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The Cheapskate’s Guide to Retro Numberplate Repair
PERHAPS I AM getting a bit carried away with the whole originality thing, but then the Singer is just one of those cars which is so unbuggered about with that its restoration deserves considered thought. Well that plus I’ve recently seen a 65k Arrows-series Gazelle advertised for £1995 – which has made me wonder if the world has finally woken up to the Pauper’s 1600E?
Of course, the beauty of old cars is that so much of them is DIY fixable. After being stung by the modern’s limp-wristed mechanical endurance, I knew that there was a quick, cheap and easy way to fix the fractured number eight on the Gazelle’s ally numberplate. It’s one of those small, annoying faults which I know would make a sadistic MoT-tester’s day.
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Then, once I’d got the plate off the car, I realised that it was made by Bluemels – the company, which amongst many other things, made the superb four-spoke wire-sprung ‘Brooklands’ steering wheel which adorned many Thirties sportscars. So that’s another reason, to try and keep this 40 year old numberplate on this 40 year old car.
A short burst of www jiggory-pokery and I fired off an email to Steve Frampton of www.framptons.net, asking if they could help me. One emailed photo, a positive reply – yes they could match it – and an SAE plus £1 of stamps later and I had a new Daz white eight-shaped answer to my reggie plate problem.
Could this be the cheapest MoT failure rectification in my car-owning history...? Very possibly.
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i) It’s old, rusty and doesn’t see why it should co-operate, so the persuasive powers of WD40 are splashed about. Boy is this hard work watching that lubricant soak away, better make myself a cuppa then...
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ii) All that holds the acrylic figures to the ally backplate are these securing collars. New ones were provided with the new number eight, but they didn’t fit – too big – so I had to be super careful when coaxing them into letting go. Being patient and taking my time with a screwdriver, ended up with both original collars coming off intact. Phew.
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iii) The new eight fits perfectly, so the plate is turned face down and the collars initially placed into position with just finger pressure. They are very thin and pretty corroded, so again I take my time and ease them down over the little tenons with a pair of pliers. Going only as far as the collars feel happy, because a break would be a huge pain in the arse at this point.
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iv) Ta-daah! Job done and my cuppa hasn’t even got cold yet. Original numberplate saved and the bank account can sigh a breath of relief – well, for the time being anyway.
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