Facing The Plates

Like what I've mentioned in my earlier post - Voxy's license plates are really frustrating borderline disgusting :(. Well, I'd have to face them sooner or later .. why not begin now? :) While removing it, I wondered how her previous owner treated her. Imagine her being left in the sun, mud and rain for months - that's all about to change with me now. :)

Let's have another look at the plates - I was only able to take a picture of one - but believe me - this is the better plate :)

As you can see, there are rust stains all over it- I think this is because of the rusted plate holder - and it is full of old LTO stickers - 2005 was the only one I could read out as the others have already faded. I think it is a good sign though as it indicates that the car was registered several times - meaning it was used throughout those years - why register a car you're not going to use right? :)

Tried cleaning them with soap, water, gas, alcohol and the other chemicals lying around in the house but had no success in doing so - I had to take drastic measures. It would have to be either be one of two things 1. apply for duplicate plates 2. restore them . After conducting an extensive research (see - i followed my tip in my third post ) - I found out that it will take months before LTO could issue me new plates (and at a high cost) so I decided that I'll have to follow route number 2 ( for the meantime while I'm saving up and waiting for my duplicate plates).

DISCLAIMER: I am not sure if this is legal and allowed by LTO, BTMO, etc - do this at your own risk. There are some who claim that there's nothing wrong with this as long as you have your papers with you - but there are others who say otherwise. In the end - its your call. In my case - I figured that I'm actually doing everyone a favor by improving the way my plates look and making it visible to everyone :)

I started by stripping off the old sticker/paint and revealing what's underneath - i think its made of aluminum - shiny!

I then sprayed a coat of primer and several layers of white paint (Rattle can spray paints). TIP: In spray painting - it is always better to apply several thin coats rather than thick ones - doing so will give you a uniform and flat coat. Applying thick coats lead to paint runs and will be a pain in the butt. Your first coat will not always cover the entire thing - in the case of the plates - it turned out like you just sprayed white powder in the aluminum surface - but that's okay - it will turn out perfect after 2 to 3 coats.

I finished it off by spraying on coats of clear paint to protect the white base and improve its shine. TIP: Whenever using spray paint (especially with rattle cans) it is best to apply several coats of clear to prolong the life of the paint - the extra cost for the clear paint pays for itself in the long run

I was supposed to apply the green decals myself but decided that the cost of the sticker and the difficulty of cutting it is not worth it. For just 200 pesos - I had a professional do it since their computers can cut the stickers better. It is important that you ask them to put reflectorized stickers as this will allow your plate to shine at night - the same way a stock plate does.

FINISHED PRODUCT - looks brand new right? Made me realize that YES! YOU CAN RESTORE YOUR TRASHY LOOKING PLATES! :)