1949 VIN plate restoration

[Flysocal]

My VIN plate was painted yellow! You can still make out the stamped vin number and I used my finger nail to scratch off most of the yellow paint. In the process it removes much of the original painted information. Is there a way to restore the vin? Maybe a stencil or something? I know there are new repop ID plates but I would need to stamp it and I would rather not. I want to stick with my original plate.

[STOCKISH]

Theres a guy on eBay who sells them and will stamp them with your info for you. They sell the original rivets too so it looks like it was never removed. May be an option?

[iowaboynca]

You may want to touch base w/your local CHP to see what they'd like to see as a replacement (explain that the OE is trashed...etc) and see what they'd like to see.

My local took a little convincing (he wasn't happy) because the PO popped the plate off even though I showed him that the holes matched up.

[hogfarm]

My friend who is rebuilding a 58 fleetside (see my buddys 58) need a new plate.He had one made,I will ask him where he got it done

[STOCKISH]

Search eBay for serial data tag. Your truck doesnt have a VIN tag, VIN was stamped in the block behind the distributor. VIN tags are not reproduced legally but the serial # data tags are. Thats whats on the doo jamb of the 47-54 trucks.

[mr48chev]

That is a continual problem when redoing these trucks because back years ago the painters either didn't give a rip and painted right over the plate or removed and lost it in the painting process.
Mine is beat up and probably has five coats of paint on it and is in my tool box right now I do have a replacement from Classic parts =second page of paint and decals in the interior section http://www.classicparts.com/Paint-De...oducts/848/2/0 That I haven't stamped because I have not found the correct stamps yet.

You can look at your own or several more and the stamping appears to be done by hand on the work bench as the trucks rolled down the assembly line with more interest in getting the right info than neatness. That may be a good thing as they don't have that machine stamped look to them. It may be that the plates were delivered to the assembly line with everything except the actual series number stamped on them and that was done as they rolled by on the line and installed there.

I'd still check with the state especially if the tag was still riveted to the cab. The old skinned up tag may give a lot more peace of mind in the long run than the shiny new one. you might try lacquer thinner or acetone in a spot to see if you can wipe the paint off without removing the paint on the tag or maybe a small soda blaster used carefully.

[hogfarm]

this is where my friend had new vin tags made WWW.ecsvin.com

[Flysocal]

This is what I'm dealing with. When I bought the truck the guy didn't have a title. In cali you can't get a title to a rolling shell of a truck so I did my research and determined the VIN was clean and unused. Applied for a registration through VT and paid fees etc. got VT registration and plates to show legal ownership before I started pouring copious amounts of money at my build. I'm a AAA member and they can do a VIN check when I transfer truck from VT to CA. Again, they won't do a VIN verification until it's a running vehicle. So I'm gonna roll into AAA in a street rod with a ratty old VIN plate. I don't want to get bit on a technicality such as "can't read the info on vin" although the stamped numbers are good. If all they care about is the numbers I'm good. If they want to read the whole plate I have a problem. Not sure if I want to put a new shiny plate on it either. Contacted they eBay guy he want $80 stamped. I'm cool with my old vin I just don't want the vin verify guy giving me a hard time because he can't read all the stuff on it.

[iowaboynca]

That's actually a lot better condition than my plate was in. I did the same thing you did and got the truck inspected via 3rd party. As long as he could see the 'shadow' of the fonts and see that the plate looked to be issued from GM and matched up to the files he had on hand to verify, he signed off on it.

At the end of the day, you may just want to bop into AAA one day and tell them your situation and ask. They might be understanding, being that they're dealing with 40+, 50+ 60+ year old vehicles.

Good luck!

[mr48chev]

I would much rather go in with that ratty old plate in place with the rusty old screws than a shiny new plate.
The only other viable info on it is the gross weight in the middle. nothing else means anything. Most likely you can get the lowest tonnage rating the state allows anyhow as they usually figure you aren't intending to haul anything in them.
Once you have it all squared away and all the paperwork done and a clear title and registration then you can put a fancy new plate on if if you decide to. If I go ahead and stamp the new one I have I am thinking about mounting the old one up on the drivers side kick panel in case the shiny one is ever questioned. Since having the truck inspected to get a washington title in 1977 it has never been looked at and I don't think it was even on there after 1981. It's been in the truck but not on the truck.

[Flysocal]

Speaking of rusty old screws I lost my original clutch head screws. If anybody has 2 extra rusty old clutch head screws laying around and could help a brother out please PM me. I believe they are size 10.

[51 okie]

Were they clutch head screws holding the plate originally? or rivets?

[mr48chev]

I looked on one of my cabs and it has rusty phillips head screws. Flysocal's plate still is several times better than mine.

Thinking about it you might just clean off the place that has the vin stamped, tape it with masking tape and reinstall it and paint right over it. That would solve any future arguments. Won't look fancy but no one will argue with it. It sure would be nice to be able to get decals that we could just overlay on our original tags though.