Number plate recommendations?

[MorrisJohn]

I’m looking for a new set of embossed aluminium silver on black plates for my saloon, registered Jun ‘61. I believe the correct lettering size for that period is 3.1/2" digits.

I notice the rear plate curves at the corners and fits the plate housing on the Minor perfectly. Obviously I want the replacements to be exactly the same.

I see that Charles Ware do them, but at over £70 a set plus postage I feel they’re a bit pricey.

So my question is, can anyone recommend any other companies that do them?

[Steve Phillips]

I have used jepsons and framptons over the years and happy with both,

www.Jepsonandco.com

www.framptonplates.com

But Google will bring up countless other suppliers no doubt,

Steve

[philipkearney]

Hi Emleyj

As already mentioned, Jepsons plate are really good quality and look great on the car. If you wanted raised digits rather than pressed aluminium, I would suggest Ace Peak plates. These were original fitment and are still made in Ireland. If you google ace peak, they will come up. Another good company is Tippers https://www.tippersvintageplates.co.uk/ ... ent&part=2 Again, they make good quality plates.

Invest in a good quality set of plates, you won't regret it. Your car will look so much better with quality original type lates.

I'm pleased to see you are keen to get the proper shaped rear plate for your Morris. I must admit, seeing a Morris with a rectangle plate on the boot instead of the proper curved plate is a pet hate of mine !

Philip

[noidea]

i have an original 1953 car with the original plates still on and they are made buy ace

dave

[philipkearney]

My 65 4 door still wears its original ace peak plates. Nicely weathered and they just look right on the car. I see many nicely restored classics that are let down by really cheap poor quality pressed aluminium plates. Buy the best plates you can, you won't regret it.

[MorrisJohn]

Thanks for the suggestions, much appreciated. I enquired about the ace plates and was told they’re £48 per digit. At six digits per plate that’s over £570 for a set of plates. That seems eye wateringly expensive.

Can that price possibly be right?

I’ve emailed them back just to confirm those prices.

[philipkearney]

I know ace peak plates are expensive and some of the styles are a bit more expensive than others, but £570 sounds a bit much ! You can buy the individual letters on eBay for about £10 ish each as a guide.

I note from their website that they say sets of plates start at 199 euros (start at...) so maybe. I can't imagine they'll sell too many sets at that price though.

[MorrisJohn]

I got a reply from Peak Plates this morning. Their Gothic style plates are £500 a pair. So it’s probably right enough that Jepsons are charging £570 for a set of ace plates.

They look great but I’m genuinely shocked by the pricing. Must be a very niche market at that kind of money. I’ll stick with pressed aluminium, which still look great.

[geoberni]

Do you have any decent Auto Jumbles near you (once they open again)?

I've never checked their prices, because I'm not in the market for plates, but I know the Newark one has a Plate maker or 2 on-site. I'm sure they're going to be a bit more cost effective that a larger business.
Might be worth a look.

[MorrisJohn]

Thanks for the idea geo. I don’t know of any local auto jumbles, but perhaps I’ll come across one at a show next year.

There is no urgency as the current plates are good enough for now.

I did come across this site: https://www.classicplatesonline.co.uk - their plates are raised plastic digits, but in the correct size. Obviously not of the same quality as the aluminium digits, but from the photos they look the part and for a tenth of the price I might be willing to give them a try. They can customise the rear plate size to fit the Minor.

Either that or, as has been suggested, perhaps buy the aluminium digits off eBay and make them up myself.

Anyone happen to know how to affix them to the metal plates? I see on the back they have little bits that I would imagine fixing screws go into?

[Murrayminor]

I cannot believe the prices of those number plates.

As for making your own, the issue will be getting the spacing correct and also getting the overall line up correct, lots easier with a jig but not impossible at home.

When I bought my Minor it had some nasty plastic/aluminium plates on which looked terrible and overlapped the rear number place recess, so I will have to find a set of plates for mine in due course, but hopefully under the £570 mark!!

[MorrisJohn]

I think Jepson quoted me £48 + P&P for a nice set of silver on black pressed aluminium plates, with correct lettering size for the year. The plates are also the correct size for the Minor. So no recess overlap.

When I get around to it that’s the option I think I’ll go for. I cannot possibly justify £500 for a set of plates. I think it would lead to divorce!

I cannot believe the prices of those number plates.

As for making your own, the issue will be getting the spacing correct and also getting the overall line up correct, lots easier with a jig but not impossible at home.

When I bought my Minor it had some nasty plastic/aluminium plates on which looked terrible and overlapped the rear number place recess, so I will have to find a set of plates for mine in due course, but hopefully under the £570 mark!!

[geoberni]

Thanks for the idea geo. I don’t know of any local auto jumbles, but perhaps I’ll come across one at a show next year.

I believe you're in Scotland?
Try some generic listing sites, such as this one: https://www.scotlandautojumble.co.uk/cl ... ents.shtml
I love a good browse at an autojumble.
Sometimes you can find something really rare and also cheap because the person selling it has no idea as to the value to an owner.
it just depends on the sort of trader that's there, whether it's electrical crimps, paper towel rolls, even random tools that just might come in handy some day....

[MorrisJohn]

I am, yes. Thanks, I’ll take a look

[ian.mcdougall]

Hi emleyj
https://www.sdproducts.co.uk/push-on-fixes
The fixings would be similar to the round clips shown in link above

[philipkearney]

The plastic and aluminium digits for number plates are usually held in with serrated clips, usually like these https://ever-hardware.com/category/prod ... gallery]/1 You can get them in small quantities on eBay or I've found you can pick up bags of these at various auto jumbles.

[gtt1951]

I used Numberplates-4-u to get replacement pressed plates (for my 1955 saloon) - the website is at
http://www.numberplates-4-u.co.uk/
He produced the correct shaped rear boot-lid plate, with radiused corners and used the 3 1/2" high pre-1963 digits.
He will require sight of your V5.
2015 prices were £49.00 for a pair of plates and an extra £6.00 to radius the rear plate corners and £6.00 p&p (signed for).

I've been very happy with these and this car sits out in the open but, this year, the rear plate (in direct sunlight most of the day) started losing some of the black paint background, by flaking - easy to remedy with matt black paint.

I also bought enough raised plastic 3 1/2" letters to make up a plate with my Traveller's original registration number for show purposes, as the current plate it sports is a 1963 one on a 1956 car! And that was issued by DVLC (as they then were) in 1985 during a numberplate swap.

Regards, George.

[geoberni]

I also bought enough raised plastic 3 1/2" letters to make up a plate with my Traveller's original registration number for show purposes, as the current plate it sports is a 1963 one on a 1956 car! And that was issued by DVLC (as they then were) in 1985 during a numberplate swap.

Regards, George.

My SII has an 'Age Related' plate.
His original 1955 Reg currently resides on a 2003 Renault.
It was transferred around 1993 and Basil was given a 1963 A Plate.
The owner at the time of his major rebuild circa 1999 obtained the current Reg, so at least he's back on a period plate.

[MorrisJohn]

Thanks for the recommendation.

My car’s original plate now sits on a 2016 Peugeot Expert Diesel van The Moggie was issued a non-age related replacement.

[MorrisJohn]

Got a reply from Jepson. They do indeed charge £48 per digit for a set of ace digit plates. So, based on a six digit VRM, that’s £576 + P&P for two plates

Wow. They look good, but no thanks...