The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk License Plate Restoration

It's been over a year since this has been discussed so I thought it was time to check again. Especially since I need the service. I've looked at a few license plate restorers and the cheapest is MoJo Artwork. But, I've been down the cheap road before and it isn't always the way to go. The plates I have are going to need some metal work. Anyone have any good or bad on this company, or any other company in the business? Cecil......

Here is one that I have used, not the cheapest but does great work.

http://www.darrylsplates.com/

if you'd like to do it yourself.. check this article out:

http://www.nationaltbucketalliance.com/tech_info/Generalinformation/licplate/plate.asp

I used MOJO for a 1936 Fla tag. When I got it, it did not have the white pin strip around the border. Called him and said send it back and he redid it. Good work and he took care of it very quickly.

If you do it yourself, it can also be painted without masking the numbers. You paint the color of the numbers first, then spray the background color. Use a sanding block to sand the background color off of the letters. If you use basecoat/clearcoat, use a coat of clear between colors, and re clear after sanding. This gives good sharp edges on the letters. (also did this on a coke cooler)

I used Darryl, website is above. His work is absolutely first rate. Just like a plate you get from from the DMV. BUT really, really slow in getting the plate back. I believe it was over 6 months for mine, and I only think I got it back then because I started calling and demanding it back. So my recommendation is if you have plenty of time on your hands, go with him. Cost for mine was $75, and that included a bit of metal straightening. But it was a while ago.

My suggestion is a bit more pragmatic...I am a license plate collector and restorer...I think you would be much better off finding/buying better condition examples of the specific plates you need on ebay or from one of many collector/suppliers. Ebay has 1000's of plates from every state for every year and pretty decent prices...usually a lot less than what it costs to restore a pair of plates. Further, in many cases restored/repainted plates like restored furniture lose much of their value.

If you are looking for diffrent plates for year of manufactrue registration you could try Daves California Plates he is local and has a good stock.

http://www.davesclp.com/

There is also a guy in LA who does plate work will chase down his Email or Ph # and post it. I just saw a set of plates he did for a friend and they looked great.

steveg, what difference does it make if you put a restored license plate on a restored vehicle? If one buys and or restores license plates to register on a vehicle as YOM plates their interest isn't to sale the plates.

The fact remains, regardless of use,,,that original plates are more valuable than repaints. However, if your not going to sell or trade them...then you're correct and the value point is irrelavent.