i was wondering if any of you guys could tell me what the best way to drill holes for the bottom of my rear license plate because it rattles a lot. but when i hold it down from the bottom the rattling is much less. any ideas on how to do it without messing anything up?

 

rather than that, just put some felt or something, on the back of your plate, when it hits theat will absorb the shock & not rattle. I would suggest getting Dynamat or Roadkill, or some kinda deadener, and use that.

Hope this helps, and rememrber, Look twice, Drill Once.

:twisted:

 

just put some 3m double sided foam tape behind it along with the top screws.

 

When the dealer drilled holes for the front and back plates I think I saw both ways it could be done, one way being the better way, which is: wherever you plan on drilling; put some masking tape there over the spot to be drilled.

This (from what I experienced) kept the drill bit from tearing up the painted surface immediately around the hole you are drilling.

My front plate looked like they just stuck the drill bit in the palte and drilled away, no tape. When I removed the dealer plates to put on my permanent front one the paint and surface around the hole was all torn up and jagged!

The rear plate looked like it had some masking tape over the holes before drilling and when I went to add my permanent rear plate I removed the tape and the surface nice and clean, nothing torn up and no jagged edge.

Hope this helps. What kind of drill are you planning on using? I want to do this as well, someday to stop the plate from rattling. I have also been told that dynamat can take the rattle away as well. I guess by putting a dead spot directly behind the plate between the plate and body so that the dynamat absorbs the vibrations, I'm guessing.

Good luck and tell us how it goes...

 

another trick is to dull or taper the sides of the drill tip.........


PEACE

 

well i already have two layers of sound deadener on the back of the license plate but it still jumps up and down like crazy. actually when i was looking at it today i noticed that the actual license plate is bent. the double sided tape sounds like a good idea. ill try that and if it doesn't work then i guess ill resort to drilling.

 

Or get a long piece of clear mailing tape (duct tape at your own risk) and fold it with the sticky sides facing out.

 

I think someone also suggested velcro...

 

Ok this weekend I took a drill to the back of my car, and used the tape trick,

I used some red tape and it worked like a charm! I used a sharpy to mark the holes then places the tape over it, I was able to see the mark I made below...

The hole came out very smooth....

I have a ton of mods I have been working on last weekend and going to finish them saterday. I hope to have pics for the page by sunday

Pb

 

Congratulations on your sucessful drilling! I'm going to do this as well, do you recommend any particular type of drill bit? Can't wait to see what your other mods are, too! Thanks for sharing the good news...

Al.Truistic
aB

 

The dealership does not "drill" holes for plates front or rear!!! for the front they use a punch to start a hole then use self tapping screws( thus the rough edge) to mount the plate. In the rear the tape was applied over the holes which are tapped from the factory to prevent water getting in them during shipping!

 

For those of you in California who have bought a Scion recently, your front bumper was probably not drilled at port. When I ordered my RS1 I asked that the front bumper not be drilled. Well, my terrific salesman called the people at the LA port all the time basically reminding them that if they drill my front bumper, he'll drill out their eye sockets. Apparently, over time they just stopped drilling all Scion front bumpers by mistake.

He said that all the Scions they've received lately haven't had the front bumpers drilled, basically due to me

I'm sure the port management will catch on and begin to have the bumpers drilled again, but there are several of us now without holes in our bumpers

My other car unfortunately had the front bumper drilled for a plate, so I am paying to have them filled and repainted.


As for the rear plate, some kind of cushion needs to be placed on it to absorb the vibration.

 

In the C.A.T. area front bumpers DO NOT come from the port punched or as everyone like to call it drilled. this is done at the dealership! I can't say for sure, but believe this is the same in every area. Sounds as if your salesperson was just trying to make you feel special :D ! Which is not a bad thing

 

If you drilled the holes all the way through the metal of the hatch, make sure you:

• Take the plate back off and clean the area under it.
• Take some touch up paint and paint the inside of the new holes
• Overdrill the hole (use a bit a few sizes bigger then the screw) and, after doing the above, place a rubber gromment in the hole. This will keep the screw from rubbing the metal raw again.

This should keep you from having rust problems down the road. Also, you've voided the corrosion warrenty on the hatch now, so you need to make sure you keep up with any bare metal exposure to ensure it doesn't rust.

 

I know for a FACT that it is done at port in LA. I know with Volkswagen, it is done at the dealerships themselves, but it is not the case with Scion in SoCal.
I talked to several dealerships before ordering with the one I did and was told the same. I even spoke to the previous DM regarding his distribution of the RS1s and he said the same, which is why I had such a hard time having my bumper not "punched".

 

Geez, watch your blood pressure there fella...
Drill, tap, punch...thanks! The rear plate still rattles.

Al.Truistic
aB