Spot welds in license plate panel

Fellow listers:
In the process of refinishing my 1973 rear license plate panel, I have become involved in a trivia discussion. The guy doing the painting says that he thinks the spot weld depressions resulting from attaching the two stiffening pltes on the back side of the panel were not filled in originally.
My feeling is that these 'dents/dimples' need to be filled in with filler so that panel is smooth (I am not talking about the 'groves/furrows' stamped into the metal).
So what did the rear license panel look like when it left the factory? Smooth or with the spot weld dimples visible in the paint. In the event the vote goes my way, the guy has already agreed to repaint the panel.
Thanks
Caproader, aka John

John,

I replaced my original 73' panel (IT HAD NO DIMPLES) with a 'new' factory replacement (Porsche part lable/ in zink primer)
... it HAD the dimples ... And, I HAVE the dimples... And, if I'd got to my body guy before he finished it I WOULD NOT HAVE THE DIMPLES.

I think they were indeed metal finished 30 years ago at the factoy, however as the years went by that detail has been overlooked by most of the people who've replaced them. Again, this is just speculation on my part.

I would think the Parts-Misters that contribute to this board could really tell you for sure.

Good luck

Just back from the garage. Pulled the license plate, but not the bracket, from my original rear panel. Well, pretty sure it's original, I bought the car in 1974, it then had 7,000 or so on the odo. I could detect no "dimples" in the finish, other than the "grooves furrows" mentioned earlier. Hope this helps...

i have on showing to the right of the plate even after a respray.
maybe the bigger european plates where supposed to hide them.


the car will return to sepia when ed mcmann comes knocking on the front door.

guys,

Thanks for the replies. I'm off to my painter to have the dimples filled/removed. Because this is Ohio and it's snowing, the car is off the road for another 4 months. So I have time to let the paint cure.

Thanks again for the help.

Special note for tryan: If Ed does come your way, will you ask him to drop by my house on the way back to the office? (and ask him to bring Cheryl Tiegs with him!)

John (aka the capitalist roader)

Caproader, aka John

The 1964 911 and the 1967S both have the dimples. A conversation some time ago with a concours judge identified the dimples as an indication of originality. He would look behind the license plate to see if they were there. I had them removed on the 1964 after a slight altercation with a tree (a small tree) and have been thinking of panel relacement since.

Bob

So bob, you're saying the dimples should show on the back side of the panel, but not the front, or visible side? My panel has no visible dimples on the plate side...and it is the one the factory put there. There may also be differences between the years?

Okay, here goes..my 1stattempt to post a pic here, downloaded from a friend's website...it shows the panel to the left of my license plate...what dimples?