DIY - BRZ OEM Front license plate mount/bracket no-drill installation

[shiumai]

Background - If you live in state that doesn't require a front license plate, read no further (you lucky bastards). If you live in a state that does, this may help give you some ideas. Note that this applies only to the BRZ and BRZ OEM license plate bracket/mount. I don't know whether this can be applied to the FR-S.

I'm still running no front license plate on my BRZ most of the time, but wanted to prepare for that eventuality and started looking at options soon after I got my car. This forum is a great source of information, and I'm grateful for all I've learned so far. The options I considered (besides throwing the front plate on the dash) were:

1. Offset tow hook mounts - personally, I don't like the offset/asymmetrical mount. Purely an aesthetic thing.

2. Drilling the holes in the front bumper, but using smaller wellnuts - the rubber wellnuts that come with the OEM kit are huge, and smaller wellnuts are an alternative. But drilling holes in the front would be my last resort.

3. Skene design 'no holes front license plate bracket' - The Skene design mount is actually a no FRONT holes bracket, but still requires that you put two holes through the bottom of the bumper. This was the best option I'd seen so far, so I purchased a kit from Skene http://skenedesign.com/FPBracket/index.shtml
It's still sitting brand new in the box as I didn't want to install it unless I got a fix-it ticket first.

4. Tie-strapping to the front grill - not enough space and I didn't want to restrict air flow, so that was out.

Taking a closer look at the way the OEM BRZ 'Base License Plate' (which is part of the BRZ license plate installation kit P/# SOA8433000) that I believe is supplied with every new BRZ, it has two lower hooks that hook onto the bottom of the bumper that secures it at the bottom. It then swings up and is secured by well nuts that expand into the holes drilled into the front of the bumper.

I did not want to use double-sided adhesive tape as there are only two small round flats on the bracket that engage the bumper, and with the textured surface on the bumper I wasn't sure that it'd be secure enough.

Seeing that the BRZ front bumper (the front bumper cover, actually) is pretty thin plastic, and the combined thickness of the bracket plastic and bumper plastic is less than 0.2", I decided to that I'd try rare earth (neodymium) magnets. I've played around with neodymium magnets before and they are very strong. I calculated that with a 0.2" gap, they'd have more than enough attraction to hold the front license plate bracket and plate onto the front of the bumper. No holes would need to be drilled. I did my research on the subject (magnets and load capability) and then went ahead with the project. I purchased my magnets from http://www.kjmagnetics.com/

What you need

1. OEM Subaru Front license plate bracket/mount

2. Two DX04 1" x 1/4" magnets http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DX04 Cost $5.83 each. These fit behind the bumper and are larger for more magnetic force.

3. Two DEH@ 7/8" x .2" magnets http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DEH2 Cost $3.78 each. These fit into the OEM bracket mounting holes.



4. Glue - I used some 3M rubber weatherstrip cement because that's what I had on hand.

5. Hand tools for front bumper removal - I followed this great DIY up to Step 9 http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8788 (thanks DarrenDriven)

6. Optional - some small self-adhesive felt pads.

Caution!

Neodymium magnets can be ferociously strong, and can cause damage if not handled properly. While handling a couple, one flew out of my hand and impacted the other one so forcefully that it shattered and the pieces were very sharp, causing a small cut on my finger. Keep them stuck together until needed.



Procedure

1. Install the two DEH2 magnets into the round holes at the upper corners of the OEM license plate bracket (bracket is upside down in the photo below). They fit perfectly in there and only a small dab of glue at the bottom is needed. They're captured by the license plate when it's installed, so the glue is just to hold them in place without the license plate.





2. Mark the center line of the OEM bracket and the bumper. I used a bit of masking tape. The center of the BRZ bumper is where the grid texture changes direction in the middle. It's very obvious when you look at it. NOTE: WHEN DOING ANY FIT CHECKING, MAKE SURE YOU COVER UP THE BACK OF THE LICENSE PLATE SCREW TABS WITH TAPE. TAKING THEM OFF UNTIL YOU'RE DONE IS EVEN BETTER - THEY JUST SLIDE OFF THE BRACKET. EVEN FIT-CHECKING WILL MAR THE PLASTIC BUMPER IF THEY MAKE CONTACT WITH IT. THE PLASTIC IS SOFT AND VERY EASILY SCRATCHED, EVEN WITH A FINGERNAIL.

3. Remove the front bumper per the aforementioned DIY: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31715

4. Fit up the OEM bracket to the front of the bumper, centering it using your markings or tape.




5. Take the two larger DX04 magnets and pop them behind the bumper. They'll self-align to the magnets in the bracket and hold the bracket in place. There are markings molded into the back of the bumper that can help you confirm that they're both symmetrically placed.



6. Remove one magnet, put some glue on it (again, I used 3M weatherstrip cement as it works on just about anything), then carefully place it back. It'll snap to position. Do the same with the other one. I then covered both magnets with tape as a secondary measure. The styrene impact absorber behind the bumper presses up against the magnets from the rear, so they're quite secure glued and taped in place.



7. Re-install front bumper and you're done! (almost)



8. The front license plate bracket can now be installed and removed at will. Pull force for each of the magnets is about 8 lbs each based on the distance separating them. The bracket is engaged at the bottom by the hooks, and just held in place by the magnets. To install, hook the bottom hooks at the bottom of the bracket under the bumper, then tilt the bracket until it snaps in place. Take care to control it so that it doesn't snap to the bumper too forcefully and mar it. The bracket and magnets are self-centering once you get them close. To remove, carefully pry it away from the bumper and unhook at the bottom.

9. After mounting my front license plate to the bracket, I found that when installing it to the bumper, the magnetic force was so strong that it'd 'snap' the bracket to the bumper. I experimented with different ways to protect the bumper plastic from marring; I tried urethane bumpers, as well as small felt pads that you can get at any hardware store. I placed them behind the two magnets.

I also flipped over the metal tabs with the plate screw holes so they poke out the front of the bracket, rather than the rear. They're strong enough in that orientation as well.



After some time, I found that faint marks would still show on the bumper where the felt pads were, maybe from dust. So, I replaced the felt pads and urethane bumpers with some rubber that I had laying around.

This is my final configuration:



10. Did I mention that the plastic bumper mars easily? Oh, I did already. It even gets marred from small rocks. Anyway, to further protect the bumper plastic from any more marks, I had some 6" wide carbon-look vinyl tape/wrap laying around, so I cut a piece to cover the bumper under the license plate bracket.
http://www.pepboys.com/product/detai...ps/?quantity=1
I didn't bother to cover the whole bumper, so I cut it so the angle would taper down to the vertical struts of the grill underneath, so it looked intentional. The piece I cut was 22" at the top, 16.5" at the bottom and 6" tall.



Here's the final result - the carbon-look vinyl piece isn't a perfect match of course, but blends in enough to be non-obtrusive. It protects the bumper from any further marring and can be removed easily if need be.



11. Ta-da!



Testing - The most obvious question is 'How secure is this?'. Well, it's pretty solid. Judging from the effort that it takes to break the magnetic attraction holding the license plate and bracket and unsnap them from the bumper, I'm pretty darn confident that it's not going to come off under normal driving circumstances. It's going to take an impact to the car or direct impact to the bracket to dislodge it. When driving, the wind naturally pushes it back into the bumper. A side wind would have to also overcome the bottom hooks. The magnets are located on the upper part of the bracket above the flat part of the bumper, so it'd be very difficult for it to slide down off that surface.

Driving around town and bumpy freeway driving at 'normal' freeway speeds have not affected it at all. There are certain cities known for enforcing the front license plate requirement more stringently than others, so I just throw it on when driving through or parking there. Normally, I take it off and put it in the trunk or behind my seat.

As I mentioned before, the plastic is very soft and mars very easily, so be very careful.

It's worked so far for me, so I thought I'd share it here. It requires no drilling, and taking it on and off takes 5 seconds without tools so you can go cool and 'plateless' when you're at the car meet and then throw it on so you're 'legal' for the drive home

As I mentioned before, I don't know whether this method would work for the FR-S, but I hope that it gives folks some ideas to experiment with.

Update: And here it is with my new black 'legacy' plate, which I can remove and re-install at any time I want in 5 seconds with no tools, holes or brackets.

[switchlanez]

Thanks for the ingenious solution. My state doesn't require front plates but I'll likely do this whenever I move back to California. Only change I might make for myself is instead of applying glue to the front bumper I might use heavy duty 20lb/in 3M double sided tape from Home Depot.

[OrbitalEllipses]

I'd be concerned about theft, but this is pretty ingenious.

[switchlanez]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

I'd be concerned about theft, but this is pretty ingenious.

Methinks a thief would've already unscrewed the plate before realizing the bracket was held on by magnets.

[Grymm86]

$80 for Grimspeed plate adapter or $20 for magnets... hrmm...... thanks for the great write up. just what i was looking for!

[xcelir8brz]

Ingenious!

[ft86Fan]

Cool idea. Thanks.

[SoCal_86]

What feature does the grimmspeed have to prevent theft?

[shiumai]

no one's going to have a clue that it's held on by magnets - they'll just unscrew the license plate from it like any other. it looks 100% OEM until you take the plate off.

[Techfl3x]

I was a bit skeptical at first when @shiumai told me about his magnetic plans at a meet. But I had the chance to check out the finished product firsthand yesterday and can say that it is very solid and secure. I would be confident driving at high speeds with it.

The magnetic strength is very strong, to the point where it takes some effort to pry the license plate off. The most notable was when i proceeded to reattach the plate. The law of attraction took effect, pulled the plate out of my hands, and snapped back in place. I kept saying sorry because it snapped quickly and loudly. Good thing he had the felt tips to prevent scratching!

Very inventive alternative to screws or if you don't like the offset look with tow hook kits. Thanks for the DIY. Very well done!

[Grymm86]

my magnets are on their way. just mocking up the bracket last night left some small scratches so the felts are a must.

[shiumai]

Originally Posted by Grymm86

my magnets are on their way. just mocking up the bracket last night left some small scratches so the felts are a must.

take a look at the plate screw threaded holes where they stick out in the back - you can take a dremel and grind them down a bit if they're sticking out too far in the back. that's what's causing the scratches more likely, which is why i covered them with felt.

[Myv]

This is pretty awesome, would have done this if I didn't buy the relocation kit. +1

[Grymm86]

thats exactly what i figured. hopefully they will be in by this weekend so i can get the magnets and my smoked side markers all in at the same time. thanks again for the write up and links.