as the car. Sounds like this might be a lot of work and have potential problems with John Law. There's some great ideas in there though!
Try to find a real set on e-gay,,,,,,I don't think it list any California tags at the moment,,,,,but they show up a lot.HRP http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&krd=1&from=R8&MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=1940+license+plates
We have the same kinda things going on over here, need to run 2 plates, the do do personalise ones if you wanna spend the $ our plates are a different sice then the US ones so normally don't look right..... I spent over a year running around with 1 AZ plate that came with the car on the back and nothing on the front, then had a cop suggest if I didn't put the right plates on $400.00 !! What cracks me up is they (our version of DMV) do special plates for the eurotrash but don't seem to think we would like ones that fit the American cars, I was considering getting my plate # on a AZ plate like the mob in Fl do but hell USD 75.00's a little rich for something I don't need.....
$75.00 US is cheap. Our personalized plates are over $150 US. Annual renewal is about $30.00,the same as a regular plate. I understand New York state charges extra for the annual renewal of personalized plates.
[ QUOTE ] What if you would apply for a personalised set of plates with the numbers of your vintage one? put the vintage in the back of your car, and keep the new ones under your seat. That way they are all real plates with the right number, wouldn't that meet all the criteria? Or keep looking till you find a set, and pay a little more.. [/ QUOTE ] I always thought I'd do this with my mom's old '54 plate. I'd just apply for a blue and white "vanity" plate with the same numbers and run the old plate up front. Old cars running YOM plates only on the back in states where two were required originally always looks odd to me - sorta like the Nazi soldiers in the first Indiana Jones movie carrying submachine guns that wouldn't be adopted for another two years. But then YOM plates on a hot rod are anachronistic anyway - the Hemi in your car sure as hell wasn't around in 1932!
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