RE: painting vintage license plates

[Dan McCormack <mcwheels@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks Jim, I can always use a good laugh and I'm always glad to find out there's other people besides me that have these trial and error disasters. Third time is a charm isn't always true is it. LOL

First let me say that yes we are allowed in NY to register a vintage car with Year of Manufacture plates but..... They have to be a matched pair (if 2 plates were used in that year) of original unrestored plates. They are not allowed to be repainted. That being said my story starts with me buying a pair of 1936 NY plates for my 36 Plymouth at Hershey for $45.00. After I got home I had a friend of mine who's a police dispatcher run the number. (I get by with a little help from my friends) He found out that the number was already in use on a 69 Chevy owned by some 85 year old woman I so couldn't use them. Damn old lady probably's had the number since 1936. LOL Anyway I found another matched set on eBay that were much better condition than the first set. I had my friend run the number before I bid on them this time and got them for $14.00.

Here's what I did:
1. Cleaned dirt off plates and took picture to send to DMV in Albany. (before repainting)

2. Used fine steel wool to scuff up old paint and remove small rust spots.

3. Wiped off plates with lacquer thinner.

4. Sprayed plates with Rustoleum Satin Black and let dry.

5. Gave plates to a friend of mine who's a sign painter. (Again I get by with a little help from my friends)

6. He painted the letters back on with a brush and one shot yellow paint. (the same paint used by pinstripers) 

7. Got plates back in 2 weeks. (Can't rush a friend who's doing you a favor for nothing) The plates look totally original.

Two things in closing, Krylon clear coat is a lacquer based product so that's why it ate up the Krylon enamel. (been there done that LOL) 

Also I've since found out that if you want to check if a number is in use (at least in NY) and you don't have a police dispatcher friend you can go the NY DMV website. There is place on the website where you can type in a number for a vanity plate to see if it's available. It won't tell you who has the number but it will tell you if that number is in use or not.

Dan, 
NY  36
8D 90-23




-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Altemose [mailto:jaltemoose@xxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2011 1:56 PM
To: 1962to1965mopars
Subject: OT: painting vintage license plates


Hopefully this isn't too off-topic.  I'm sure some of you may try to
restore vintage license plates for your car.  Maybe this can save you
some trouble.  In NY I'd guess it's the same as much of the country in
that you can register a real vintage plate if it's the correct year
for the car and not in current use.

There's guys on the Web you can find to do it for about $75 per plate,
which may well be worth it.  I'm too stubborn and ignorant to think I
can't do everything myself.  It took my dumb a$$ five tries to get it
right, but they finally came out real nice.

Here's what worked:
1. Paint remover to take off majority of paint.  Blasting cabinet for the rest.

2. Sprayed base-coat primer using white Rustoleum metal primer.

3. Sprayed letter color 12 coats with Krylon Indoor/Outdoor.  Why
Krylon?  They had the right color.

4. Sprayed 12 coats of Rustoleum Clear Enamel to thicken and protect
layer.  Why?  KRYLON CLEAR COAT RUINS KRYLON PAINT.  More on that
later.

5. Sprayed 4 coats (or enough to cover) of Krylon Indoor/Outdoor
background color.

6. Very gently sanded off letters and edge with 900 grit emory.  Used
a tiny square with my finger tip.  Took about 1/2 hour per letter.
Touched up where necessary.

7. Sprayed 12 coats of Rustoleum Clear Enamel to finish.

I'm very pleased with the final results.


In case you want to learn from my mistakes, here's what didn't work.

1. Similar sanding method as above, but with a block.  Letters weren't
as uniform height as you'd think.  Got to metal quickly.  Strip it
again, start over.

2. Spray on background.  Roll on letters with a small detail roller.
Impossible to get full coverage without splatter and without getting
down edges of letters.  Strip it, start over.

3. Spray on background.  Hand paint with a fine brush.  You better be
Bob F'n Ross.  Very hard to not get edges.  Don't sneeze, burp or
fart.  Start over.

4. Back to sanding method.  Sprayed on Krylon letter color.  Then
sprayed on Krylon Clear Coat.  Gee, you'd think it would say somewhere
on the can they're incompatible.  Paint got sticky and bubbled up in
spots like it was paint remover.  Boy that one put me in a bad mood.

Hit on the correct combo of Rustoleum and Krylon after trial and error
on scrap plates.  It all sticks real good.

I never tried masking tape or vaseline; they might have been next.


A word about color selection.  I couldn't find the right letter color
in any stores, so had to go on line.  Rustoleum didn't have anything
close.  Krylon had a whole bunch, but they were 1/4 inch sample
swatches.  I'm handy with computers and Photoshop, so I brought into
Photoshop jpg images from the Web of the license plates.  Then I was
able to select a Photoshop pen with the same color from the swatches.
I could then paint right over the letters on the plates and compare
the colors.  Worked well for me.

Anyway, that's my story.  I hope I can save someone some of the hours
I lost drinking beer and listening to music and watching paint dry.
Actually, I guess it wasn't so bad.

- Jim
Jim Altemose, Long Island, NY
'63 Polara 500 (Max Wedge)
'63 Polara 500 (383)
'65 Belvedere I (Street Wedge)
'71 Bronco


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