My car left for the body shop last week.  I mentioned to him the condition of the vin tag and he said he could drill the rivets and clean it up a bit.  To me, there doesn't seem to be any good way to clean this without removing the ink. 

Has anyone found a good way to clean it up without damaging it?

If you were me, would you have the body shop remove it to get a better paint job or would you leave it alone and tape it up and paint around it?

Thanks
Gary

 

 

I removed mine and found some appropriately small rivets to replace it after paint. I wouldn't let them clean it up or even keep it! Go remove it yourself or get it from them when they remove it. There are a couple of vendors you can get a new one from but you will need to provide some proof of ownership stuff.

The rivets are smaller than 1/8".  Drilling them out and replacing them with 1/8" common rivets is noticeable.  So if you care, and I would for that vintage of a car, I would have them carefully removed and replaced with the correct size.  Yes, take it off before painting.  About the best cleaner you can get away with is strong detergent and a soft brush.  Even aluminum polish will damage the ink.  I just consider the condition of the plate "patina"!

8 minutes ago, 26th-Z said:

The rivets are smaller than 1/8".  Drilling them out and replacing them with 1/8" common rivets is noticeable.  So if you care, and I would for that vintage of a car, I would have them carefully removed and replaced with the correct size.  Yes, take it off before painting.  About the best cleaner you can get away with is strong detergent and a soft brush.  Even aluminum polish will damage the ink.  I just consider the condition of the plate "patina"!

This is correct. I found some that I believe are 3/32. I had to buy a box of 50 but I matched them to the existing ones before drilling them out.

I have cleaned up a few vin tags with some success, it is not ink but paint and very tough paint at that. I start with warm soapy water and a soft brush, wash it but don't let it soak, then I spray a bit of WD40 on a cloth and gently work away at taking the layers of crap off.  Your tag doesn't look too bad and should clean up well but like others have said take the tag off yourself and keep it, so easy to lose things like that in a body shop.

Mine was corroded but still readable. I Bought a repro tag and had an engraver put in the info. Its not the same typeface but I’m really the only one who notices. I kept the original and it’s with other important parts from the car. 

To answer your question yes take it off prior to paint as there may be rust under it.