<VV> license plate restoration

[Dave Thompson]

California will allow using the 1963 black & yellow plates on "year of
manufacturer" (63-69) vehicles this coming July. I purchased a pair of DMV
clear plates in anticipation of that. They needed refurbishment so I looked
into having it done. I found that it usually costs over $200.00. 

Being the cheapskate that I am I decided to do it myself. After sandblasting
and straightening, I painted them with gloss black and baked them in the
kitchen oven. I then used a rubber laminate roller like a regular paint
roller and rolled on the yellow on the raised letters & numbers. I tried it
several times on the freshly sandblasted one to get the technique. I found
that the paint needs to be a little thick so it does not run down the side
of the letter/numbers and spoil the clean edge. I now have two pair of new
looking black & yellow plated waiting for July. One to install and one to
sell.

Dave Thompson
Yellow & Black 63 Spyder vert
(waiting to have matching plates)

-----Original Message-----
From: Marc Sheridan [mailto:sheridanma1966 at gmail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, April 18, 2009 4:53 PM
To: Virtual Vairs
Subject: <VV> license plate restoration

Anybody here ever restore license plates? In Ohio you can run plates that
were issued for the year of your car. I just finished a pair and it was way
more work than I anticipated. A local hot rodder told me it was easy, just
shoot the number color first, followed by the background color. Then simply
sand the numbers down to the number color and clear coat.

Let me offer suggestions from my experience. As with other projects I have
done, whenever you assume something is flat, it isn't.  I sanded all the way
to metal in spots and had to touch up with a brush. When you select plates
at the swap meet, don't buy the bargain, rusty tags for five bucks, like I
did. It is well worth the extra to get rust free straight tags. Sometimes
you can get ready to put on the car tags for thirty dollars or so, it is
worth it.

Marc Sheridan
'66 Monza 'vert with 1966 Ohio tags