47-55.1 Re-painting license plates

[JDarby]

All,

Years ago I purchased a set of 1955 Texas Truck License plates from a vendor
thinking I would run them on my truck at some point.

Well the time has come to restore them but I am a bit puzzle on a good way of doing that
and was wondering who here has done that and how did you do yours?

I had a paint store do a color match on my color and bought a small can to do the job.

Not sure how to do the letters and numbers after I strip and spray paint the plates?

Advice needed here please!!

[mongocanfly]

Lots of videos on utube on doing this.....looks like most just hand paint with a brush..

[mr48chev]

Check with the state first to get them approved. Some states won't approve repainted plates. That may be because they can't easily tell a restored/repainted plate from an aftermarket Order your own YOM Texas plate.

That isn't say that you can't get them approved and then "restore them" but I would investigate the legality of that in TEXAS before doing it. Meaning that some things that are commonly done may not actually be legal.
They photocopy your YOM plates and keep that photo image on file and that may preclude restoring the plates.

Personally unless it was totally restored to roll off the showroom floor I wouldn't run YOM plates. Great for a stone showroom stock vehicle that is new car perfect but pretty lame on a modified rig with billet wheels an an LS or a fiberglass street rod that is way too modern.

Classic plates are so misused and abused in this state that I have little interest in them as I see too many old beater pickups hauling garbage to the dump with classic plates or roached out 35 year front wheel drive Japanese cars with classic plates.

[JDarby]

Personally I like it because the truck is telling what year it is by the date on the plate!

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by JDarby

Personally I like it because the truck is telling what year it is by the date on the plate!

If I had a stone stock truck that was top level show quality I would do it. My truck is highly modified and attracts enough attention from the cops as is and I intend to make some serious road trips with it and I don't need some unworldly small town cop giving me a bad time for plates that they think are not correct.

[youngrodder]

I've seen a video recently where a guy wraps one in a base color then used a cricket or some vinyl cutting machine to cut out the lettering for the state in the correct font. He cut around the registration decal so it was not covered up by the base color wrap. It would probably be quicker and cheaper than painting one.

Marc

[Second Series]

I read somewhere to paint the digit color on the whole thing, then paint the background over that. Block sand until the digits are visible. I haven't done that and the YOM plates on my rig were originally aluminum with painted digits for that year only '47.

[mr48chev]

One last time, Take the plates as is to the proper office and If Plano is like it was in Waco that means the county courthouse.
It is better to take the plates in as to get them approved than redo them and have them rejected because they were redone. Then after they are approved you can ask about the concept of restoring them or having them restored. For that I would find out who the highest regarded license plate restoration person in the DFW area is and Pay to have it done. All this because what I don't want to see is you posting that you redid your plates and then they were rejected because they were not the original from Huntsville finish.

If you go to a private license plate office go to the one in the area with the best rep for dealing with vintage car folks and having the best knowledge of their job. Here in Washington the place Nvrdone and I go to has an owner who is the sharpest person on car title/license issues I know of and if he doesn't have the answer he has the person in Olympia who does on his speed dial. His clerks are also highly trained .

[JDarby]

I have done this with both of my vintage motor cycles but in those cases I
bought plates that were in tip top shape and needed nothing, only to be approved.

The Truck plates I bought years ago and I don't believe they did a very good prep job on the plate before they painted them.
The paint just peels off in some areas.

I guess it makes sense to get the plates approved for use before I go through the effort of making them look new!

[dennislbrooks]

If Texas is near like Ohio, the plate/plates have to legibly be the correct state. correct year, a number not currently registered, the near correct background color and near correct letter/numeral color.

No problem with restored plate/plates as long as they conform to the above.

Here is my single self-restored 1942 Farm plate. After base prep, I sprayed the background color ( let ti set for a week), then carefully rolled the letters and numbers. Yea you may be touching up with a brush. Easier touching up the darker color than the light.

[JDarby]

Very Nice looking plate!!!

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by JDarby

I have done this with both of my vintage motor cycles but in those cases I
bought plates that were in tip top shape and needed nothing, only to be approved.

The Truck plates I bought years ago and I don't believe they did a very good prep job on the plate before they painted them.
The paint just peels off in some areas.

I guess it makes sense to get the plates approved for use before I go through the effort of making them look new!

When you go into getting them approved is also when you ask about the legalities of restoring them.

[Lunnb]

I've repainted a couple of plates that I picked up on Ebay . They were pretty cheap but also in pretty rough shape when I got them .

[JDarby]

Lunnb, did you hand paint those plates?

They look very nice!!!

[Lunnb]

Thanks . Yep , I painted by hand , not a very steady hand I found out . It's amazing what original or even refurbed plates are selling for . I picked these up for about $20 each but as you can see , they were in rough shape .