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Thread: Really Cheap and Quick Front License Plate Relocation!

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    Member 23027's Avatar
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    Really Cheap and Quick Front License Plate Relocation!

    Hey guys!

    So here in Vancouver Canada it is LAW that we have a front plate mounted to our vehicles. All the vehicles come to the dealership with the holes drilled in the front bumper (sucky)

    To add to the fact that this gets in the way of the next project I want to complete which is the EVO blacked out portion between the lower air dam and the nose of the car... I have been looking at the different options where to relocate the plate!

    One of the common ones is the front tow hook location. You can buy these all over the place on eBay. Just make sure you buy the correct thread size! Our tow hook size is NOT compatible with Honda sizes. I found that out by ordering a tow hook which was too small

    The other idea I saw was from user Fuel Squeezer who came up with a cool adjustable bracket. It threads into the lower left side of the black air dam when you are looking at it. There is one hex head bolt that holds something in, he created something that looked like a 1/2" conduit with the bolt welded onto a washer that was then welded onto the end of the conduit pipe so that you could thread it in by hand. Then drilled a couple holes and threaded some screws into the sides at the tip of that pipe, so when he pushed in the license plate bracket with a rod on the end it would be held in place by the 2 screws that tighten down on the rod. I think this is a really great idea. But I don't have a welder at home and didn't want to meet up with welders to give them my idea etc. Too much time for me, I am impatient!!!

    SO what I did instead was this. I was in Canadian Tire rummaging around looking for other hardware for different projects. When I came across a really simple little bracket that I thought would work for this!

    They were 80 cents each. Two small "L" brackets, they had different sizes but I decided to use 2" x 2" ones. They look excactly like this!



    What my plan to do was to just screw the L bracket to the underside on one of the front grill fins. Out of sight! and the L bracket has 2 holes on both ends, so I was going to have it pointing DOWNWARDS and screw the plate into the TOP hole, so the rest of the bracket would actually support the plate while at speed the wind will want to push the plate inwards so this will help prevent that from happening too much.

    I also decided that because I won't be screwing into anything that I needed a Nut & Bolt combination. Here is a photo of the bolt and nut I decided to use. I struggled a little bit having enough threads to bite onto when I used the license plate frame, so keep that in mind. Had to use a razor blade to trim some plastic off before I could grab enough to crank er down. Maybe might want to get a little longer of a bolt but that's up to you. I chose short so that I wouldn't come near the front bumper.



    Okay! So now I had to decide exactly where I wanted the plate. My future plans for the car include a tow hook, which is why I wanted to do this install in the first place. But I thought maybe to even out the appearance I would mount it on the driver side. But when I looked into the cars grill I noticed only one half of it (the driver side) is open to let airflow into the radiator. My passenger side was blocked off except for the bolt that Fuel Squeezer used for his wicked license plate bracket. I decided to mount it on the passenger side because I didn't want to obstruct any airflow to the radiator. Also on the passenger side I noticed on the very far end of it that there was a small opening, it looked like the horn was there. So I kept away from there to make sure people can actually hear me when I need them to when I use the horn. That is important!!

    I'm hijacking a photo from Fuel Squeezers thread to show what I'm talking about! Thanks buddy!!



    So after throwing some quick paint on the brackets, here is how I mounted them! I used the same screws the dealership used to screw the holes into the front bumper I'm thinking of how to cover it up. I might fill in the holes and shave them for when I plasti-dip the front to hide them, OR I could maybe find something funny to plug them with. Googly eyes? A couple spikes? Not sure. I measured the distance between holes on my license plate (It was 7 inches for my BC plate) and used a sharpie. I hand held the bracket on the spot so I could see exactly where the hole would have to be because there is not a lot of play. Marked it, and then I used a drill bit to drill a pilot hole to screw into. Accuracy!! Mounted the bracket on, and screwed it semi-tight! Left a little room left to adjust as needed before tightening down more. I didn't want to screw it SUPER tight because well, it's just plastic. So it can easily strip. Snug is good.









    I used a 7/32 drill bit to make my pilot hole, but if I were to do this again and use the same license plate screws I would use one size smaller for a tighter and snugger hold.



    And here is the plate mounted! Had to shave off some excess plastic on my license plate frame before I could mount it.



    And because I love the dealership I bought my car from







    Here are some more detailed photos to show how much space there is after this installation! I think any shorter than 2" may although be a little stronger but might not be far enough from the bumper either. It was pretty tight to fit the little 1/4" ratchet in the back. Any shorter may not have worked at all and would have had to use a wrench.





    Alright folks! If you have the screws and nuts/bolts already. This will cost you less than $2. Without, it is less than $5. Shwing!

    Have fun!


    2015 Mirage Base 5MT with A/C! Custom modified eBay roof rack, Auto Dynasty lowering springs, relocated License Plate, enabled OEM Fog Lights & Cruise Control


  2. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to 23027 For This Useful Post:

    Car Nut (02-16-2017),Cobrajet (02-16-2017),MetroMPG (02-21-2017),Top_Fuel (02-16-2017)

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    Cool mod. I wonder how that would hold up at my local car wash? It already ripped the passenger side mirror off my Geo Metro, a couple weeks ago.

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    Member Machiblue's Avatar
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    Looks good! I bought a tow hook license plate mount off eBay. It was listed as fitting Subaru BRZs and Scion FRSs, but it fit perfect on my Mirage.

  5. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Machiblue For This Useful Post:

    Eggman (02-18-2017),MetroMPG (02-21-2017)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Machiblue View Post
    Looks good! I bought a tow hook license plate mount off eBay. It was listed as fitting Subaru BRZs and Scion FRSs, but it fit perfect on my Mirage.
    Part numbers, pictures & links please!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by Eggman View Post
    Part numbers, pictures & links please!
    What he said.

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    Senior Member Top_Fuel's Avatar
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    If you're looking for a solution to clean up those nasty looking holes left in your front bumper cover, check these out:

    Custom Painted Bumper Plugs

    If you're cheap (or you think the bumper plugs above are too big), you can make your own. Check out THIS how-to.
    Last edited by Top_Fuel; 02-20-2017 at 08:04 PM.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)


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    MetroMPG (02-21-2017)

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    Member Machiblue's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eggman View Post
    Part numbers, pictures & links please!
    I don't have any part numbers, it was a generic mount off of eBay. I have some pictures in my garage for those that want to see how it looks. It actually fits good, doesn't stick out too far from the front either. I bought it and installed it almost a year ago, and only had to retighten it once. I don't remember how much it cost, but I know it was no more than $15. I took a risk and bought it and it fit. I know most listings on eBay don't list the thread pitch, but I know that the BRZ and FRS one fit like a glove.

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    Senior Member Top_Fuel's Avatar
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    Ohio has a front plate law. I don't run a front plate. I even bought my Mirage from Pennsylvania so it wouldn't have holes in the front bumper! I'll gladly pay any fine if I get a ticket for it (which has never happened).

    My wife, on the other hand, is not a big fan of blatantly violating the law. So here's what I have done on the front of her 1999 Eclipse...

    I fabricated a bracket similar to what you guys are talking about. But I went one step further by trimming about an inch of material from the top and bottom of the plate with tin snips. When the car is driving down the road, the plate number is easily visible to oncoming traffic (such as law enforcement). But at the same time, it's very stealthy and doesn't mess with the lines of the front bumper. Is it 100% legal? Maybe not...but even my wife is fine with it and there are no holes in the front bumper...so I'm happy...

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    I bet something similar would work on a Mirage.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by Top_Fuel View Post
    Ohio has a front plate law. I don't run a front plate. I even bought my Mirage from Pennsylvania so it wouldn't have holes in the front bumper! I'll gladly pay any fine if I get a ticket for it (which has never happened).

    My wife, on the other hand, is not a big fan of blatantly violating the law. So here's what I have done on the front of her 1999 Eclipse...

    I fabricated a bracket similar to what you guys are talking about. But I went one step further by trimming about an inch of material from the top and bottom of the plate with tin snips. When the car is driving down the road, the plate number is easily visible to oncoming traffic (such as law enforcement). But at the same time, it's very stealthy and doesn't mess with the lines of the front bumper. Is it 100% legal? Maybe not...but even my wife is fine with it and there are no holes in the front bumper...so I'm happy...

    I bet something similar would work on a Mirage.
    That looks nice! I think it's pretty proper looking. Nice job! Would love to find some way to do a semi-hidden install on my 87 TurboCoupe except there is no grill to put it in. Meh.
    2015 Mirage Base 5MT with A/C! Custom modified eBay roof rack, Auto Dynasty lowering springs, relocated License Plate, enabled OEM Fog Lights & Cruise Control


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    FYI. I bought a two hook license plate on ebay "For Nissan 370Z GTR Juke Infiniti G37 Front Tow Hook License Plate Mount Bracket" for $15.55, and it fit my 2015 Mirage. The Mirage and 370z are M24 x 3.0 thread size.



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