I finally made a bracket for my front license plate. I was lucky enough to get my Box without the bumper getting screwed. I've been wanting to make something that would incorporate the "Nor*Cal mounting" look but with a little more refinement. Here's what I came up with.

Items needed: (I purchased all items listed at Lowes)

2 - 4 or 5 inch 3/8ths carriage bolts (I used 5 inch, maybe a little longer than needed)
4 - Large flat washers ( I covered one side of each with vinyl sticker for scratch protection)
2 - smaller washers (fender washers ?)
2 - 1.5 inch steel spacers
4 - 3/8ths nuts ( I used two regular and two with the locking plastic ring inside)
OPTIONAL: Mounting bar (I used some flat aluminum, NOT fun to work with)

I say the mounting bar is optional because you could just use the bolts thru the license plate holes and mount it straight up that way.

Drill holes in the mounting bar and dremel or file holes to accomodate square part of carriage bolt head. Insert carriage bolts, put small washers on the bolts. Follow with steel spacers and regular 3/8ths nuts. Tighten nuts to hold carriage bolts and spacers in place. Add one large washer to each bolt. Insert bolts thru honeycomb at desired location. Place large washer on each carriage bolt behind honeycomb, follow with locking nuts. Tighten deez nuts until it sandwiches the honeycomb between the large washers. Add additional nut to lock if desired.

You should end up with something like this:

http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/frontplate/P6081691.jpg

The reason I wanted the bar was originally so I could swap between my Cali plate and my JDM looking one when needed without having to take the whole thing apart. As i got down to the end of the project, I used two LED lighted bolts for the plate. It looks good except that It's not going to be easy to hide the wiring with this bracket and by running the wires thru the holes, it makes it hard to quickly swap the plates. I may have to rethink the lights on here...

Anyway, hope this helps. I planned it all out as I was browsing thru Lowe's. Hopefully this will help someone else save some time. I thought about making a kit, but with the weight of these little things, it'd probably cost more just to ship than to buy the parts locally.

Please feel free to refine my process here too...

I don't say "Show me da money" I prefer "Save me some money" :wink:

OH damn. that looks nice! You said you got the steel spacer from Lowes also? Hmm...I browsed them today and i didnt see any....

I also made my own, but doesnt quite look as nice as yours. Nice Job!

that looks hella nice.. you got any pics of it mounted?

nice work.....really clean. Ive been running mine without a plate up front since i got it (havent had the ho9les drilled yet) Ive got a few warnings from cops to put it on, so i guess im pushing my luck..i think ill be building one of those

looks good mark....where u gonna mount it?

where does it mount? any pics of that yet?

I haven't mounted mine but you can basically put it anywhere along the bumper. I like the "to the side" look, but i will probably center it in the middle for symmetry and balance.

http://www.precisionmuffler.com/0dbb4470.jpg

This is basically where I got the design idea, but they put the bolt heads behind the grill and have the threaded end going out the front, whereas mine go the other way. I'll try to get a pic of mine when I put it on.

I came up with my own style, which is a lot easier then the first method i tried. The first method used many bolts and nuts and stuff, took forever to install and i ended up taking it off the next day anyway.

Here is what i used. At Home Depot there are these metal strips that have the holes about every inch. Cost like 3 bucks. Get one and 2 nut/bolts that will fit through your plate. Use the nuts that have the plastic inside so they wont back off. Pick up 2 large diameter bolts that have a wood tip at the end, like the ones that you can kinda see in my pic. Take the metal strip and cut it so there are 7 holes in the strip, then cut another to match. Bend at the 4th hole a 90 degree angle. Mark your holes under the bumper, and predrill pilot holes so you dont crack the bumper ( not too big though, you want a good bite from the screws). Install the plate to one side of the bent metal strip. The other side gets attached like the pic under the front bumper. Thats it! about 4 dollars in materials, and 1/2 hours work.

Pics of brackets and plate installed ==> http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4286583027

zip ties anyone?

Just duct tape it to the bumper... :roll:

Finally got it mounted for BOTI -

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v250/thescionicman/plate.jpg

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v250/thescionicman/plate2.jpg

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v250/thescionicman/plate3.jpg

The arch on top is intentional to keep it stiff, otherwise the plate wants to flex at diagonal corners...

looks good :) very clean looking.

added to tech area.

Wow, that's sweet. 8) I sure could have used that setup before on past cars. I'll have to try that out soon.

Keep crusin and keep the rubber side down!

Wild Bill

Wow, that's sweet. 8) I sure could have used that setup before on past cars. I'll have to try that out soon.

Keep crusin and keep the rubber side down!

Wild Bill

Its a great place to install it and it doesn't rub the bumper either. And you can see it complimants my front lip too!! :lol:

get that poor thing to a car wash :D

get that poor thing to a car wash :D

:oops: :oops: I know I know. That was right after the drive back from Bakersfield and I was following EvilDave the whole way so he killed more than me. But when I was going down solo I massacred a zillion bugs...

On the plus side tho, look at the first picture. From 10 feet away you can't hardly tell there's bugs on it.

CAMO RULEZ!!!

Nice setup. I did not have the dealer punch holes in my front bumper and I have been looking for a front plate solution. This is it!!

One question, how did you get behind the front bumper???? Did you have to take it off, or did you get it from underneigth?

get that poor thing to a car wash :D

I know that your not talking about my shiney BOP. :lol: Freakin mark, wash your car!! :D

i know these are simple to make but anyone wanna make em and sell em? im bein lazy right now . lol . they got em on ebay but they look ____tier and cost like 20 . i wish i had the option of having the dealer not drill holes. a lot of dealers do it as soon as they get it onto their back lot. bastards!!!!!

http://www.eight08customs.com/licenseplatebracket.html

I did mine with 4 Fender Washers, 2 3" 3/8 Carrage Bolts minus the top (so its a complete stud), 4 nuts, 2 Capture Nuts, and 2 Cap Nuts.

Had a cop look at it yesterday cause he was like WTF how did you get it there :D

where can i purchase a bracket like that? however i have grill so how would that work out for me?

i gotz me a ticket for $50 so now i need one maybe zip ties will do it but thats ghetto.

where can i purchase a bracket like that?


http://www.eight08customs.com/licenseplatebracket.html

Finally got it mounted for BOTI -

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v250/thescionicman/plate.jpg

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v250/thescionicman/plate2.jpg

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v250/thescionicman/plate3.jpg

The arch on top is intentional to keep it stiff, otherwise the plate wants to flex at diagonal corners...
Where did u get that JDM lookin plate from????

Where did u get that JDM lookin plate from????

http://store.superior-carcare.net/eurlicplat.html

Why in the world would you put that big ___ thing on there.

LOOK AT THE PICTURE... of the blue xB and you can see the two holes to mount the license plate right there.

Why in the world would you put that big ___ thing on there.

Because, as TheScionicMan stated in the first post of the thread, "I was lucky enough to get my Box without the bumper getting screwed. "

Hope that helps.

^^^^ yeah.. i avoided getting my bumper drilled..but i got two no front plate tickets.. but i bought one from http://www.eight08customs.com/products.html


bette than no nothing.

I made a similar license plate mount using what I found at Home Depot and Ace hardware. HD didn't have spacers or any bits for the bar that I liked. I went to Ace and found a much wider variety of hardware. I found these aluminum sheets they sell and bought a 4"x10" one.
First I measured how far apart the outside ends of the bolts would be when mounted on the bumper. I put two 3/8ths bolts through the honeycomb grill two "cells" apart, moved them so they were in the closer corners, tightened it down, measured distance between ends of bolts where bracket will go. You can see similar bolt positioning in TheScionicMan's shots.
I got 2 3/8ths between the outsides of the two hex bolt tips.
Since heads are 1/2", the centers for the drilled holes will each be 1 3/16" from the center.
I did some messing around and found that the bolts to fasten my license plate to the bracket should be 5/16ths.
Placed license plate over the sheet of aluminum, center it, and mark where the holes for the license plate itself will go.
Then I drilled holes in the aluminum plate where I layed the holes out. After that I just put it all together on the car and I think it looks pretty good. One difference from the 808customs setup is that I have the bolts to the bumper closer together. I also decided to fasten the plate itself from the bottom, I think it looks pretty nice :)

My final parts list:
2 4"x3/8" fully threded bolts
2 3/8" "fender" washers
4 regular size (larger than fender) 3/8" washers
6 3/8" nuts
2 5/16" bolts, I got the smallest I could find that would fit the nut, washer, bracket and license plate, I used 1"
2 5/16" nuts
2 5/16" fender washers

This doesn't go into complete detail of course, but if anyone wants more details let me know.

post pics of your completed setup

awww you poor people and your required front plates ;)

One problem I'm having after driving around with this for awhile is that it isn't staying as tight as I'd like. Any suggestions? I have some lock washers that I'm thinking of using.

I have 2 sets of lock washers on my set up. Mine moves the bumber if you shake it from being so tight.

Yeah in Louisiana they dont drill the front of the cars. so I didnt have to request a no drill on my RS 3.0.

I wish I had gotten my box before the dumbass dealer drilled through the bumper. I can't imagine people saying "Hey I know, we can just drill through the plastic! No one will care!"

if they would have drilled my bumper I wouldnt have accepted the car. They would have to find me a new RS3.0 or get a new RS 3 factory painted bumper

Heres how I did mine...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v142/armano/xBSideMountedPlateview.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v142/armano/xBSideMountedPlateCloseupsmall.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v142/armano/xBSideMountedPlate2small.jpg

Less than $2 in parts from Lowes:
(2) 1/4-20 x 3-1/2" carriage bolts
(6) 1/4-20 nyloc nuts
(6) 5/16" fender washers (for their larger OD)

Assembly from front to rear:
Carriage bolt goes thru: license frame>license plate> washer>nut>leave bare space-about an inch>nut, threaded from the nylon side>washer>grille>washer>nut.
To thread the nut "backwards" thread it on normal then remove and install the other way.

Adjust the opposing nuts/washers until the fit and clearance is just right. Can be mounted in upper or lower grille, centered, to the side or anywhere in between. Don't tighten too much, can crack the plastic!

For those with dealer drilled bumpers:
http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=114768&highlight=

for anyone still looking for a front license plate mount. i recommend this one, i just picked this up at autozone for $8 and got 2 longer nuts and bolts with washers at loews for 76 cents. the fit is pretty much perfect also it is angle adjustable.

http://www.bellautomotive.com/asp/product_details.asp?id=25345

Heres how I did mine...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v142/armano/xBSideMountedPlateview.jpg


Be careful with that plate laying against the paint. The wind pounding it all the time can cause it to rub ...

^^ Thanks for the tip!

There is a 1/8" layer of closed cell foam on there from my deadening ventures. Also, the plate is adjusted so that it does not flap-just has a slight amount of tension. Just didn't want to see the hardware if at all possible!

Agreed, however, that if the bumper moves w/o the plate, it could start to wear. Maybe I'll adjust it out further-maybe a 1/4"- enough so that it can't come back and touch.

I want one

this is a better site for the jdm plates:
http://www.decalgirl.com/browse.cfm/4,7.html?AFF=G_JDM&gclid=CMuWrsOsg4UCFQqYIgodHhRkGg

I actually had to tap into my front bumper myself, so I wish I would have found this sooner!

Does anyone know of a good way to cover up the drilled holes without having to buy a new bumper? I was thinking of those little black caps they put in door jams to cover the screws, but just wondering if anyone has had any luck with another route.