Vintage License Plate Restoration

In this video I'm restoring a very rusty retro license plate. It's a Indiana state plate from 1968, USA.
The process:
The license plate was very rusty and most of the paint was loose. I scraped the loose paint off and cleaned the rest off together with the rust in my sandblaster. There was a lot of pitting where the rust was, some holes and also a couple of dents. After straightening the edges and fixing the dents I used body filler on the pitted surface. I painted the license plate with etch primer and finally with 3 coats of glossy white top coat. For the lettering I tried different methods with various results. It turned out to be very tricky to paint them with a brush. I also tried with a small roller but it was quite messy. I ended up painting everything with a tooth pick! This method gives great control and the edges are sharp, but it is very time consuming.
I'm really happy with how the license plate turned out and hope that you enjoy watching the process.
Leave a like and don't forget to subscribe! Thanks!

[@Tarmim_pelack]

It was great, dear colleague

[@rla26368]

Awesome resto! I was born “next door” in OH in ‘68! 😊

[@RestoredChannel]

Awesome, thanks for watching! 😁

[@HandsonRestoring]

Great to see you back with another video 😄 and congrats for the new sandblaster 👍 That letter painting was really tricky but turned out great !

[@RestoredChannel]

Thanks man! I enjoyed every hour of tooth pick painting🤣 cheers mate

[@CoolAgainRestoration]

You restored the plate, next is the car 🚗🤣

[@RestoredChannel]

🤣🤣 you know my plans!👊

[@mota7506]

Lovely!

[@RestoredChannel]

Thanks a lot!

[@RestorationAustralia]

Looks great. 😊

[@RestoredChannel]

Thanks mate 👊

[@robertlevine2152]

Very nice! The inmates will be jealous.
INMATES: In the United States many States rely on prisoners in the State's penitentiaries to manufacture license plates. The prisoners are often referred to as "inmates".
The two blue rectangles in the corners are for expiration decals. One is for the month and the other is for the year.
Bob

[@RestoredChannel]

Great info, thanks for watching Robert 🙏

[@jackbest6677]

Excellant Restoration

[@RestoredChannel]

Thank you!

[@GarageRestoration]

Nice job :)

[@RestoredChannel]

Thanks mate!

[@FFD_Restorations]

Gorgeous result Restored! I am so glad to see your new video 😀👍 Lovely jobb and nice looking sand blaster 👌

[@RestoredChannel]

Thank you Boris. It's good to be back especially with new toys😉 cheers mate!

[@RestoreTechnique]

Hey he's back! 😄
Whoa you've got a sand blaster, nice! I appreciate the effort in the letter painting as it was such a good result, and satisfying to watch (think I'll watch that again 😀)
I'm always amazed by the quality of your video footage too, do you have studio lights, or is it just the lights that are in your workshop?

[@RestoredChannel]

Thanks mate😁 it was time for an upgrade😉 the cabinet is a blast to use🤣 glad to hear you enjoyed the tooth pick painting as it was by far the most time consuming part of the process! I have led panels (on the ceiling) as main lights and work lights from ikea (Tertial). Still film with my galaxy s20. Appreciate the great feedback 🙏

[@RestoreTechnique]

@@RestoredChannel Nice, those lights are really good then. When I got a broken S20 that I was repairing, I was disappointed the footage wasn't as good as yours haha. Lighting is key I guess.

[@RestoredChannel]

They are perfect if you don't have the space for big studio lights 👌 you searching for new setup?

[@Tatal.b]

Kkkkkkk Até que enfim chegaram a um acordo, na pintura desses números, as duas apesar de tentarem não conseguiram kkkkk
Mas ficou ótimo PARABÉNS, inclusive as que tentaram 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🇧🇷

[@therealsolo23]

Where can i purchase those small can of blue paint and what kind of paint are they?

[@RestoredChannel]

Search for Revell enamel color 👍

[@eliworks8549]

Do you have to scuff the letters so the blue sticks the best?

[@RestoredChannel]

I didn't scuff the paint, although it probably would stick better if I did. Thanks for watching 🙏

[@alisakadric7113]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@RestoredChannel]

🙏❤️❤️

[@peterboyes63]

Be honest, was it your wife who came up with the toothpick idea?

[@RestoredChannel]

😁 of course!

[@ajlaa5906]

👍👍👍👍👍

[@RestoredChannel]

🙏🙏😁

[@MikeBaxterABC]

I am thinkin I will try expensive masking tape, I do NOT have the fine motor control to do it free hand ... heck I can barely write my own name some days! :)

[@RestoredChannel]

Same here :) but with a little practice it works really great. Thanks for watching!

[@gdi9320]

Hi, what color are the names of that blue and white paints?

[@RestoredChannel]

Gloss white from Hagmans and blue is email color from Revell. Thanks for watching mate!

[@gdi9320]

@@RestoredChannel thank you

[@RestoredChannel]

No sweat😉

[@JjWeiss-ox9mz]

How did TH-cam took a year to recommend me this?

[@RestoredChannel]

Glad you enjoyed. Thanks for watching 👊