WA Vintage Plate Owners

[RickS]

A few weeks ago, I had the distinct pleasure of having a 20 minute chat with one of King County's finest after being uncerimoniously pulled over for a so called "non-conforming" plate. I assured the fine sergeant, that the plate was properly registered with the car which led to quite a debate about Collector/Historical plates etc. I unfortunately had not heeded the sage advice of others on this board and had not printed and kept in my glove box, the RCW governing these plates. This has since been corrected for both vehicles. What particularly caught the intrepid sergeant’s eye was the non-reflective nature of the plate. He stated, and I verified, that all plates in WA are required by law to be reflective, which mine certainly was not. He said, "I dion't know what kind of plate you have there, or even if its a plate". But after chatting it up a while and talking about why he was driving an SUV when he preferred being on motorcycles, years on the force, etc, he let me off and told me to do some home work on the RCW.

Any who, thinking about the whole reflective paint thing, I did an internet search and found a company in Canada which sells a clear reflective spray paint. I sprayed both plates yesterday and they reflect like our good state would want. Since it only takes a little spray (which contains micro-glass beads which reflect the light - and very mildly darken the plate to a more historic look) I am offering to paint any WA vintage plate at my house no charge. It will save you the $50 cost if you make the drive out to my hacienda in Fall City. Let me know, and I will PM the directions to the locals I know or friends of friends I personally know (security reasons).

I will also be happy to share the name of the company with those interested in purchasing on their own – but the paperwork is at the residence.

Edit: With R Gruppe PacWest Campout this weekend, any one attending feel free to pick-up the can from me to take over for a gruppe-spray, since most the plates will be in attendance.

[lilacrs]

I've been lucky so far running the year of manufacturer plates. However, I only have them on my "old" cars, the ones that truly look like a vintage car, and the plates are the dark green plates w/the white lettering (pre 63). For my 70's vintage cars, I get the classic car plates thats issued by the state of Washington. Never had a problem with those plates as it looks just like the standard issue plates.

The problem with running the YOM plates on an early 911 is that the officials see a car which has the same shape as a newer car, and the plate is the old white plate with green lettering, which was used not that long ago, so it looks like an expired plate and they pull you over. And once they spend the time to pull you over, they need to justify their time by writing you a ticket or warning.

[kenikh]

My plate came reflective; they must have fixed it after you bought yours. Please link to the RCW?

[Rich Lambert]

My plate came reflective; they must have fixed it after you bought yours. Please link to the RCW?

Do you get the plates from WA state?

[MarcS]

Group spray. I like it. See you Saturday.

[Jeff Higgins]

Interesting. I have an original YOM (1972) plate on my car, and I'm not all that sure it is reflective. At any rate, I believe since it is legal to run them, there must be some kind of "grandfather clause" for the early painted plates.

I know a bunch of guys are running the replica plates. Even I can tell they are replicas; the font and spacing is all wrong. The finish is incorrect as well. I'm not sure reflectorizing them will fool many more than they already do. They are, in fact, illegal to run. Getting hassled for running them should come as no great surprise. After all, they get to write you a ticket. You can see their tails wagging as they walk up to your car...

I get pulled over anyway, even with my real plate. Those of you running the "YOM" plates (real or not) know they show up as the "equipment number" on your registration. That registration retains your last "modern" license plate number in the block for the license number. When a cop runs your YOM plate number, his computer shows it as an invalid number. It is a gap in their system that they need to fix. In the meantime, though, they will continue to pull us over for that reason alone. They have consistantly given me a hard time even with my real plate. They are, after all, cops - they seem to have a very difficult time admitting they made a mistake, or admitting there could be a problem with their system they need to correct. They will do their best to make it our problem. Fake plates give them a ready way to do that. Be careful out there...

[Soterik]

I assume everyone on this thread is coming to the campout?!

Rich Lambert?
Perry Lee?

You can come for as little a time, or as long as a time as you wish. Some people are coming just for the day on Saturday, I know Tom Fender is flying in from Portland just for the day.

Regards,
Eric

[RickS]

Eric,

I will not be able to make it this year (painting the house) so I am sorry I will miss you and your collection. A great time has definitely had by all last year.

Am considering swinging on down to the 12th Ave having breakfast with the group and dropping off the can for those whom might be interested.

Kenick, there are only snippets scattered in the RCW here and there - I copy and pasted them into a doc with their numbers.
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.16.305
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.16.307
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.04.125
http://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistr...collector.html