Project StinkBug: '57 Plate for a '57 Chevy

North Carolina is clearly a car-friendly state. It's the home of NASCAR after all.

Here in NC, we don't need to display a front license plate. In fact, the DMV only gives us one plate per car to display on the rear.

There are no unsightly inpsection and county stickers required to be stuck to the front windshield either.

And interestingly, for classic cars, NC allows owners to display a NC license plate from the year of manufacture (YOM) of the car. As long as the "real"plate is somewhere inside the vehicle, if the driver is pulled over.

So I set out to find a nice '57 plate from NC. (I had considered finding a plate from Alabama, having learned that my car was sold new there back in '57. Those plates are also black with yellowish text like a NC plate. But I couldn't find a decent plate at a good price.)

Weeks ago I was able to find a nice original paint NC plate at the local Autofest here in Raleigh. I had seen similar plates going for about $125 on eBay, so I was happy to pay the asking price of $80 for this one.

A little wax and polishing and the plate looks even better then it did. I studied the plate and little bit of paint loss closely, and I'm convinced it's original paint.

Project StinkBug: More Green Bits

The '57 came with a couple cans of old acrylic lacquer paint mixed back in 1989. I wasn't sure this exterior paint would still be good, and various painters I questioned didn't think so either. And, the previous owner didn't mention which clearcoat he had used on top of this lacquer, but there was evidence of lots of buffing and polishing, which wouldn't have been possible on a metallic lacquer color coat. So, there was some uncertainty when it came to painting the remaining bits and pieces that were missing from the car when I bought it.

Here are many of the interior window trim pieces hanging in the paint shop, prepped for final paint.

 The previous owner also has been unreliable at getting me the final parts he had promised, so I haven't bothered to include him in any of the project at this point (although oddly he texts looking for information and photos). I found a painter in my neck of the woods who has been willing to work with me to figure out the best process at duplicating the previously unfinished paint job.

After the final coat of acrylic lacquer green, the bits will be getting doused in multiple coats of urethane clear the next morning. I went with urethane clear on top of all the interior bits, because it gives a great shine and no need for wet sanding at all (saving lots of time and money).

For some reason, one of the cans of paint didn't even match the car, being too light by a couple shades. But the other one seems to match very close (for a car that was apparently painted back around 1990 and then stored inside under a cover.) After some experimentation, the best match is four coats of the acrylic lacquer metallic green mixed with a high gloss thinner, with at least four coats of a clear lacquer on top.

Here's a piece of interior trim with the fresh paint job, laying on the fender and dash with the old paint job. The hood here has been painted with the "wrong" can of green paint that came with the car and will need to be redone; it's a couple shades lighter even with the very same clear urethane on top.

Hopefully, we'll have the remaining bits all green and shiny this month.

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