babydubz
bagged life.
- Location
- The Great White North
- Car(s)
- 09 GTI (SOLD)
A few locals off this site was really interested in how I mounted my plate and I got a few PM's asking how to do it so I decided to make a DIY since I was re-doing it today anyways.
The finished product can be seen in my sig. I know it's a little weird, but it was the best solution seeing as I didn't want to drill holes or have it block airflow in the front. Before anyone starts to flame, a front plate is required in my province and I personally don't think it's worth it to pay the ticket.
So what you'll need:
TWO 1/4 - 20 x 4" bolts with nuts (these come in a pack of 4 at Home Depot. The extras came in handy as I stripped one of my bolts today while taking it off
). You can probably get away with a 3" one, but it doesn't really matter as the excess length is tucked away behind the grills anyways.
(excuse the scratched up text, I bought this a while ago)
FOUR fat washers. Make sure the hole is big enough to put the bolt through.
SIX nuts. The bolts should come with 4 nuts (the pack I got had 4 nuts and 4 bolts) but you'll need to grab two more from the bins. Make sure they fit the bolt!
Weather Stripping Foam. I taped a few strips behind the plate incase it make contact with the car. This stuff is pretty pricey for what it is (about $6+ for a roll, but it'll last you a long time as the foam as a tendency to harden and fall off in a few months so you'll need to replace it). I had some thin yellow foam at home so I just used that. My friend uses 1" thick black foam but I couldn't find it at Home Depot without having to buy a huge roll.
Tools
Screw driver with robertson head
Needle nose plyers
Agile fingers (you'll know what I mean later)
Lastly....Open fog grills
You'll need open fog grills or a few holes in the fog grill open as that's where the plate is going to be mounted
So let's get started....
Step One
Tape some foam onto the back of the plate for precautionary measures.
Step Two
We will now start constructing the mount itself. First slide the bolt through the plate and secure it with a nut (hand tight is fine. I found it's easier to get it on the car when you tighten this nut last)
This will keep the plate from moving.
***OPTIONAL STEP***
While redoing my plate today, I added an extra nut between the bolt and the plate. The bolt has a conical head so it doesn't sit flush with the plate and allows for a bit of movement even when it's tightened with the nut behind. Here's how it looks with this extra step
I don't know what size bolt it is as I just found it laying around in my bins at home. Just make sure you use a large one. It doesn't need to screw onto the bolt. It's just used as a "spacer"
You can see it sits flush now with the plate and allows for a more rigid mount which minimizes the chance it will flex and touch the car at highway speeds when the wind is pretty strong.
Step Three
Grab another nut and thread it onto the bolt and then slide the washer in. It doesn't matter how far down this is as it will be adjusted based on how much you want the plate to stick out on the car.
Step Four
Head out to your car and bring the remaining two nuts and washers along with your tools. Here's where your agile fingers will come in handy. Slide the washers behind the honeycomb grill along with a nut. Use two fingers to hold them in place behind the grill. Line them up so when you insert the bolt they'll meet up correctly
You can see the my two fingers holding the washer and nut in place. The nut is BEHIND the washer.
Here's another angle
Once the bolt touches the nut can just turn the bolt and thread it onto the nut. Don't let go until you know the nut is ON the bolt. Finding the nut after you've dropped it behind the grill is a pain in the ASS.
Step Five
Once both sides are on you can adjust the nuts to change how far the plate sticks out. You do this by adjusting the exposed nut and washer. By bringing the nut closer to the plate (away from the car), the plate sits more flush with the car. Use your fingers to hold the nut behind the grill while you adjust it. Once you have it the way you want, use your needle nose plyers and screw driver to tighten up the nuts. They don't need to be super tight. I made the mistake of over tightening them and messed up my honeycomb a bit.
DONE!
Here's my finished product showing the space between the plate and the car
Hope this helps you guys in places where a stupid front plate is required!
The finished product can be seen in my sig. I know it's a little weird, but it was the best solution seeing as I didn't want to drill holes or have it block airflow in the front. Before anyone starts to flame, a front plate is required in my province and I personally don't think it's worth it to pay the ticket.
So what you'll need:
TWO 1/4 - 20 x 4" bolts with nuts (these come in a pack of 4 at Home Depot. The extras came in handy as I stripped one of my bolts today while taking it off
). You can probably get away with a 3" one, but it doesn't really matter as the excess length is tucked away behind the grills anyways.
(excuse the scratched up text, I bought this a while ago)
FOUR fat washers. Make sure the hole is big enough to put the bolt through.
SIX nuts. The bolts should come with 4 nuts (the pack I got had 4 nuts and 4 bolts) but you'll need to grab two more from the bins. Make sure they fit the bolt!
Weather Stripping Foam. I taped a few strips behind the plate incase it make contact with the car. This stuff is pretty pricey for what it is (about $6+ for a roll, but it'll last you a long time as the foam as a tendency to harden and fall off in a few months so you'll need to replace it). I had some thin yellow foam at home so I just used that. My friend uses 1" thick black foam but I couldn't find it at Home Depot without having to buy a huge roll.
Tools
Screw driver with robertson head
Needle nose plyers
Agile fingers (you'll know what I mean later)
Lastly....Open fog grills
You'll need open fog grills or a few holes in the fog grill open as that's where the plate is going to be mounted
So let's get started....
Step One
Tape some foam onto the back of the plate for precautionary measures.
Step Two
We will now start constructing the mount itself. First slide the bolt through the plate and secure it with a nut (hand tight is fine. I found it's easier to get it on the car when you tighten this nut last)
This will keep the plate from moving.
***OPTIONAL STEP***
While redoing my plate today, I added an extra nut between the bolt and the plate. The bolt has a conical head so it doesn't sit flush with the plate and allows for a bit of movement even when it's tightened with the nut behind. Here's how it looks with this extra step
I don't know what size bolt it is as I just found it laying around in my bins at home. Just make sure you use a large one. It doesn't need to screw onto the bolt. It's just used as a "spacer"
You can see it sits flush now with the plate and allows for a more rigid mount which minimizes the chance it will flex and touch the car at highway speeds when the wind is pretty strong.
Step Three
Grab another nut and thread it onto the bolt and then slide the washer in. It doesn't matter how far down this is as it will be adjusted based on how much you want the plate to stick out on the car.
Step Four
Head out to your car and bring the remaining two nuts and washers along with your tools. Here's where your agile fingers will come in handy. Slide the washers behind the honeycomb grill along with a nut. Use two fingers to hold them in place behind the grill. Line them up so when you insert the bolt they'll meet up correctly
You can see the my two fingers holding the washer and nut in place. The nut is BEHIND the washer.
Here's another angle
Once the bolt touches the nut can just turn the bolt and thread it onto the nut. Don't let go until you know the nut is ON the bolt. Finding the nut after you've dropped it behind the grill is a pain in the ASS.
Step Five
Once both sides are on you can adjust the nuts to change how far the plate sticks out. You do this by adjusting the exposed nut and washer. By bringing the nut closer to the plate (away from the car), the plate sits more flush with the car. Use your fingers to hold the nut behind the grill while you adjust it. Once you have it the way you want, use your needle nose plyers and screw driver to tighten up the nuts. They don't need to be super tight. I made the mistake of over tightening them and messed up my honeycomb a bit.
DONE!
Here's my finished product showing the space between the plate and the car
Hope this helps you guys in places where a stupid front plate is required!
