Anyway to restore faded data plates?

[45FMJoe]

Does anyone have any tips for restoring the sun-bleached data plates on trailers? They are all practically white, but under the right light I can sometimes make out what is etched on them. The only thing stamped is the serial number and vehicle type. Any ideas?

 

[JDToumanian]

I only know of replacing them with NOS or reproductions, like from Saturn Surplus or Military Vehicle Data Plates

Doghead and some others have had very nice reproductions/copies made from their old worn data plates... Not cheap though. My M146 data plate is almost unreadable... I've been weighing my options.

Jon

 

[DAP]

This all depends on the condition of your data plates. Years ago I had success redoing data plates and wrote an article for Military Vehicles Magazines. The article was also republished in the M37 Restoration Guide. A soft cover book put together by David Ahl and produced by MVM.
If your data plates are not bent and the raised lettering is good they can be redone.
Make sure they are clean. Spray a light coat of flat black paint on them to match the original black background. Make sure the data plate is flat (like on a piece of glass). Take a hard sanding block with very fine sandpaper (360 grit) and lightly sand the black paint off the raised lettering. Blow dust away and go slow. Once you have the desired effect stop. Spray the entire finished panel with a clear gloss paint.
This method won’t work if your data plate is warped or the raised lettering is worn off or worn down.

 

[m16ty]

On a side note, I figured out (by mistake) how to remove paint from data plates. You can use paint remover. For some reason the remover won't harm the ink on the data plate.

 

[DAP]

That depends on the paint remover. Here is another step I do. After coating the dataplate with paint remover (if your plates were painted over like mine) use sawdust as an abrasive to removed the loosened paint. That way nothing wears down you raised letters on the dataplate. The added bonus is that in NC paint stripper mixed with sawdust is not considered hazardous waste and can be discrded in the normal trash.

 

[Nick]

This all depends on the condition of your data plates. Years ago I had success redoing data plates and wrote an article for Military Vehicles Magazines. The article was also republished in the M37 Restoration Guide. A soft cover book put together by David Ahl and produced by MVM.
If your data plates are not bent and the raised lettering is good they can be redone.
Make sure they are clean. Spray a light coat of flat black paint on them to match the original black background. Make sure the data plate is flat (like on a piece of glass). Take a hard sanding block with very fine sandpaper (360 grit) and lightly sand the black paint off the raised lettering. Blow dust away and go slow. Once you have the desired effect stop. Spray the entire finished panel with a clear gloss paint.
This method won’t work if your data plate is warped or the raised lettering is worn off or worn down.

Works good. I tried this after getting similar advice a while back. Works real good. THe problem with my plate is that it has some really strong.....almost like hard water calcium deposits. I tried to get it off with steel wool, finest sandpaper I could find, lime and scale remover, bathroom cleaner.. EVERYTHING. And nothing got it off. I began to wonder if it was a chemical reaction, and finally accepted it as it was. The problem is that when I painted it, and wiped it off, it took the paint off the deposits too. so I looks a little like these pics of "before". With pretty much only the stamped numbers holding paint.

I dont have a picture of it done, so Ill hafta take one when I get off duty and post it.

 

[DAP]

On aircraft we use a Dupont acid etch and alodine treatment. I think the numbers are 225S and 226S. If your dataplate is aluminum (not brass) you might try the acid etch if the corrosion is not heavy. Let the etch sit and then rub with acotton cloth. Don't let the etch dry. See if that will disolve some of corrsoion and get you a better finish.

 

[45FMJoe]

This is my data plate in question:

 

[WillWagner]

That is screened aluminum. No way to renew that. Maybe contact MV dataplates and see if he can use yours to make some. Here's what it should look like,

M116A1, M116A2, M116A2E1, and M116A3 Chassis Trailers

 

[Floridianson]

On you might try the acid etch if the corrosion is not heavy..

I like vinigar to remove light corrosion/oxdataion on ALum

 

[Nick]

I tried vinegar also, didnt do a thing. Thats another thing that leads me to beleive its some kind of chemical reaction of the tin.??.

Isnt there some kind of reaction between metals that could be the cause of it?

 

[MWMULES]

I wish I had found this post earlier but basically did the same as DAP, the old school etched aluminum data plates this works like a champ. If you can feel the lettering with your fingers this will work. I got an older mystery shelter that had this plate on the outside,
1. I used 0000 steel wool and paint thinner to help remove the oxidation (white Al rust)
2. Gave it a coat of flat black, put it in the oven for 2 hours at 190F
3. Sanded with emery boards used 3 got a ten pack at Dollar General 86 cents
4. wiped clean and sprayed clear coat to slow down oxidation in the future

Newer printed plates it is a nogo, used paint remover on a M1116A3 plate to remove overspray and now have a blank plated.

 

[Storm 51]

I had a data plate that was a "photo etch" from 1967 on my M101A1 trailer. The plate was bleached to shiny aluminum. I had to have new ones made by a plate house.

Dave Kelone was a waste of time for me. I was after him for over 6 months just trying to get a response about whether he could make the plate. No response ever.

So, instead of Dave Kelone, I would suggest you try:

www.dataplates.net

Custom Trophy & Engraving
1963 14th Street, Suite A
Missoula, Montana 59801
Phone: (406) 543-8816

The guy is quick, fair and very inexpensive.

Storm 51

 

[jwentz57]

I wish I had found this post earlier but basically did the same as DAP, the old school etched aluminum data plates this works like a champ. If you can feel the lettering with your fingers this will work. I got an older mystery shelter that had this plate on the outside,
1. I used 0000 steel wool and paint thinner to help remove the oxidation (white Al rust)
2. Gave it a coat of flat black, put it in the oven for 2 hours at 190F
3. Sanded with emery boards used 3 got a ten pack at Dollar General 86 cents
4. wiped clean and sprayed clear coat to slow down oxidation in the future

Newer printed plates it is a nogo, used paint remover on a M1116A3 plate to remove overspray and now have a blank plated.

that look great

 

[USMC 00-08]

If you can feel the lettering with your fingers this will work.

MWMULES method worked great for me except I used 1500 grit sandpaper instead of emery boards.

Before After

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

That's amazing! Nice!

How did you fasten it back on? Pop rivets?

 

[USMC 00-08]

Thanks! I have not put it back on yet since I am going to be restoring the inside of the cab of my M135. Not sure if I will use rivets or the same screws that were holding it on. I need to research it a little and find out what way would have been original. I'm guessing where and how it was mounted was original.

 

[M813rc]

I was recently cleaning up my HSTRU trailer and wanted to try salvaging the tie-down data plates. These were apparently painted over when the originally 383 camo trailer got painted tan. The unit markings were then painted over the tan.
Later, when auctioned off, the unit markings were painted out with even more tan.
I noticed that while I was uncovering the original markings, acetone was taking the paint (slowly) off the data plates.

The plates are aluminium, and had recessed lettering. My intent was to clean them off completely, repaint the black, and then carefully fill in the lettering with white. I soaked the plates in a bath of acetone, this loosened up all the old paint, which I scraped at gently with some soft wooden blocks (clothes pins work well for this too, newer ones are pretty soft). The soft wood doesn't scratch or take the edges off the aluminium.

I was surprised to find that neither the original black or white on the plates was effected by the acetone. I used a cloth dipped in acetone to further rub down the plates until all traces of the tan finally disappeared (do wear gloves for this!).

The plates came out pretty good. Seems they weren't quite beautiful when painted over, but okay for me on this particular trailer.
Rather than use the rusty screws they were originally attached with, I tapped the bumper for stainless 8-32 bolts to reattach the plates.

Cheers

 

[country]

we may have what you need

click here: http://www.easternsurplus.net/datatag_dashplate.html

dave

www.easternsurplus.net