Dave Tracy

I am attempting to restore my black and yellow plates for my '64. Moving beyond my first obstacle of being a perfectionist, I have not found my results to be satisfactory. Initially, I attempted to paint the plates black and use a roller to paint the raised letters. I have used a hard rubber roller, a soft rubber roller and a sponge roller. In all instances, the automobile paint seems too thin to adequately roll on and have adequate coverage. I then painted the plates with the yellow and then black followed by sanding down the black to get to the yellow which had better results but still not adequate. I have tried painting the letters with very fine brushes but found this technique inadequate due to not having a smooth surface texture. The plates did not require the at least 30 hours of time to make that I have into them to this point. Any direction as to technique and materials from someone who has been successful would be appreciated. Yes, I can have them done but there is a sense of accomplishment doing it myself. I am also concerned that if I am this uptight about license plates, when I paint the car, I will need to be confined to a lock down mental hospital. (I thought this hobby was supposed to be fun.) Thank you in advance.

TCracingCA

But I painted the entire plate yellow, and oven baked it on without bubbling it. Then I let that set up for a few days weekend to next weekend. Then I painted the black over the whole thing and at a certain point, I took lacquer thinner and a bunch of lint free rags and wiped the fresh black paint off of the number and letters which gave it a more authentic edging quality similar to the originals that you won't get with a brush. Then I let that dry completely. Then oven baked that a week later.

ohiovet

Dave,
I have done a number of YOM plates using the following technique which works fine on steel and aluminum plates.
Strip the plate by sanding, chemical stripper or do a very gentle glass bead.
A aggressive sand blast will warp the plate.
Bodywork the plate to remove dents, dings, etc.
Prime with a self etch primer.
Spray with a high build primer and sand with 320 or 400 grit until smooth and ready for paint.
Spray on the background color and let thoroughly dry.
Using "1 Shot" sign painters paint carefully paint the top of the numbers and letters using good artists brushes.
1 Shot paint is excellent to work with and flows out to a smooth surface.
Clear coat and you are done.

C-1 Generation 2

I think I've finished five plates. One of the last one I finished was for a neighbor with a 70 Chevelle 396 SS. I used a heavy duty paint stripper, removed the dents and hand sanded all the rust off. Block sanded all numbers, letters and borders to make sure there were no low or high spots in them. Then used Krylon black without any prime on the front of the plate, possibly ten coats, allowing each coat to dry. Then two coats of white on the back and three coats of white on the front. Then carefully wet sanded the raised numbers, letters and border with 1,000 grit to expose the black beneath the white.
This is just a hobby for me as a favor to local old car enthusiast. I also do die cast replicas of friends cars on a key chain to hang from their rear view mirror.

frankturbo

really looks nice !

Dave Tracy

Thank you all. I'll study all of your information. When successful, I'll post the photos.
Dave