No, not in the joint, at home. I found some 1930s for chaep and found 2 that were only 2 digits different. I have the one I am making stuch together but I need a much smaller tip to finish it. Probably find a 000 tip to finnish. I really made a mess trying to use the wire feed, probably take a while to straighten up. So has anyone else ever tried this? With decent 28-29 plates going over 3 bills in many places I figure it's worth a try. I think the 30s are about 150
Never seen that done before, but Wisconsin doesn't let use use YOM plates on our cars. If they ever do, I have a huge pile of old ones sitting here waiting to get used, probably would be worth big $ if we ever get to use them.
i've made them from fiberglass...........very illegal but the matched set plates were going for $300. my theory is if you have 1 plate, it's clear and you can make a good looking mate then it should be ok........but it's not because we don't live in danofornia. also like you said you need a real small tip and some good skills to do it right. the only other one i've done was for my house and not to register. only problem was the #'s were aluminum and the plate was metal......so jb weld and epoxy solved that.
I haven't tried it yet, but I always buy plates if they have certain #s or letters so I can make a set of 'personal' plates someday.
Many years ago I "re-lettered" a plate by hammering the NEW numbers into it - it came out pretty good, but not perfect. My hammer forming skills are MUCH better today so I'd like to think I could do a better job now. Next you could emboss the new numbers in it using a press or even a big vice doing one letter/number at a time. You can make disposable tooling off your old plate - again for hammer forming - I've done this with bondo and seran wrap for easy stuff - I've HEARD about guys even using cement - but it's pretty coarse so I'd be inclined to try something smoother like "water putty" or something like that. Hydro forming will also work, but kinda elaborate for a home job - although NOT impossible either. The welding will work - but personally I wouldn't reccomend MIG-ing it - I'd either GAS weld it or TIG weld it - I'd keep the beads as SMALL as possible and I'd make the fitup as perfect as I could to facilitate the smallest welds possible.
A friend of mine and fellow striper works for Chrysler and one of his tasks there is to occasionally make one-off plates for concept cars and such.His method is to make a die from hardwood and use a hand press.I've seen some that he has done and they look pretty damn real.
we do it all the time here in Minnesota. the year is bottom left so we hunt the year plate down we want with the first digit being a '1' a '19' is better then the state name is on the right so we find (any year that lets say ends in '34' then its one weld right down the middle after both plates are cut waaalaaa 34 minnesota plate that reads 1934. --- all the DMV needs is a photo copy & were registered. dont know about other states but Minnesota started out with a 1 or 2 digit plate so they work too. my brother is a master at this & had one of his chrome plated, since it was tig welded almost perfect. i also registered a 55 chev buying new personalized collector plates & will make a 1955 minnesota plate that matches the collector plate (they are considered the same) so ill just use that & the states happy they got paid from me buying collector plates so everyones happy including the cops when they call it in after i pass them at about 120!
I didn't get as good of fit as I should have. But I am sure with a bit of practice with the 000 tip and .030 wire, I can make them that will pass DMV. I like the Idea of reforming too. One guy I know says there is a place you can send any mangled up plate and he will restore it for $30 or so. Comes back looking like a brand new plate, front and rear. Hmmm...Now that all the states are going to the painted and not embossed ones, I winder if a guy could pick up some dies for cheap.
ive been thinking of doing this with a newer "vanity" tag and a 1940 tag i just got off ebay, im guessing the jb weld and filler are going to be my method of grafting.
I heard there was a guy on Fordbarn making vanity plates by cutting letters and numbers out with a laser, then tig welding them back in order.
I have thought about this as well. Example in my head: The actual Indiana 1955 plate is really the 1954 plate with an added metal bolt-on number tab at the top for "55". I would like to actually stitch a plate together so it is 1955 and Indiana without the tab (using another state plate). Then I would like to go one step further and stitch together enough letters to make my own personalized plate, like maybe "DIABLO" or something like that. Metal finish it and then paint it the same color red as the car with bone white lettering to match the tuck and roll. There ya go. One personalized, color matched, 1955 Indiana tag. Indiana allows year of mfr tags this year and the original is actually dark burg with white lettering. Been thinking about it for awhile. I would probably epoxy all the pieces to a single sheet of aluminum and then finish the seams with JB Weld or maybe even solder or something. Maybe I could get away with it. I think it could be registered without too much trouble if you could find the right person to work you through the line at the DMV. Once ya got it done, it should be no problem to renew each year...
i saw a certain showcar recreation on which the owner had recreated the original tag.. (the owner is a hamber, perhaps he will chime in) I felt this took a special type of person. someone with more patience than myself
I made this from 3W1920 and xxxx32 ...cut them and tigged together, BUT even though the bloke who welded them was a great welder, there was still a lot of prep work needed before painting. Obviously the pre-weld fit is vital, but the metal is pretty thin! and twists easily. I wouldn't be in a rush to do it again and I'm relieved I found two plates that fitted together easily. I was going to make it up from 5 or 6 different plates until I found those two, but in hindsight it would be VERY difficult to do using more than a couple of plates - not impossible, but the cutting and pre-weld fitting would need to be spot on.
Some states do not approve altered plates. In North Dakota it states that the plates must not even be repainted. Not saying that if you work it through the right office at the right time, you may get it to pass. Neal
i made this one out of 2 different plates wanted to have the same number that a friend of mine ran in '41 1941 Bill Farren 2007
In most states, you don't own the plate, it is state property. If its altered or changed, its unusable legally. That doesn't mean it can't sneak through. here in Arizona, we can run YOM plates, I just used one I bought at random for 1950. I wouldn't mind a set of GEN 11 plates and the appropriate car to go with it! (extra points if you know what Im referring to...)
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