NWSubie Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 So I live in oregon and my wagon is 32 this year and its paint is showing its age. Im planning on painting my car this summer. I have the original yellow/blue plates but my rear plate is pretty much silver almost all of its paint is gone. Is it illeagal for me to repaint it if I use reflective yellow and paint it its original colors? The dmv wants a ton for new plates so im not wanting to go that route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortysayhi Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 So I live in oregon and my wagon is 32 this year and its paint is showing its age. Im planning on painting my car this summer. I have the original yellow/blue plates but my rear plate is pretty much silver almost all of its paint is gone. Is it illeagal for me to repaint it if I use reflective yellow and paint it its original colors? The dmv wants a ton for new plates so im not wanting to go that route. I only had one plate (drove around for 7 years no issues) and in co we need both front and rear i said they were lost... paid about 5$ and got 2 brand new plates! with tags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Hmm. Excellent question, one that is the first time I have seen anything like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kabarakh Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Hmm. Excellent question, one that is the first time I have seen anything like. short answer from what i can find is... yes, you can. unsure of the details about when however... looking forward to seeing other results on this! Lookup "restoring license plates/repainting license plates" on google and there is quite a bit of info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWSubie Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 Ill have to do that, im sure im not the only person to have their plates fade and lose thier paint. I know its illegal to just paint the plates what ever color you want but i would think if the person matched the original paint it would be ok. Or at least it seems like it should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3eyedwagon Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 By 1980 most states had incorporated a reflective coating over the paint. I can only speak as to the rules in Washington: In order to legally "restore" a plate from that era, you NEED to have that correct reflective material over the paint. That said, as long as you get your colors real close to what they are supposed to be, I doubt you will find many officers that will give you a hard time. In Washington, before 1972 or so, the plates had no reflective material. Because of that, as long as you have a steady hand, and can find close to correct colored paint, you can have at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWSubie Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 I thought about just painting the plate anf then roughing it up a bit maybe hit it with a preassure washer a little so it appears aged and if I get pulled over for it I could just play dumb haha. Or just leave my plates silver since its been two years that I have been driving it and no troubles from the cops. Knock on wood... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 If they haven't given you a hard time about them being silver with all the paint missing, I can't see why they'd give you a problem having them re-painted. If you're doing your own thing, not harming anyone. Cops usually don't care. If you get pulled over for aggressive driving, they might also give you a hard time about your plates. Cops have bigger things to worry about than some guy who properly restored his license plates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Illegal to repaint or alter plates in any way in the state of Oregon. Good news is, unless they are COMPLETELY mangled they can't make you get new ones. Uhh.....you do know plates are only $27 dollars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 New plates are required every 7yrs in the state of WA. They make you buy them when you go to get your new tabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWSubie Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 I like the look of my old yellow and blue plates and the dmv lady wanted to give me the oregon mountian ones. They do have the blue/yellow avalible here again but she said it would cost more every time I renewed my tags after that with those plates. Either she was loading me some bs or the government just found one more way to rip people off. Either way im not super worried until I paint the car then my unpainted plates will probably stand out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I like the look of my old yellow and blue plates and the dmv lady wanted to give me the oregon mountian ones. They do have the blue/yellow avalible here again but she said it would cost more every time I renewed my tags after that with those plates. Either she was loading me some bs or the government just found one more way to rip people off. Either way im not super worried until I paint the car then my unpainted plates will probably stand out. A standard replacement plate (tree) costs $27 bucks. A plate transfer (if you have plates on something else not being driven) costs $6. Anything other than the standard plates, you do have to pay a bit extra for each time you register. it's like $20-30 bucks extra for 2 years. This applies to Vanity plates, Crater lake plates, Cultural trust plates, OSU or UO Alumni plates, or the "classic" blue and yellow ones. I personally think the old style ones only look good on truely "old" vehichles 70's and older ya know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowmastered87GL Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 If they look the same... just paint them.... it may be tough to find a shop willing to do it, but if you don't change the number and restore their legibility... go for it yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86hatchback Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Licenseplates.tv not really cheap but gives you a replica of your old plates if your looming to stay with the vintage plates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWSubie Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 Thanks for all the tips and info guys, guess ill figure out this summer what I decide to do with the plates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themoneypit Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 A standard replacement plate (tree) costs $27 bucks. A plate transfer (if you have plates on something else not being driven) costs $6. Anything other than the standard plates, you do have to pay a bit extra for each time you register. it's like $20-30 bucks extra for 2 years. This applies to Vanity plates, Crater lake plates, Cultural trust plates, OSU or UO Alumni plates, or the "classic" blue and yellow ones. I personally think the old style ones only look good on truely "old" vehichles 70's and older ya know. here in CT they were charging extra for vanity plates etc when renewal time came.. people got mad, and threatened a class action lawsuit because of the extra fees at re-reg time. now, you pay a little extra when you purchase them, and the re-reg fees are the same as passenger plates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubies Subie Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Buy a set off ebay, I did a search and they have all sorts of them, or, if you really need a set that bad, I have an extra set that's not in to bad of shape that you can have for free .. here's the ebay link to a set of plates: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SET-OF-2-1970s-ERA-OREGON-LICENSE-PLATES-SALE-BENEFITS-BLIND-CATS-100-/320857817808?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab49dc2d0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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