The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop California folks, your experience

Ain't exactly an engine question but, it attaches to my vehicle and that's got an engine.
I just called the California DMV asking about putting old plates on, if I were to get some on ebay or swapmeet. They said the plates have to match the vehicle year. That they would have to be stamped or a sticker saying '54. That sounds retarded. I found a set on ebay, black with yellow that had newer stickers, looked like '95. Was told they were clear but, couldn't use them 'cause they weren't stamped 1954 nor was the sticker '54. By their logic, one could only use the plates on a 1995 vehicle. I asked what if were to remove the sticker. She said then they couldn't be used at all 'cause there's nothing indicating a year. Maybe I'll just make a sticker that says 1954!
Anyone dealt with these bozos regarding this?

And some people wonder why I won't live or work in Kalifornia, for any amount ! !
That is absurd.
My sympathy goes out to you.

Makes perfect sense to me.

Many people want license plates that match their vehicle's year. It looks cool. Remember they are a different color etc. But, there are not 54 plates. At the time they used 51 plates and each year supplied you with a metal tag that would fit over the 51. So, you need 51 plates and a metal 54 tag for a 54 vehicle.

I can't understand for the life of me why you would want to use 95 plates as they look the same as the current ones and you might as well just get a set of new ones.

Another slight problem is that for a truck you need commercial plates. In 51 that was denoted by starting with COM on the plate. A good clear set of COM YOM's goes for $300 and up. They are quite rare. For that kinda money you need to make sure the plates are clear before you buy.

All this information and more is available on this website through the search feature as it has come up many times before. There are also websites for it. And even the DMV has information on their website about it.

Crowbar, I like San Antonio a lot but, I love San Diego! There's definitely stupid [censored] you gotta deal with though.
Tony M, Yeah, I'd love to find actual 1954 plates but, I'll settle for the black w/yellow that were used in the 60's to I think early 70's. Those would end up with a current year sticker anyway so I'm not sure why the DMV insists same year as vehicle.
The plates I saw weren't from '95, they just had '95 sticker. And this isn't for my truck, it's for my Chieftain so I don't have to deal with the commercial stuff.

I'm beginning to re-think even having YOM plates on the two vehicles I do. I have trouble just about every year with renewal. DMV in Sacramento seams to have a memory lapse when it comes to my plates. Even though I've had these two cars registered with the old plate for many years, they want to accuse me of wrong doing and hold up my tags for months.
If I had it to do all over again I'd get the current boring plates, toss them in the trunk and run what ever I feel like on a particular day.
The rule in this state now with regard to plates or a driver's license. Is, "WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING LICENSE!"

Here's the problem - there are several different kinds of California Black/Yellow plates.

[img]http://home.earthlink.net/~ajb44/ca_57_65.gif[/img]

YOM plates require 1962 or earlier plates, which are yellow background and black letter. Couple different formats for the earlier (10's and 20's) years. These have a STAMPED year of manufacture, or a METAL tag screwed on (red I think?) for some years.

You probably have a set of the later plates,with a STICKER representing the current registration year, not the YOM year. Can't be used for YOM.

Check out this page tons of license plate resources.

-Boyo

This is the only plates that will be acceptable for a 54 car. You will buy a seperate metal tag that will screw over the 51 and makes it a 54. If you don't want to buy the right ones, just get the current new ones from DMV.

[img]http://i9.ebayimg.com/02/i/02/13/ba/71_1.JPG[/img]

Sorry for the late reply. Slept in from watching the sun disappear last night into the waters along our beautiful Calif coastline, with the Mrs and a bottle of wine.

Here's the YOM plates on my '50. Never had any problem getting them registered to my truck a few years ago with CA DMV. They are actually 1947 stamped plates but with 1950 metal tags. Yes as everyone knows you first need to ensure that they are clear with DMV before you put down the big GA-CHING.

[img]http://www.cmaynard.com/Truck/IMG_0611.JPG[/img]

Thanks for the input. I know now what I have to do. Run whatever plates I want! Just kidding.

Yom plate from '51 GMC 2 ton (sold in '03)
COM YOM plate

Slightly different (I think)

Sorry the quality sucks, they were scanned in from chem photo's taken on a foggy day.

Plates were easy to re-assign....it just takes two months for the "special plates" division at DMV to review and accept.
Plates shown were free from my late Boss.....found them under our nail bins in the shop.........he was just going to hang them on the wall for looks.
I'll bet there are quite a few of these type plates just hanging on the wall of someone's garage and they have NO idea what they are worth.