trbkrb said:I'm pretty sure it is due to the plates being removed and handled like above, or possibly just from years of use. Ford would not make them that way, and the new cars I've seen, did not have them. I searched for months in the salvage yards to find a set that was not damaged and had intact the plastic trim around the edge. I have a couple of other decent ones, but they have scratches in the paint.
For what it's worth, mine were all crackled-looking and nasty- I used a plastic putty knife and scraped all the old paint off (it was just flaking off) and then used Krylon's new plastic paint in flat black and they look great! The stickers with words on them I left on and painted over- at first look you don't see them, you have to look close to even know it's there.

