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.

Rise and Shine

I had a chance to pull out the '66 Mustang yesterday from its many-months hibernation. I had been chasing a few minor coolant leaks with it early last year, and with the Bel Air taking up my time more and more, I just let the Mustang sit. And sit.

So yesterday, I finished repairing the leaks. I installed new heater hoses at the heater box, charged the flat battery, changed the oil and filter, siphoned some year-old gas, poured in a couple gallons of fresh gas, and it started up after just a few seconds of cranking. I was surprised it started so quickly, but the EZ EFI fuel injection really works awesome.

Well, I also bolted on the original California black license plate that had been on the car since, most likely, Day One. I've had the original front plate on the car as long as I've owned the car, but just decided to clean up the rear plate, and replace my modern North Carolina plate with it. (North Carolina allows classic cars to wear NC plates from the year of manufacture, in this case '66. I'm going with the CA plate, since it's original and similarly styled -- black and yellow.)

The incredible part is that after I peeled off stacks of registration stickers from the plate (and saved them in a baggie!), I found the original 1967 registration sticker underneath in nearly mint condition. It blows my mind that the original owner put that sticker there -- nearly half a century ago.

I'd be driving it again today, but after being in the 70s and sunny yesterday, we are in the 20s and snowing and will hit the mid-teens tonight. A sixty-degree swing in just over 24 hours...

Wearing the black and yellow plate again...