The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop License Plate Paint Suggestions?

(My first post using the new and improved Stovebolt. Hope this works.)

I won an auction for orginal 1958 license plates for my 'bolt. The plates are black with white letters. Once I get the plates in hand, I will see whether they would look better as-is, or if they would be helped by stripping and repainting.

Any suggestions for the paint? Does anyone know if '58 era tags were reflective, or were they just plain ol' enamel?

Bill

TxLaTx
I believe you will be able to run those plates if the numbers are not currently in use. I understand you will need to take a picture of your 58 with you to the dps office. Also I hear it is best if you don't paint your plates before you show them to the clerk. It seems they don't appreciate repainted plates. I will doing the same thing soon.

Bill - First off let me tell you that I am using the "Dark" style sheet and your burgundy colored text is all but invisible on the gray background. That being said on to your question...

Check out Woongeroo's post that links a restoration "how to". (Opps - some of the links were corrupted in the upgrade, if you don't get to the restoration site try this.

After taking a look at doing it yourself take a look at Felix2.com which may help in the paint scheme. I used Mojo Art Works to redo mine; you can see the before and after here.

I agree with Big Chevy - have the plates authenticated first. After that the DMV really doesn't know what you do or did, do they?

Don

Thanks to you both for the replies. I appreciate it. (And thanks for the text color tip, Don. I didn't consider that background colors could be changed. I need to remember "KISS.")

I feel pretty comfortable about the whole registration process. I'm more anxious about painting than registering!

Woogeroo's post from the T Bucket Alliance was my starting point to learn about restoration. However, the link really doesn't discuss paint type, only to shoot it. Also, their project plate was a 1919 specimen. I would feel pretty comfortable thinking they weren't reflective back then.

I had already checked the Felix2 link that you referenced. (Thanks, though!) I think this is more about selling than paint tips. Don, your plate looks gorgeous. I hope, if I decide to restore it, that mine looks as good as yours. For the time being, I'm expecting to strip it and paint it myself. Your point that the DMV doesn't know what happens to it after inspection is well taken. Big Chevy, I'll take your advice: any repainting will be done AFTER inspection unless they insist on it before registration.

In TEXAS, all ANTIQUE VEHICLE plates expire this spring. It is time to re-up for the next 5 year period, so I figured I might as well do it with some really screaming '58 Farm Truck tags!

Once I get the tags how I want them, I'll take a picture of my newly restored farm bumper and the tags. Should be lookin' good'n'vintage for the Gallery update.

Bill

Bill, I'm sorry. I provided you with the wrong link. Check out License Plates of the World. Go to Texas and scroll down. You will see a complete collection of plates from 1900 onward.

Don

I painted my 1950 Utah plates (Black and Orange) using appliance enamel sold by Rustoleum. This is a very tough paint and worked really well. My numbers were in decent shape so I just painted the black background. If you mask the numbers using striping tape it won't pull the paint usually. I also use toothpicks and as soon as I shoot around the number I pulled the tape and smoothed all the transitions with the toothpick so it doesen't look sprayed at all. If you paint both the numbers and the background I would do 1 number or letter at a time. I have some pics of this work I also did it with my hubcaps with the small Chevrolet letters on them, and an old Coke Machine.

Would love to see the pix Brad. We all like pix.

Don

Brad, excellent information. Exactly what I was looking for. (I happen to be in Clearfield at the moment. Great weather we're having!)

I'm going to stick my neck out here and ask a dumb question. Be patient with me:
I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that plates made during the 40s and 50s were painted by some sort of stamping process. In my mind, I see the entire plate being painted, and then the plate went through some sort of line where something like an inkpad came down and stamped paint onto the high spots of the plate. Is there some sort of ink stamp-like process that could be used to stamp on the paint for the letters, year, and state?

I'm thinking of something like a "pig pad" or a thin foam sheet that is attached to something flat like a 12" square piece of floor tile. Squeegee the paint on the pad, then press the pad to the plate.

Am I hopelessly optimistic or incredibly stupid?

Go easy on me.
Bill

You know, when I spent time in the State Pen that is exactly the way we did it. Just pulling your leg, lol. I have something in mind that after the numbers and letters were stamped in the plate the whole plate was sprayed the background color and then went down a conveyor passing beneath an inked roller that applied the paint to the raised letters and numbers. My impression only and certainly a good topic of discussion by an expert if someone owns up to having the actual training and experience.

Don

Incredible - Just ask Google! Check out this 28 page "White Paper" on License Plate Manufacturing

Another interesting link will I ever get to bed tonight? This is cool stuff.

Today the majority of plates are made using a process similar to the example provided by this Rhode Island facility.

* The life of a license plate begins with a roll of aluminum. The aluminum is run through a clear-dip tank, or water bath. The bath warms the metal up and clears the surface of any impurities. It is important that the water remain clean. The aluminum is then covered almost entirely, with up to 1/8″ edge on the sides, with a surface of adhesive reflective sheeting. Sheeting is primarily manufactured by 3M and Avery, with 3M being the dominant manufacturer. The sheeting can have any pattern or background image on it, generally the state name, motto, and whatever graphic the state chooses.
* The plates then go through the rim die, which cuts the plates to shape and punches the holes that are used to attach license plates to cars. These holes range in width depending on the preference of the state or organization ordering the plates.
* The new blanks are placed in stacks by the press.
* The plates are slid into and pressed down using what is called a hinge die.
* The press operator takes 2 blanks at a time. The press is made by HP, out of Cincinnati.
* Letters are selected from a series of key-type letterforms called dies, and are entered into the machine. Plates are pressed by a second press operator.
* Numbers are verified and checked to see if the die is upside down.
* The plates are then roller coated with a reflective paint on to the letters/numbers. Recently a new dry coat process has been developed that uses fewer chemicals in its formula.

Neither.
To wit: (excerpted from "2004 Friends of St Bride conferencec...")
Which brings me around to the need to zoom in and inspect, to find out at least some of the details on a particular esoteric subject. This practice reminds us that a single object can follow a long, forked path backwards and forwards, that there are endless sources for inspiration, and that the possibilities of what we have to work with are exponentially greater than what we are presently working with.

Really excellent information there, especially page 19 that discusses the roll coater!

I have some old plates in the shop- I think I'm going to experiment with painting techniques. I'm beginning to think I can make something happen here.

Thanks for helping out.

Bill

In some states (Oregon being one that I know about), the DMW will want to inspect your plates. The official stance here is that if the plate is in good original condition than you can run it as-is, but if the paint needs repainting it has to be painted with modern reflective paint and re-inspected.

Just something to watch out for.

Thanks Don, I’ve looked for this sort of info several times with no success. I know there had to be something documented on the process. These are excellent papers and I’ll ad them to the library in the throne room.

For that someone out there that actually did have a hand in making License plates, if you’re embarrassed by the fact that you were incarcerated, maybe you could just say that you were a guard. And that you watched the guys making the plates and this is how you remember the process. Ya see, by the time they caught up with me they had jobbed the plate making out to private contractors. We were to busy in the weight room to bother with a production line!

We’ve had discussions on this subject several times since I’ve joined the forum. I’ve always felt that a solidly mounted ink roller above was the answer, with the plate slid under it for applying the paint to the embossed portion. It appears that is how the production equipment applies it.

The real problem is in finding the ink/paint that is heat curable. Baked on enamel is not readily available on the retail market and most of us do not have access to commercial accounts. Maybe someone can enlighten us on this side of the equation.

Done properly, I don’t see how a clerk at the DMV will be able to tell if the plate has been repainted or not. Obviously if it’s hand painted with One-Shot™ or Testers™ they will see that, but if it’s rolled on and baked with the exact colors it would be dern hard for one of us “experts” to tell the difference.
Thanks again for your research Don.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I've got a little different problem. I'm still trying to figure out how to redo my '51 Illinois plates that were bare aluminum with painted numbers. How to clean some light corrosion and discoloration and lightly polish the aluminum without making it too shiny, in other words what a new piece of unpolished aluminum sheet would look like.

Bob

Hi Bob,
Bare aluminum sheet from the rolling mill would have a semi flat surface. About the only way that I can think of is to use very fine wool. You have to be careful using steel wool, that you don’t leave any very fine steel particles in the surface of the alum or you will get small points of corrosion. If you could anodize it after buffing it would give it a nice uniform slightly satiny finish. Anodizing would be relatively easy using a battery, dilute sulfuric electrolyte and an alum foil or sheet anode over the plate. Check the surface for continuity and when you get none you have deposited the oxide that will protect it and soften the finish.
Just an idea.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

In the case of a repaint, I think they just look for it being too good. You may want to shot-peen it with a handfull or two of gravel before getting it approved.

Just what I was thinking after I posted that. A few scratches from the screw driver slipping and maybe leaving it out in the back yard for a couple of months to weather might not hurt our counterfiting job.
Right now I just wish I could FIND a set of plates, then I'd worry about refinishing them. Been looking for a year for Illinois 'B' plates for my 1950, 3604 and came close a few times but no cigar.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny,
That's what I was thinking, something along the lines of anodizing them.
Maybe someone a little older would know for sure, but I don't think Illinois designated trucks with the B, C, D, etc. letters like they do now. The truck plates on my '50 have no letters, just a number. I know all truck plates have either front or rear stamped on them. ( My Dad told me they did this because farmers and others would only buy one set of plates for a couple of trucks, but with the " front and rear" designation on the plates they couldn't get away with it.)
The 1951 set I have is B223, a nice low number which makes the plate almost square in size. I picked them up several years ago before Illinois allowed you to run YOM plates, so the price was cheap. The fellow had several other years with the same number, had I known I would have bought more. A local license collector told me of a man in Kankakee, I believe, who has several consecutive years of the truck plates with just the number A2. He said he's been trying to get ahold of them for years.

Bob

The moderator is probably gonna throw us off because we are not sticking to the subject i.e., "License Plate Paint Suggestions" that seems to be happening a lot to me lately, poor me! As in life itself, a lot goes un-said because of ridged interpretation of rules.
But anyway, I’ll try to speak my piece. I just looked at a set of 1950 plates yesterday that a friend found for his truck, they are smaller than the standard plate, stamped Front/Rear and the number was also prefixed with a ‘B’. That was why I thought they might have been categorized as to the gross wt. they were in later years.
I still haven’t seen an answer from anyone about a baking enamel. There must be a lot of sources out there as I’m always seeing it used on the T&V documentaries like How-it’s Made, Discovery and on the Car building shows sometimes.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I have restored a number of plates and used the following technique with a lots of success. After doing the typical metal cleanup, repairs and priming. I spray paint the entire front side of the plate the color of the raised portion of the plate. Two to three coats are recommended. I would recommend an enamel with a hardner or some other "hard" type of enamel. After this has thoroughly dried, I spray the entire plate, front and back with the background color. This enamel does not have to be a "hard" in fact it is better not to be. After the paint has sufficiently dried you simply wet sand off by hand the background color of paint from the raised portion of the plate using 400 grit and progressively finer grits. After final buffing by hand the results should look like a plate that is fresh from the pen.

When I redid my '37 plates the DMV here in Missouri had no problem with a repaint. As long as there were the right colors, black and white, they need not be reflective, and you could read them from a distance, you are good to go if the number was usable.
I powder coated the black back ground using my do it your self unit from Eastwood. I then went to the hobby/craft store and bought china/glass paint that requires bakeing to cure. With a small brush I was able to top coat the letters and numbers then bake them for a time, the paint flowed out smooth and glossy.
I got a few bubbles where it was to thick, but for the most part they came out great. The DMV had no problem with them.

I used the powder coat base in case I messed up the numbers. Most thinners won't touch the powder so I could wipe off any mistake with out harming the base.

I tried using a ink roller and paint, it wouldn't put enough on and if the plate is not flat it makes it worse.

Joe

I did a test run yesterday with a recent plate. I tried a stamping process and was very disappointed. I think the only way to make it look good is to come up with some orignal-style equipment. My budget isn't that big! I tried a stamp and a flat plate wipe-on, and both looked pretty bad.

I had good luck with a wipe-off technique! I sprayed the entire plate surface, then used a wipe to remove the paint from the high spots on the numbers/letters. If I need to do a restoration on my new/old tags, I'm going with this technique. It yielded a very clean, professional look. This is very similar to Huck's technique.

My correct color scheme is black background with white letters. After prepping the metal, I plan to paint it all white with appliance epoxy paint. I will let it dry/cure for a good week in the sunshine before painting with black enamel. When the black is still wet, I'll wipe off the high spots to reveal the white. If the black starts to dry too quickly, I can add a little solvent to the wipe. The white epoxy should be unaffected by a gentle solvent. If disaster strikes and I remove some of the white, then I can touch that up. Granted, all of this is in case restoration is even needed. I'll let the tax folks clue me into that situation.

Regarding GETTING plates, I watched eBay and saw that there were recent sales of '58 Texas plates for less than $10. This blew me away, because probably like you, I've seen swap meet prices in the $200 range. I threw caution to the wind, put in a bid, and won a SET of '58 FARM TRUCK plates for $10.51. I recommend to anyone wanting to get YOM plates to watch eBay. I'm pleasantly surprised at the good quality and low prices there!

Denny, I see there is a set of 1950 Illinois truck B plates for sale on eBay right now! The item has no bids, still sitting at $9.95 with 5 hours left. I hope you see this post before it is too late. If you miss this one, there is still a second set for sale with 6 days left. Maybe one of these fit your needs. Then, you too can deal with "license plate painting suggestions"!

Bill

Man O' man Bill, I wish I would have checked earlier, it was 19min past the time by the time I pulled it up and missed the auction. darn, been lookin for a year to!
Thanks a bunch for the heads up, I'll have to start watching.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I'm sure it will resurface! It might be in your interest that it had no bids. You might want to contact the seller to see if there might be "other arrangements" that could be made. The second set that I referred to might or might not be truck plates, I'm not sure. (They are one character less than the first reference.) I'm sure you'll get a set soon.

Good luck!
Bill

Well like Bob posted a little earlier, the truck plates may not have been prefixed with the gross weight designator, i.e., B,C,C etc. The front/rear designation for trucks did make sense. I would like to find a little more history on this subject, I would think that the plate collector groups would have that sort of info but I have no idea how to find them. Anyone have an address please post it.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Update:

I'm having EXCELLENT results painting my plates! I'm extremely pleased with the ease and the results. I'll take some photos for a future tech-tip submission. Maybe it has some value to someone in the future.

Bill

Well thanks to you Bill I did score with two sets of Front/Rear 1950 Illinois license plates. Prices were as good or better than I could have done at a swap meet.
I'd like to see your process when you get it figured out.
And thanks again.
Denny Graham