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Robert · 06-01-2011, 07:07 AM

I just finished a VERY rough 1928 Georgia Dealer tag. After I glass beaded the tag- two quarter size spots were completely missing from the tag,it had about 500 pinholes,along with"10,000" pits, and half of the rolled edge was missing. I painted the tag with rust converter acid. Then I made up the missing rolled edge with heavy copper wire and JB Quick(using clothes pins to hold it in position). After this, I covered the front of the tag with masking tape (it took a while to get it into every crook and bend). Next, I covered the back side of the tag with fiberglass resin and mat. After it set up, I removed the masking tape. All the holes were now filled in with the resin. I scuffed the back with 600 grit sandpaper and started putting down several coats of high build lacquer "rattle can" primer. I didn't concern myself too much about the smoothness of the back side. I primed and sanded the front side and filled the larger pits and crevises using the JB Quick(a razor blade and wet fingers work well). I repeated this MANY times using 320 the 600 grit sandpaper. I had a good idea of the correct color of the body of the tag and had PPG mix it and put it in a spray can. The down side of using a spray can is that there is no hardener in the paint (I let it dry in direct sunlight for about a week). The up side to using the spray can is cost(no additional purchase of hardener and reducer for such a small job) and a ready supply of touch up paint that has a long shelf life. After the paint hardened, I CAREFULLY scuffed the letters with a very small piece of 1000 grit paper to give the lettering paint a good grip. The art supply store suggested that I buy a multipak of camel hair brushes and a small can of ONE SHOT lettering paint-which I did. I'd never lettered anything that I needed to be this particular with so I practiced on an unused tag (I'm sure everyone has several of these). After my lettering ability became respectible (I found that using one hand to steady the other worked well for me), I lettered my project tag. It turned out GREAT. While the tag now weighs as much as 3 tags due to the fiberglass and filling primer,it was worth the effort due to its rarity. I hope my "homebrewed" method will help.

06-01-2011, 07:07 AM	#31
Robert Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 99	Re: Restoring license plates I just finished a VERY rough 1928 Georgia Dealer tag. After I glass beaded the tag- two quarter size spots were completely missing from the tag,it had about 500 pinholes,along with"10,000" pits, and half of the rolled edge was missing. I painted the tag with rust converter acid. Then I made up the missing rolled edge with heavy copper wire and JB Quick(using clothes pins to hold it in position). After this, I covered the front of the tag with masking tape (it took a while to get it into every crook and bend). Next, I covered the back side of the tag with fiberglass resin and mat. After it set up, I removed the masking tape. All the holes were now filled in with the resin. I scuffed the back with 600 grit sandpaper and started putting down several coats of high build lacquer "rattle can" primer. I didn't concern myself too much about the smoothness of the back side. I primed and sanded the front side and filled the larger pits and crevises using the JB Quick(a razor blade and wet fingers work well). I repeated this MANY times using 320 the 600 grit sandpaper. I had a good idea of the correct color of the body of the tag and had PPG mix it and put it in a spray can. The down side of using a spray can is that there is no hardener in the paint (I let it dry in direct sunlight for about a week). The up side to using the spray can is cost(no additional purchase of hardener and reducer for such a small job) and a ready supply of touch up paint that has a long shelf life. After the paint hardened, I CAREFULLY scuffed the letters with a very small piece of 1000 grit paper to give the lettering paint a good grip. The art supply store suggested that I buy a multipak of camel hair brushes and a small can of ONE SHOT lettering paint-which I did. I'd never lettered anything that I needed to be this particular with so I practiced on an unused tag (I'm sure everyone has several of these). After my lettering ability became respectible (I found that using one hand to steady the other worked well for me), I lettered my project tag. It turned out GREAT. While the tag now weighs as much as 3 tags due to the fiberglass and filling primer,it was worth the effort due to its rarity. I hope my "homebrewed" method will help.