Patent plates

[Howard Wright]

Hi All

It was far too cold to go out in the workshop today so I’ve spent the morning in the sitting room installing gauges in the newly painted dashboard of my van.  The van was converted from a late 1928 AD Chummy in the 1960s.

Some idiot in the past has used the dash as a drilling base and hence the six holes in the patent plate. I’ve disguised these by putting a brass plate behind but it’s not perfect.  There seems to be a couple of plates for sale on eBay and all the cherished suppliers sell them.

But it seems that patent plates changed significantly over the production run.  The one on my car is embossed brass whilst those offered by the cherished suppliers are printed on steel? My plate was polished but I think should have been painted with the embossed letters polished back. One of the plates on eBay contain more patents than mine the other is indecipherable!

Has anyone done any research on patent plates?  If so (with my editor’s hat on) would they like to write something for the Grey Mag?

Cheers

Howard


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[Reckless Rat]

Previous thread regarding patent plates here Howard:
https://www.austinsevenfriends.co.uk/for...ent+plates

[Howard Wright]

Hi Bruce

Thanks, I should have followed my own advice and searched the forum  .

Just needs someone to go through the thread and match plates to dates. Any takers?

Cheers Howard

[Steve Bryant]

Hi Howard, my original patent plate was damaged where someone had cut a chunk out of one edge (for reasons that are beyond me) so I had purchased a replacement replica back in the '90s. The new one differed slightly to the old one in that the script font is different and the corner radius is sharper. The most annoying difference was that the hole locations were out by about a 1/32" which meant I had to adjust them in both the dash and the new plate with a round needle file. The new plate is nickle plated which makes it look like steel I guess. The old was plated once in its life but had lost most of it.
Stephen
   

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[Howard Wright]

Hi Steve

Firstly…. you’ve made a good job of the wrinkle finish on your dash!

Secondly… your original plate is identical to mine but the reproduction must have been modelled on a slightly later car as it includes a patent on hoods.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers

Howard

[Steve Bryant]

I hadn't even noticed that Howard... I guess I was too intoxicated by the fact I was able to get a repro patent plate to notice. 

Thanks for the compliment on the wrinkle finish on the dash. I followed the directions on the spray can to the letter and was rewarded with this fine result.

Stephen