Painting Letters on Vintage Plates for Model A?

[McMimmcs]

Originally Posted by JRrev

I tried three processes. Hand brushing was the least successful as it was difficult to maintain a even line. Next was the roller method. It was a small diameter and fairly dense rubber. Somewhat better. Lastly, I painted the letter/number color in lacquer then the background color in enamel. With a block wrapped tightly in flannel, damped with reducer, I wiped off the raised letters/numbers enamel. For me in all cases the used plates' letters and numbers were not crisp even with restoring. The undulations made for misses and re-do's. Eventually, I found a local guy who did them professionally.

Which undulations are you referring to?

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I'd opt to have it restored as well....or find one in with original paint suitable to your needs. I have had numerous plates restored, and they turn out great if you use the right restorer.

[TerryH]

I decided to buy already restored plates for my A 15 years ago. They were 1930 California plates, and they came out perfect…..I was very happy. I think back then they were around $275 a pair….likely a lot more now. I then took them to our local DMV, where they were examined and accepted.

[Ayers1]

I restored a set of plates for my 30. Sandblasted, then primed, then painted the basecoat. I taped off all of the straight edges that I could and used pinstriping paint from our local auto paint store for the letters. Pinstripe paint is a little thicker and will flow together without leaving brush strokes. They aren't perfect but not bad for first time.