FR-S front and center license plate mounting solutions
 

Here I go with another probably obvious question, but one Im curious about how others have approached it. I attracted some unwanted attention for not having my front plate on. I know of two solutions, drill the front bumper or go with a tow hook holder. Not that I dont like the tow hook solution, just wondering what people who have theirs front and center have done to achieve this and whats my best option for doing this?

Unfortunately I don't think that there really is an elegant solution. I think a few people on the forum have come up with a few ideas such as installing magnets on the back-side of your bumper (http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=929934), and another one that I can't find the link to which involved the front plate sort of laying over the top of the lower lip with a bit of felt on the back of it.

Personally, while I think a lot of the solutions have been creative, I didn't really want that "home made" look on the front plate of my car. I wish I could just run without it, but go figure I got a citation the third day of having my temp plate from the dealer off.

I'm now using the Grimspeed Relocation Kit, which I like a lot - I just bought an extra tow cap from my dealership and drilled a hole into that one to cover up the gap that removing the cap left. I previously had my front plate zip-tied after the incident with the citation, but I was pissed when I removed it to have an x-pel ultimate shield installed, and saw that the zip-ties had actually cut into the plastic of my front bumper even though I left them looser than I would have preferred (to make it easier to cut them off in the future if I had to.)

If you really want the front plate on and centered, you could drill into the upper part of the grille that is solid plastic (and therefor avoid drilling into the bumper/paint), or I would suggest zip-tying an actual plate frame to the front and mounting your front plate to that if you want it to appear like the plate is actually mounted to the front, but would like the peace of mind knowing that it isn't, and avoid the look of the plate being zip-tied since you won't be able to see them holding the frame (whereas I just had my front plate zip-tied and I didn't like the cheap look of it.)

Yeah, I am also very hesitant about the zip tie idea...now i definitely wont try it lol. Thanks for the info, I will probably look more into drilling the grill instead.

I just ran long stainless bolts with large flat washers in the grill holes to attach the oem plate braket. Looks oem, no holes and can be undone if you want. Total cost about $2-3.

had Grimmspeed Relocation Kit since first day. love it. no complains at all.

Here is another way to mount the front plate. I did something like this for years with Spyder. On the FRS there are some molded in bosses on the grill that I used.


You can locate them by two molded index marks on the front. Here is one:
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...S/100_4725.jpg

The boss is on the backside. you do not need to remove the lower cover. I did to investigate and take a picture.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...S/100_4728.jpg

Drill the spots with a 3/16" dia drill and run a M6x1.0 tap thru.

Modify the plate like this:
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...S/100_4729.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...S/100_4732.jpg

I attached it with some stainless M6 screws.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...S/100_4741.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...S/100_4739.jpg

To finish I put some trim plugs in the holes from the dealer installed mount. The only thing I would do differently next time is use my sheet metal brake to create a hem on the top and bottom edges.

Here's my solution:
http://www.gominigo.com/NHLPB-main.html

Got pics of my 370z and 86 on there! yay!

That looks great, but is that legal to cut the license plate like that?

No, it is not legal. This is how I tackled the front plate:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55552

Is it legal? Prob not. Am I hiding anything? No. Is it a NYS plate? Yup, it still has the Empire State on it. Does it still show the characters full size? Yup. As I said before, I did it for years with my Spyder. Never got hassled.

Compared to my friend with C5 Vette that has never even mounted a front plate, I'm not as bad.

Life is too short to worry about things like this. NYS can't dictate every aspect of my life. We put up with more than our fair share of crap.

im using magnets, works really well

It's a law that is likely not enforced. In Texas, they can technically pull you over for frames that partially cover plates. I think what you did looks good, but I personally wouldn't risk it.