i think that anyone who goes thru that much is more stuburn than me most people would of gave up before they started kudos too you ,,,, > > 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 > > > > > > ---- > > Please address private mail -- mail of interest to > only one person -- directly to that person. I.e., send > parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other > personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the > Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your > privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the > content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks! > > > > 1962 to 1965 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines: > > http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html and > http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.com/general_disclaimer.html. > > > > > > > > >