This is for all of you that have to have a front license plate, but don't like it on the bumper. I just took the stock (plastic) license plate bracket and moved it. In order to bolt it to the new location I went to my local Home Depot and bought a few nuts & bolts, totaling only $1.50. It took me maybe 30minutes to 1 hour, but that is mainly because I was figuring it out as I go and I didn't have all the right tools at the time.

Sorry for the cellphone pictures, it's the only thing I had at the time

Materials
(2) 5/16 2 inch bolts
(2) 5/16 nuts
(1) Some metal squared-U shape thing
*The bolt size of the license plate is actually 1/4, but I wanted it to be stronger with a bigger bolt


Steps:
Before:

1. Remove the license plate AND plastic bracket

2.Cut the squared-U shaped metal thing in half

3. Drill holes to fit the bolt, you can choose to drill in the middle, but since I didn't have all of my right tools I just used the exisiting holes and made them bigger
*Safety! Wear goggles/glasses to prevent metal shards from going in your eye
*Safety! I used a vice-grip to hold the piece while I drilled the hole

4. Since I went with a 5/16 bolt, I needed to make the holes of the plastic license plate bracket bigger

5. Time to install! I placed the cut metal bracket into the stock grill as in the photo

6. The best way to hold it and the nut in place is to unbolt the bottom plastic of the car
*While this is a pain, it made the install much easier. Also I only unbolted what I needed to open up the side I was working on

7. With the stock plastic license plate bracket installed, once the access is clear, get the stock plastic bracket, turn it upside down and put the bolt through it


and here is it with the license plate


Obviously, since its bolts on the bottom, you wont be able to put a license plate frame on it if it only has holes on the top

now i just need to patch the stupid holes!

diagram of how it holds...

 

To me it looked better before, but then again many people relocate their front plates away from the center. It doesn't look bad, but I just don't understand the trend of people relocating front plates.

 

Two reasons I see:

1. Avoid putting holes in the bumper
2. To be different

I picked up some machined brackets for both of those reasons.

 

Great walk thru!

@scionosis this trend started on cars with front mount Intercoolers as some plates block air flow to the Intercooler. Then some NA cars used the excuse that it offered more flow to the radiator (even if they did nothing to actually have the motor or oil ever overheat, like i said it was an excuse lol) This then progressed into a fad, however on the new tC it is counter productive as on our cars we only have a small section for radiator flow which this now blocks. I won't personally do it however I give him credit for the write up and as far as looks go to each his own. Although this would be much more effective if it was covering one of the tow holes. It would still be off to the side yet still allow proper radiator flow. I would probably do this if it mounted in to the tow hook area as I do want to turbo my car and will have a front mount on my car.

Maybe make another that goes in to that tow hole?

_____

 

Mighty- there are alternatives to mounting front plates in the center without drilling into the bumper, like how I mounted mine using a bracket on my lower grill.

papabear - You're right. That one flew overhead on my part.

 

Papa Bear: I could see how blocking an intercooler might cause overheating problems (I really don't know much about turbos), but I can't see any NA engine overheating from putting a license plate over the grille.

Scionosis: You're right there are alternatives, but KidJustin's fix could be centered too. Really, I like the write-up and the ingenuity. The more mods people come up with for the tC2, the better, whether we would do them ourselves or not.

Just my $0.02

 

I like this because in Missouri I need a front plate but I will absolutely NOT drill holes in my bumper..... Although right now I don't have a front plate at all, I might consider this mod in the future if it becomes an issue with the po po.

Props for the OP!

 

(looks up to say a silent prayer)*

Thank you Georgia, for not making front plants a mandate...

 

That's why I made the comment that it was an excuse lol it does not provide any more help as the radiator does fine with the plate in the stock location. And it's not so much overheating on a turbo car as it is just keeping a cooler more dense charge going to the motor. But yeah it does not hurt your radiator performance at all lol. Just kids in hondas trying to fit in when the say it lol

 

 

http://www.ptuning.com/html/Item-Des...l&ModelDesc=tC


^^^Goes into the factory tow hook location. I helped make this piece possible for the tC2 community.

 

Very nice wellesly! Glad you gave us that contribution

 

how much of a hassle would it be to request a car to not have the holes predrilled? most cars that reach a dealership in states that require front plates predrill them the moment they arrive. since pure pricing is pure pricing, i assume it shouldnt be any different asking for a new car being sent over without the drilled holes instead of settling for the ones that are already on the lot. Of course, i assume that will take several weeks to about a month.

 

^^^ Depends on dealer. My dealership doesnt predrill in the even a customer has a green plate, which in MA is only required on the rear of the vehicle (The RMV didnt even issue a second plate to put on the front until about 10 years ago when they switched to red plates, so there are still single plates floating around.)

 

I dont mind doing this kind of set-up, nice job man.

 

I read somewhere that in states (or maybe only CA) that required the front license plate, that the dealership is suppose to do that to any car they sell

 

Justin- Great write up.

As stated by others, there are many alternatives, and I mounted mine similar to SCIONOSIS. I spent a little more for convenience and fitment, and bought L-brackets. I put the frontend on blocks, drilled 2 holes under the diffuser (?), and bolted it up so that there'd be no contact with the plate and the bumper.

I bought my tC1 new, FOB from Longbeach CA (Californiastan) with no bumper holes. In Cali, dealers are required to drill unless the customer signs a waiver, but I never did.

Xero- If you order the car new, you should be able to tell 'em "no drilling into the bumper"

 

That's a good idea! A good cost effective alternative.

 

this looks like a great item, but 70 bucks seems pretty expensive. is there a middle ground between this one and the DIY kidjustin posted? i dont want to put it on the grill for the sake of airflow. i'm looking for something around 40 or less.

i'm worried that putting such an expensive tow hook mount might attract thieves. couldn't anyone just walk over unscrew it and go? and if that happened i would be out 70 bucks!

 

Mine was $35 shipped, but still mounts to the grille. The way I have mine mounted, if you attached the plate by the bottom rather than the top, it looks almost exactly like the tow hook mount.

Here's the thread for the mounts.
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/sho...96#post3613196