Hot Rods Aging a new license plate...

California now offers a license plate with the pre-70's colors of yellow on black. I've ordered one to replace the blue on white for my station wagon, but they're really stark and bright and I'd like to weather or age it some, without immediately getting pulled over for altering it. I'm guessing lacquer thinner and a scuff pad but is there something else you've tried?

This is kinda the deterioration I'm shooting for...

 

Have some kid run over it with bicycle a couple of times.

 

Flat clear

 

I like the bike idea...

I thought about the flat clear but wondered if it will kill the brightness of the plate enough...have you tried that approach?

 

Mist coat it with some rattle can flat black?

 

Throw it in the sandblaster and give it a quick hit from a distance, that will age it. HRP

 

I "aged" a reproduction black powder gun by burying it for a week or two.

 

Don't want to rain on your parade but...

According to California law 5201.1 (c)

(c) A person shall not erase the reflective coating of, paint over the reflective coating of, or alter a license plate to avoid visual or electronic capture of the license plate or its characters by state or local law enforcement.

And in the state of California, the minimum fine for an infraction is $1,105.

 

Throw it under a UV lamp for a month or so, after all they get the aged look from being out in the sun for all those years.

 

I would think twice before doing that,,, kinda against the law in most states to deface a plate. Dont ask how I know.....Mitch.

 

I get what you guys are saying but I think there's a big difference between aging the plate which is going to occur any way over time, and defacing it so I can get away cleanly from a hold up! It will still be clearly legible...just not so shiny.

 

Make it work its whole life at a job it hates.
And married to a mean woman.
12 kids.
Arthritis.
That'll age it.

 

That’s funny!!

 

tinted plastic cover

nick

 

Every time you wash your truck, wash the plate with Comet to "get the bugs off". That'll "clean" it up real nice.

 

Sounds like the lyrics to a Blues tune.

 

lay it in the driveway for about 30-40 years.

 

Now that's Traditional!!

 

Watch it now. You might get this whole thread killed with that kind of talk

 

Dust it lightly with a pinch of sand, mostly on the black with a few on the yellow, then hit it with the clear satin. The sand bits will look just like rust pits.
Practice on black painted cardboard or similar. If the rattlecan tends to blow away too much sand, you may have to sprinkle the sand onto some wet clear, then seal that with a second coat.

 

I would lightly scuff it with one of those untra fine foamed backed sanding pads. Lightly is the key word here.

 

You and I may think that way, but I don't impose fines and jail time.

 

Yeah, what he said...

 

Ah hell send them up and I'll stick them on my wife's ride for a couple of months and they will look older than hell when you get them back as she can beat the hell out of anything.
I'd go along with scrubbing the "bugs" off with some Comet or Bon Ami and laying them out in the weather for a while if the truck isn't ready to drive.

I don't always agree with Moriarity 100 % but what he said hits home. Most of us older guys busted our asses all of our lives to have something that looks nice and now you guys thinking having your ride look like hell warmed over is cool.

 

I do envy you guys … all we have is YOM plates for $25 a year extra.

 

Not really.

 

I have two sets of CT 32 plates, one set here was a little rusty and whatnot. So somebody told me CT-DMV does not allow repainted plates.. So I mix up perfect matched colors in enamel anyways.

Next day I need to bring them in to DMV for a visual inspection and they run the numbers. I put them in a manila envelope as the paint was not quite cured yet. (I also had the good set in the envelope just in case)Well, it's late Oct 2016 and they pushed the heat way up in the place..like 80-90 F.....I sat 1.5 hours...then my number gets called. She said lets see them.. I only held them up because the heat & closed envelope made them smell like wicked fresh paint. Nope, she wants to go scan them for records, and starts saying to the DMV crew "Wow where do you find such perfect plates" Thank goodness she had so much freaking perfume on she could not smell the paint.. LMAO here...

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