I have the original 70s blue and gold license plates on my 1971 Grand Prix. The plates had some dents and slight rust but I wanted to clean up the look of my car. I think I found this service on a Google search and sent an email for more details and an estimate. After some missed correspondence, I was able to coordinate with Lindee and arranged to drop my plates off. Lindee recommended some extra attention that she estimated would be about an hour of work. The expected completion time was two weeks. Lindee contacted me a few days earlier than the two weeks and we arranged the pick up. The plates came back looking better than new. I couldn't wait to put them back on my car, but then I realized that the mounting bracket and frame needed upgrading too. Lindee told me that she has carried on with this service after her late husband, Jim passed. I'm sure Jim would be pleased that Lindee is delivering such a great service! read more

I have a stock 63 Impala purchased license plate frames from Jim and they were fantastic. They were as described. Thank you again. read more

Jim's Ca License Plates - Hobby Shops Near Me

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I'm not particular. recently had Jim's staff take care of my black and yellow plate. Price reasonable returned promptly. Looking forward to using the service again cheers read more

Have had my plates for 25 years and have had them on a few cars. I recently just got a new car and wanted my plates to look like new. I took them to Jim and he worked his magic! They look great. Thanks Jim. read more

Jim's Ca License Plates - Hobby Shops Near Me

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Jim restored a set of black and yellow plates for me. Did a super job.Thanks Jim BTW-Jims is the only place i have found that actually powder coats them instead of painting.Big plus for me..Dont have to worry about paint flaking off ever! read more

Gorgeous job on my '51 plate. Looks like new, took 6 days only from delivery to pickup. Jim also did a great job on my blue 1970 plate as well. A great value for the price charged. read more

Jim did a fantastic job in restoring my old plates! They truly look like brand new! Jim had me send the plates and a check over to him via UPS and promised the restored plates back in about a week. Once he completed the job he called me to let me know the plates were on the way and he was right on target with the expected one week timing. Very professional and highly recommended. On a scale of 1-10 this was a 10! read more

When you're passionate about your vehicles you're always looking for the best person/service to engage with. I found that person to be Lindee and Jim's CA License Plates is the business. After discussion about their process I thought Lindee was going to do a good job. I was mistaken because she did and amazing job. The repair work on the plates left no imperfections, the powder coating was better than I had anticipated and the coloring of the letters and numbers was spot on and the application flawless. I am now anxious to get my license plate frames back from chrome plating to have Lindee work her magic on the lettering background. read more

Great guys! I called Jim and he was straight forward. Can't wait to get my plates back.

Jim did my 66 Mustang vintage plates recently and all I can is he did an awesome job! I am very pleased with the results. Jim was very informative and took the time to walk me thru the process. The turn around was very quick and the work was very reasonably priced. I highly recommend Jim CA License Plate Restoration. read more

This is the best place to get your license plates restored. Jim is very personable with quick and exceptional workmanship. I sent a set of Maryland 1970 license plates and they turned out amazing from what they were. Don't waste your time with that guy in Pennsylvania, you may not ever see your plates. read more

I'm blown away by how good my plates look. What I didn't know was that in order to put them on my car I needed an original 1967 sticker. No problem - Jim had those too! Really professional job. Also, if you're in the area, I highly recommend you go to his shop to pick up your plates in person. It's a car lovers dream in there. read more

Jim did a very nice job on restoring my 1963 CA license plates. The plates did not require a lot of metal work, but Jim did make some adjustments to improve the over all look. The black power coating is AWESOME! Looks like wet lacquer and should last a very long time. The yellow lettering on one plate looks great, the other looks a bit rushed and really could use a second pass on some of the letters to nail it. Jim and Lindee communicated the process and pricing in advance, and the work was performed within the expected time frame. I would use Jim again, but would stress the point that the lettering must be as good as the other plate. Thank JIM!! read more

I've a long story. I went to the DMV and got the plates approved for my '66 Mustang convertible. The plates came from a friend who was junking a car from '66. I took the plates to a local DMV office where the plates were inspected and all was approved - or so I thought. I took the beat up plates to Jim and they came back looking pristine. I've no complaints whatsoever. I then got my application back from the DMV denying (I forget why) my use of the plates. I took the restored plates back to my local DMV office with their signed approval. They asked to see the plates again. Of course, with the restoration, the registration stickers were removed and, despite my protests, the plates were, again, denied. The moral of this story is to WAIT to get final approval from the Sacramento DMV office WITH your registration stickers before restoring the plates ... DO NOT TAKE THE STICKERS OFF UNTIL YOU HAVE NEW STICKERS. However, I then found a person that works part time for the DMV and she said she'd be able to get the plates approved. Now ... the point of all of this. This person saw my plates and said that they were, without a doubt, the best job of restoration she'd ever seen. So, you can't go wrong with having Jim restore your plates AND, she said that she had had some plates restored that didn't look half as nice as mine and she paid $180. Jim was more but clearly worth the difference. read more

After almost 50 years, our Bug's plates were really beat up. Jim got them looking better than new. Couldn't be happier with speed and quality of his work. read more

Wow, very fast turnaround! Excellent service. I was very impressed with my how great my plates turned out. Two thumbs up!

My father-in-law brought has 72 GMC truck brand-new and used it for camping and then for his painting business over 40 years. The license plates were the original license plates and they were pretty beat up. We have been restoring the truck and it was almost done and there was no way we could put those ugly plates back on. I spoke to Jim on the phone and I knew that he would take pride in his work and that they were turn out like new. Well, they did and they look fantastic. I cannot wait until I put them on the truck. I only wish that my father-in-law was still alive to see it. Thanks Jim read more

Jim has restored an old pitted and discolored Hollywood Mercedes Benz license plate frame for me. It is perfect and exceeded my expectations. You get what you pay for. Period. This work especially license plate restorations is far more complicated than it seems. Some serious skill is required. Use this service with confidence. read more

Jim did a fantastic job restoring my 1963 California license plates. We talked about the correct amount of gloss and the proper color of the letters and he gave me the benefit of his knowledge and experience. The plates came out great and they were finished in less than a week. I would not hesitate to have Jim restore another set of license plates for me. Thanks again, Jim. read more

Jim re-plated my old dealer plate that was in pretty rough condition. He really did a nice job re-chroming the frame and powder coating the dealer's name back into the frame as well. read more

License plate repairs made easy using the Papa Dent tool. Hundreds sold to professionals and the DIY guy's. Our most popular kit for this type of repair is the 5100 with a large and small button head. A must for anyone repairing or restoring license plates. Check out this video! www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeUyCfpnQxc Not only can the tool be used for license plate restoration it has many other uses like stainless steel repairs and Dent repair. Go to www.PapaDent.com for more information. Orders received today ship next day! Call for more information 714-957-2806 read more

OMG Jim is the best, I was looking for a license plate frame from a dealership that changed names 30+ years ago and Jim had it. Original and still in the package with the original cardboard license. I was able to find Jim online, drive to his shop (What a place, looks like something from one of the TV car/restoration places). And give them to my friend for his 40th anniversary at working at the same dealership (different name) for 40 years.. I have to say it brought tears to my friend's eyes.. Unbelievable how many great automative items Jim has. read more

Jim's plates are good. His prices are all over the map. It depends on the quality you are looking for. From restored to super clean original to down and out hammered original. It all depends on what you are looking for. read more

Sent my two CA black plates from my '68 Oldsmobile....they came back beautiful! Thanks for a great job Jim!!!

I received a set of CA plates as a gift and did not like the numbers so I called Jim and he read me off a few until I found what I wanted. He exchanged them with no problem.Oh I forgot to mention the highest quality and perfect. Even the DMV was amassed and we all know how they are. Thanks Jim. read more

Jim transformed by old rusty and bent 1972 blue California plates into better than NEW condition. Great price and fast service. Cannot wait to get them back on my tii. read more

Jim's collection is INSANE. Truly an overwhelming collection of plates, frames, and general automobilia. He has his product neatly inventoried, the prices are absolutely fair, and he offered several options when I called. I agree with the previous review. GO TO HIM if you can. I walked out with more than I bargained for because of the sheer amount of car related items. Super guy! read more

I just got back my set of California black plates from Jim. The job he did is fantastic. Not only did he do a great job, he finished the work in less than 1 week. I was able to get the plates back on my 65 GTO yesterday and they look fantastic. read more

Jim has completed three sets of CA license plate restorations for me. All of them have been extremely well done. The last set the front plate was badly dented, dinged and bent in a couple of places. He managed to take most of the dents out and straighten the plate making both the damaged one and the rear plate look like new. There are only a handful of people who restore license plates. I would not hesitate to recommend Jim's service to anyone looking to have some older CA license plates restored. read more

Great work, fast turn around time. A must for anyone who needs their vintage license plates restored.

Lets start with I learned more about license plates the past two weeks that I ever knew in my life. I met Jim at his home and agreed to have my 1991 California License ( I know the plates are not that old but I wanted them to look crisp) plates restored. The originals were still in good condition, no dents, bends etc. but the surface had weather cracks and since I am a fanatic about my 1991 truck I went ahead and asked Jim to restore my license plates. The 1991 CA plate is tri colored and this caused problems. White background, Blue lettering and the State (California) in Red. The restored license plates came back to Jim with only two colors. White and Blue. The word California was blue instead of the red? I was kind of disappointed that this went unnoticed and that "I had" to point it out. Jim apologized and stated he would make it right. The plates went back through the whole process again and this time he hired a pin stripper to paint the word California in Red. Overall the plates look awesome but being picky myself I can definitely see differences between restoration and the original quality of the plates. 1. The restored license plates are powder coated which is good. 2. The white color background may not contain the reflective sparkle that the original plates had. (I think the CA put this in when they went to a whit background to make the license plates "pop" at night when a light was placed on them). 3. There is some paint overflow of the blue paint on the letters, that is they are not crisp as the originals. Most people would never notice (I am just being anal) but never the less this is what I think of the quality. Don't get me wrong the license plates overall look beautiful and I am a happy customer. Jim's customer service is over the top and he is a great guy and I would definitely do business with him again. I would score the plates a 97 out of 100. Lessons learned? 1. Learn as much about the original license plate as much as possible. 2. Ask Jim good questions such as will the plates look exactly like the originals? 3. Are they using stickers or paint? 4. Will the plate be reflective? 5. Who provides what stickers when done? 5. Take pictures of the before so you can compare with the final product. 6. Ask Jim, how many plates from that exact state and year has he completed through his process and ask to see examples of the finished work. 7. Look closely at the lettering and look at the quality of the stenciling. 8. Does the paint bleed on the edges or is it crisp. 9. Will the plates be legal after restoration. (For example since my don't have the reflective pigment in the paint does that make it illegal in California)? Told you I learned a lot. Yes, the plates look awesome. Thanks. Charles read more