[Staowners] {Spam?} Number plate lens

[David Reina]

I also bought a lens from Kip motors a few years ago I know they have  
at least two of the three styles made. At first they sent me the  
wrong one for my year car, but when they had the second mold finished  
they let me exchange it for the correct style.

Also I agree with the evaluation of their paint job.  Not very good.   
I have told Bob who works there about my feelings regarding the  
paint.  I ended up stripping off the paint they had applied with a  
product called Goof Off.  It is sold in hardware stores to get drops  
of paint off a floor, etc.  I don't remember the order I painted the  
lens but I chose to go with a light dusting of white on the letter  
surfaces, (It lights up nicely) and a red translucent CandyColor  
brand lacquer for the backround behind the letters.  I am not sure  
how original this is but I am very happy with the final effect.  I  
remember it took all day to get it right.

I have some broken originals which had a gray backround with the red  
maroon letters, but there is some talk of it once being offered with  
a white backround (or letters?)  with red letters.  The story goes  
that this ended up not being allowed in North America as no white  
lights were allowed on the back of the car except reverse.

Also I turned new brass grommets for where the screw goes thru the  
lens and squeezed them with a ball bearing to expand them like the  
originals.  I think I remember these grommets as being sort of  
important as they acted as an internal stop for the plastic lens as  
the screw is tightened preventing the screw head from putting too  
much bend pressure on the hole.

  Also I think there were some heat reflectors inside which would be  
important with the castings as the urethane they use has a much lower  
softening point than the original acrylic lens.  Finally to mount the  
chrome piece back onto the lens I used 4-40 stainless steel button  
head allen screws.  Aside from the tiny little allen wrench hole  
these screws look pretty much like the original rivets.

  As far as the fit goes, I understand that there is always shrinkage  
whenever a mold is made from an original piece.  The only way  
nowadays to get around this issue when molding is to have the  
original part computer scanned and have the computer prototype  
growing system crank out a new mold pattern with the shrinkage  
factored in.

If anybody had a technique for reapplying the chrome to the lens  
details please let me know.  I am trying to reproduce a hubcap emblem  
for the Sunbeam Venezia.  It was sculpted in reverse on the back of  
the badge and parts of the image were plated.

Regards,

David Reina