Can anyone recommend a good plate restorer? I have a set I want to send out over the winter months and just wondering who does good work.
Do you mean an electro-plater? Ken Kopskey does very nice nickel plating on smaller parts. He has done a lot of work for me and I have found no one better. Jim Patrick
http://www.finishyourplates.com/
I think he means license plates.
Yes Ted, sorry. License plates.
You could try it yourself, might make a nice winter project, see Steve Jelf's video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jb8IvCaGdc
Pat,
Before you even start check with your states DMV. I believe New York does not allow repainted plates for use as Year-of-manufacture
NY does NOT allow the repainting of plates for YOM....
NJ doesn't either, but a lot of people display original tags on the front. I don't know if anyone's ever been pulled over for it.
I meant that NJ doesn't allow YOM plates period.....
Your correct, NY does not allow repainted or restored plates. However I have already passed the plates through the DMV as they are, they are registered and on the car now. I figured I didnt think the local PD would be interested too much as to whether the plates have been restored as long as everythings registered and paperworks in order.
Why tempt it? LOL
This might not of any interest if you are having your plates done but for a DIYer the use of powder coating can make the job easier then painting.
I did these plates that I cast up from an original plate loaned to me by one of the guys on this forum.
The method I used was to powder the whole plate in black and bake. I then powdered the face with the yellow and then with a damp finger wiped away the yellow powder from the letters and edges. If you screw up you can wipe it clean and start over with the yellow powder again. Once you are satisfied with the look just rebake it again to bond the yellow to plate. I did these with a Harbor Freight $50 powder coater and a toaster oven.
As a passing point it is possible to reproduce a plate in aluminum as I did with this plate even thought it was originally only .020 thick. It done by ram up the plate for sand casting and then placing an 1/8" thick frame around it so once cast it comes out as a now 1/8" thick plate but both the front and back look like the original. A good way to reproduce a second plate if you only have one good one to start with but want a matched set. Once in a license frame it's hard to tell how thick it is. Bob
Bob,
Very interesting...Thanks for sharing your process!
ken quirk in fl does the license plates 561-793-6924
Anybody ever use die-cut adhesive vinyl decals for the letters/number/graphics, then claer-coat over them? Having a hard time finding someone to either screen them or hand paint them. Just curious about an alternative. I've found that if I but the materials to screen them myself, I'm looking at more than I paid for the plates! Thanks.
Duane Wells does an excellent job on plates. Just like new. He is in Lansing, MI 517-371-3225
Michigan encourages well restored YOM plates.
I have period plates on my 1930 Plymouth in NY. I had them approved first then had them restored. Believe me, people who are so stupid that they prohibit restoring those plates are too stupid to know they have been restored! I have been stopped several times by the police and the issue of the plates has never come up. I am usually stopped for not having directional signals,which I might add are not required, or for some other idiotic reason that turns out to be an excuse to get a look at the car!
I have a very nice 1915 Arkansas plate that has been restored, and it's too valuable to put on a car. I would like to have someone make molds of this plate without damaging it, then make two identical plates from the molds which I could put on a T. I can paint them. As I see it, the tricky part will be making the molds without damaging the nice paint job on the plate. Does anyone here know who can do this? BTW, it's stamped steel with raised numbers/letters, not a flat porcelain one.
I haven't seen the work in person, but from pictures it looks like this guy does a good job of plate restoration.
http://www.finishyourplates.com/
And now I'll ask the question I always ask whenever the silly New York law comes up. How do they know whether a plate is restored or NOS?
OOoops! I see Ed already posted the link. So that leaves just the question.
Steve I am sure they don't know but if you show up with a pristine plate they assume it is restored and will not take it. If you have not dealt with the Motor Vehicle Department in NY you can't imagine what it is like because in your wildest dreams you couldn't believe that people who are being paid to do a job can be so rude, uncooperative and arbitrary. I finally moved to Florida to get away from them. I am not saying that there aren't some people in the DMV who are helpful but in over 50 years of dealing with them I have not run across one!