VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 Cleaning up ID tag

Last time my car was painted, they painted over the upper ID tag.

Was thinking about trying to remove the paint so the tag looks more original.

Was this tag originally painted? What is it supposed to look like?

Any suggestions to remove just the blue paint?

Mine was painted over as well. I was unsuccessful in removing the paint without also removing the factory paint. I put a reproduction tag on my car and keep the original in the glove box.

The lower tag is body color. Get a repo upper tag, they are very nice, and stamp in the numbers.

Sounds like I will order a new tag and some stamps. I am away from the car - anybody have a guess as to how large the original stamped letters and numbers were?

Ron ...
I sent you a private message of a fellow VCCA member who may be able to help you with the tag and stamping.
jim p

My car doesn't have the lower tag with all that info on, but it does have the upper tag which I can just make out some characters. Strangely my car seems to be the same color! What information does the upper blue tag give?

The upper tag is the "data plate". It contains your serial number. It tells you the factory where it was made, the model of the vehicle, the month it was made and the sequence in which it was made starting with 1001. For example mine is 5HB05XXXXX. 5=Kansas City, HB=Master, 05=Made in May and the numbers after are the sequence. I don't know if it would be different in the UK or not.

I'll try cleaning the paint off my tag, it's painted over just like the image in the post (even the same color!)

Considering you are in the UK I suspect your car will be RHD therefore most likely Canadian built. When cleaning the blue paint of be careful as the original paint will be very thin and easier to remove than the blue.
Tony

I am not familiar with the '38s. Are those clutch head screws used to attach the plate?

Yes, those are the OEM fasteners. They are a hex/clutch head combo. I don't know if anyone repops them or not.

Is it possible to remove the plate by removing the screws?

Unless someone bonded it in place, yes.