License plate after paint remover was allowed to do its work. It's easy to blast, sand or otherwise go through the metal if you're not careful. Sand blasting will work, of course, but remember that license plates were only designed to last a year or so and were made of thin metal. Plates were made with very little paint, so this task is generally quite easy. In most cases ordinary paint stripper will work very well, and that's what we did here. The plates need to be cleaned and stripped of old paint, rust, etc.
In any case, restoring them is relatively easy, as long as the embossed numbers are still recognizable. In the worst case the plates will be bent, rusted and barely usable (This should only be true for very old plates. In the best case the plates you find will be in pristine condition and never issued, perhaps still in their original DMV envelope. Turn-of-the-century plates are very valuable and many were made from leather, metal-on-metal and even porcelain. These can get pricey, since they weren't made with very high quality metal and most were melted down during WWII. Earlier plates run about $10 more per decade until you get back into the 20s and 30s. License plates dating back to the early '60s typically cost about $25. The next-hardest thing is finding the license plates themselves, but we can pretty much guarantee that you'll be able to pick up a set at most any local car show or flea market. Many DMV customer assistants aren't aware of the relatively obscure vintage tag rules.įortunately, doing all the DMV research and paperwork is the hardest part of restoring license plates. Go there and, if the person at the desk gives you the "deer in the headlights" look, ask to see a supervisor. Most states legislate their use under their antique vehicle licensing regulations, so if you wish to use "vintage" plates, check with your DMV.
That is, if the owner can find a set of plates issued for the year of manufacture of his car, there is provision within the law to register those plates to the car. Most states now allow the use of original license plates (vintage license plates) on collector cars.