Hot Rods Restoring license plates

Who does a good job and is reliable restoring license plates? Any help would be appreciated. I am a little concerned about sending my old plates to a stranger. Thanks Ron Cruse

 

Are you talking just a strip and repaint or bodywork?

I just needed repaint on my yellow on black Cali plates .... sanded them down and gave them to the wife, she had a field day with them .... lucky for me she is a accredited tole painter ! Finding the right shade of yellow was the hard part.

... but with major repairs , I can't help you.

 

I'll bet if you tried the search function at the top of the page you'd find some information on this subject.

 

Got a pic of the plates in question?
I just started my rehab of my Illinois 40 plates...one plate was pretty decent while the other needed some metal massaging 1st...getting a decent set off the bat helps alot!
I've already closely matched the background dark brown and have come pretty close to the light tan for the lettering...how to get the lettering on nice and uniform will be a challenge though - I think a paint pad of sorts will do the trick.

 

tonyimpala on here does em.Be carefull if your going to use them as some states will not allow the use of restored plates.It has been hashed over on here before.

 

Very true!....check your state's laws about antique plates and whether you can use the old ones on the car while carrying the issued anitque plates and registration in it.

 

I have redone several old plates, after all the prep work was done, I sprayed the plate the color of the letters, Let cure for a few days, then sprayed the plate the proper color. Let it cure a few days.then with a soft cloth and red rubbing compound I removed the last coat of paint from the letters, showing the color of the first coat on the letters only. Then I go over the entire plate with white rubbing compound. It takes a lot of work, but turns out looking more like original

 

A google search will get you several places that will restore your plates. If you do your own, you have to use the exact color of the original. I had the auto paint supplier mix a match to the bits of remaining original paint left on the plate. Bead blast, prime, basecolor, then I used a wide tip paint "pen" to cover the raised letters. Worked perfect.

 

X2 - tried brush painting the letters, rolling the letters - nothing worked for me until I used this method - plate looks wonderful now. Not that hard - try it !!

 

Are you the old guy at the Petit Jean swap meet?? He has an incredible knowledge of Arkansas plates and does good work.

 

I bought two pair from this guy in Oregon, jims.vintageparts@frontier.com, they were done extremely nice and the prices were reasonable.

 

Some states are not that picky. Oregon simply says they need to be the correct color for the year, and legible. If the color is close they'll pass inspection. I've had more trouble with condition than color, but I do try to get them at least close for my own benefit.
I did my plate restoration on a pair of plates I found on Fleabay. They were extremely cheap at $13 for 1937, and that was because they were sort of rumpled. Someone had tried to straighten them, and paint, but didn't get either right.
I stripped them and made some hardwood punches to work the metal in the recesses. I put them on a hard surface and worked from both sides flattening the dents and ripples out. Once they were close I used glazing filler to get them perfect and block sanded them. Shot the black paint and cream colored digits, and they look great. It was a fun project!

 

Hi, I had Rod Pearman in Dawsonville, GA, rod@tagdr.com redo a mangled California black plate recently. Looks like new. Jan in Ojai, CA

 

Your local body shop.

 

I just put my new 54 plate on my 55 chevy. I had a nice 55 year tab and a rough 54 plate that I found years ago, but never got around to restoring. Recently I bought a nice used original 54 plate, has a few scratches and minor dents but it's very presentable. I kinda like the fact that it's still original. And the cost for the plate was in line with what it costs to get one restored. The fellow I got it from is a friend of a friend, he has been collecting/selling/restoring plates for years and has a pretty nice collection of AZ plates. you might want to hit up the swap meet plate vendors, and see if you can find a nice one that doesn't need restoration.

 

I did mine myself ... not perfect, just like my car.

 

I have been wanting to try this myself, looks like it could be a fun project.