The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Old license plates

I found a pair of old 1939 license plates. They are even from the state I live in, Iowa. I am hoping I can find someone that will restore them for me. I have no idea where to start to find someone or a company that does this type of work or even if they can be restored. They are in good shape and would look great “as is” on a rat rod (can I say that here or is that a Street Rodder thing? I have a 1930 Model “A” street rod too). They would really look great on my truck if they were restored.

K9sicem
Welcome to the Bolt. I also have a set of 1951 plates that, though they are straight and not bent, they really need to be repainted. I haven't decided if I should attempt to repaint them myself or look for some professional help. You might do a "search" here I believe there have been several posts on this subject. BTW what year truck do you have?

This is out of your state but I'm sure you can send your plates for refinishing to this guy I met at a swap meet.He was nice ,had hundreds of plates resorations looked good.JIM'S CALIFORNIA LICENCE PLATE REFINISHING 3449 VIRGIL CIRCLE,PLEASANTON,CALIFORNIA,94588, (925)426-1506
NO WEB OR E-MAIL.Hope that helps!

I have a 1939 1/2 "True Barn Find" Chevy. It had 32,000 miles. I've put on 10,000. I bought it from a guy that got it given to him by his grandmother when his grandfather died. He stuck it in a barn until I cane along and gave him $ 500 bucks. Never done a thing to the motor for the first ten years and it ran like a top. I added dual carb and headers a year ago but the motor is bone stock. Never been out of the truck until i removed it to paint it. Then I put right back in. If I can get my son to show me how to add photos I will post the way it looked the day I got it and what I have done with it in the past 20 years.

I'd sell mt sole before I'd sell that truck!!

There are more than a few folks who restore plates. I bought commercial BC plates for my 49 from a fellow up here who does great restoration work and has good prices.

I used Mojo Artworks linked here on the Bolt . Their turn around time was quick and the price reasonable. You can see some before and after shots in my album. I previously tried my hand at repainting and made a perfect mess.

Check with your State DMV prior to restoration if you plan on running the plates as YOM (year of manufacturer). Florida will authenticate your old plate only if it hasn't been painted, restored, or altered. What you do with it after that... :whistle:

Don

In Virginia, you can match up the year the truck was built to the year of the plate. I'm not sure what the other 49 states require. I've picked up a 1951 truck plate and registered it to the firetruck. I like it but I keep getting asked, "Why don't you have antique plates?" I thought I did!

Here is a picture: http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2281181020080243953IutjAC

I looked everywhere for a set of 51 plates if anyone know of a set let me know !!

Check out Felix2.com

There are plenty of 1951 plates there but none from Nevada. Worth contacting them though.

Don

Don
Thanks ! and they even had one from Nevada

Todd

I have a set of YOM truck plates. Out here they can be registered to your truck if the numbers are not registered to another vehicle and if they are not altered or repainted. Of course, they need to be in good shape.

Todd:
Ebay is full of license plates. I got a set of 1951 plates that look real good. I then bought four more sets one for each birth year for me, the wife, and both kids. I plan on mounting them in a frame and put them on the wall. My wife may have other ideas.

Todd - I think that one is a sample plate and would not be registrable. You might run it across you DMV though.

Good luck,

Don

License Plate restoration - a how to article

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

I still have modern plates on my truck. I have an old set but I haven't changed them over because my tags don't expire for 2 more years.

But... When I talked to the DMV they said that they want to inspect them. They also said that if they are in good original condition they are fine, but if they get repainted they have to be done with reflective paint up to modern standards.

Here is another link to check out, they do excellent work.

http://www.darrylsplates.com

I have never had the privilage of serving time in Joliet and don't have any friends or relatives the have either but has anyone ever seen how the plates were originally painted? I would imagine that the reason that the letters are raised is so that they could run them through some kind of overhead paint roller. The original paint appears to be a baked on enamel since I have never seen one that solvent would disolve. Is baking enamel still avalable and where is a source? Does anyone have any information on this also?
There must be a documentary film of the process somewhere of them being made in the prisons, anyone seen one?
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Baking would be easy, in the oven in the kitchen. I plan on restoring my own that way after getting an OK from the state to use them. The question is what kind of paint roller would work best. My guess would be a hard rubber one like is used for fingerprinting.

A little O/t, but here's a set I picked up at a swap meet once, in Chi-Town now that I think about it.
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2945039700092261295kNhebx

Well Big, the roller would have to be mounted fixed and the plate run thru under it. I’m envisioning something like a couple of pieces of angle iron supports mounted to a base and the plate tacked down to another board that is slid through. Kind the same principle as the rollers on the old wringer washers, in fact once the plate was mounted on a stiff base an old wringer might just work good. Just using a hand roller would get the paint on the low spots rather than just hitting the high points. I would think that a brayer from someplace like Speedball would be a good candidate to mount up.
All that is the easy part, finding baking enamel and mixing the right tint would be the hardest part from where I stand.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny:
It sounds like you may be right. A good tech tip for the archives would be to restore a set and take pictures as you go. You know those high tech digital cameras can be had for the price of a hotdog now days.

I was looking for matching vintage California plates and came across this guide. Very informative if you are thinking of buying plates for your truck or car.

TinyURL links to an ebay guide: http://tinyurl.com/js9we