Well Ive had my year of make plates on my '56 for a few months now.  I haven't put the tag how ever on for a few reasons.  This is in Texas by the way which we have a state law that forbids you from obscuring the text partially on your license plate.  So the little metal tag they gave me to bolt to the top of my license plate which my paperwork they gave me state it has to be the top of the plate, will not work because the right side hole the tag wont sit flat cause it is sitting half over the 6 in 56 and its also sitting on the raised bead edge at the top of the plate.  Cant turn it upside down either as it still sits atop the 6 on 56.  I move it to other hole and it obscures the T in Texas partially which is also no good.  I tried placing the tag on the back side of the plate so it sits flat and wont damage my plate as well as letting the registration tag remain visible.  The tag is too short and the plate will obscure half of the sticker.

I wanted to ask what did other people try running?  I was content with just leaving it off in the glove box as cops generally don't worry about it but the cops are bothering me again over abandoned vehicles in my driveway even though they all are registered currently.  Cop on the phone said to avoid this issue coming up again in the future make sure the tags are on all the vehicles.  Now I am forced to run it to make my life easier and not sure which way to go.

I thought about making a new tag that is taller to clear the top of the plate but I think it will interfere with the operation of my trunk.  I might be able to slice the tag down width wise some and maybe bolt it on the bottom bolt but I would have to play with that and if they want to be asses they could still get me for not properly mounting it.

Anyways just curious what some registration tag plate mountings other people have done on their vehicles.


1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan - 292 Y8 - Ford-O-Matic - 155,000 mi

A picture, you can tape over the actual numbers for security, would help visualize the problem. Here in WA, with a yom plate you need the appropriate tag on the coner of the plate. My 55 has a metal 55 tag, my 67 a stick on one just like we currently use.

It does not show the plate number as “plate” on the registration. The letters on the plate go into a “fleet” space. I’ve had to explain that to a couple young officers who apparently 1. Wanted a look al the car, or 2. Didn’t know about yom plates.

Kind of makes me wonder why they gave you a tab you can’t legally mount on the plate. Up here I’d understand it, but I thought Texas had more sense.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Sure thing, no need to tape the actual numbers cause I got a second set of 1956 Texas plates the initial set I was going to have restored till I found this other set that was NOS never issued and picked them up for $30 and have those issued to the car.

First picture is of the plate itself showing the layout without the tag sitting.


Next photo is showing the registration tag placed atop the plate how it would appear bolted to the top right bolt hole.


The next photo shows the tag placed on the left top hole


Photo 4 here shows tag placed upside down on top right side to provide top of plate clearance.


Photo 5 here shows the tag mounted on the back side of the plate, the sticker that goes on here covers up 90% of the tag when you apply it with the month and year of expiration near the bottom of the sticker.


And this photo is the only way I could possibly make it work but might need trimming as its resting atop the raised bead around the edge as well as resting on the raised edge of the numerals which wont let it bolt down square.  I also highly hate the look of this having the tag sideways with the sticker sideways but might be my only option.


I think the problem is they make this tab to fit a wide range of year of make plates from the first dated Texas plates to 1975 which was the last year Texas plates had the year stamped on them.  I had some antique style blue glass reflectors I was going to put on the top to match the blue of the car but they wont work as they wont sit flat on the plate as the holes are too close to the text.


1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan - 292 Y8 - Ford-O-Matic - 155,000 mi

Can’t you just take a piece of aluminum, 1 1/2” wide or so, an inch taller than the plate itself, and drill the left edge for the top and bottom plate bolts, and the right edge for the tag? Kind of like a club tag topper. So the tag is just above the plate, and offset enough to clear the lettering.

The plate on my bird doesn’t mount to the original bracket. There’s an aluminum plate there, and the plate, license plate and aftermarket light all mount to that. Some spacers to make it all come out right.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

That's what I initially thought but the more I think about it I would have to make a pattern to see how tall it would have to be to fully display the sticker.  Then I have to hold it on the plate and see if my trunk will hit it opening or closing the trunk.  I really don't want to have to open my fuel door every time I want to open or close the trunk.

One thing I was just thinking of how ever I never thought of before is making a thin oblong tag that could bolt to the bottom mounting bolt and hold the sticker off to the side but below the numbers but high enough that wont restrict the rolling/folding of the fuel door assembly.

I will play around with both of those tomorrow some but I just am not too sure on these two routes but might be the only option.  Ideally I rather just toss it in the glove box and do like everyone else but since someone keeps calling 311 and putting in abandoned vehicle complaints on me then I have to fight all day to get the complaint blocked and the tickets voided.


1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan - 292 Y8 - Ford-O-Matic - 155,000 mi

I have three Texas vintage vehicles with year of manufacture (YOM) plates (four if counting the one I sold last year) and the supplied small tags do cover something on all the plates regardless of the original license plate hole it’s installed in.  I’ve never had an issue with law enforcement agencies with parts of the license plates being obscured.  An option is to simply drill a new hole at the corner of the supplied ‘small’ plate rather than used the supplied center hole which will allow the ‘small’ plate to be shifted over.  Another option is to just make a custom 'small' plate of your own that will position the tag so it will not obscure any of the original YOM plate identifiers.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

That's what I was thinking about last night.  Initially I wasn't going to do anything cause everyone here in Houston that has these YOM plates they don't run them and have no problems.  But for some reason our vehicles keep getting reported to 311 as junk vehicles and I am growing tired that the police are not flagging the address to ignore it.  I think its the builder in the area that we wont sell as we have no place to move our vehicles and property to and they wont give us more than a week to do everything and we told them to f off basically.  I got to move some stuff around away from one of the cars cause apparently having some boxes on the ground next to the car in the driveway with car parts makes it arguable that the car is being used for storage even though its not in or on the car.  Once I do that I think I am going to hit up the local lowes and see what kind of plate aluminum they have as I already threw mine all away.  Thinking about making an oblong thin plate to mount it along the bottom of the plate using one of the bolts that holds the plate on.  Have to play with it and see.  Or I could do like you were saying just drill a new hole off to the side of the plate they provided and just off set it.  Just wish I could have the luck like the other people here in Houston they drive around with the tag tossed in the glovebox and no one messes with them.  My car sits in the driveway haven't even been on the road and its already been reported twice.


1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan - 292 Y8 - Ford-O-Matic - 155,000 mi