Front licence plate mount

yannakis

Got my 2010 Prius recently and I love it's looks - I know, you probably don't :P

There this one thing that I don't like, the mount for the front licence plate. It is like an ugly box sticking out of an otherwise smoothly curved front (1st photo below). Is there a way to go about making it simpler and curved like the Astra on photo2?

(both photos are from the internets - not my cars)

Curran

I assume the 'ugly box' can be removed. Take off the number plate, and I'd imagine there is only two fixing screws. Use the number plate to cover holes for fixing screws. Alternatively, after removal, you could get a reg plate sticker printed, so the bumper would be totally flush.

Atlantic Dawn

There was actually someone posted on here a couple months back was looking to buy that mount for his Prius. He contacted Toyota and they were looking crazy money, think €100 plus for it.

Curran

One man's rubbish, is another man's gold!

yannakis

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

There was actually someone posted on here a couple months back was looking to buy that mount for his Prius. He contacted Toyota and they were looking crazy money, think €100 plus for it.

Yeah that was me :pac: :pac:

One corner is cracked and I wanted it to be perfect, but now I want it completely gone :P :rolleyes:

yannakis

Is the sticker NCT compliant or will I have to re-do it every 2 years?

Foxhole Norman

NougatPlease wrote: »

Is the sticker NCT compliant or will I have to re-do it every 2 years?

Once you have the country and county in Irish you should be good!

pa990

a regular plastic plate, with some good double sided tape, will be the job.

no need for a sticker .. remember the plate will have to be reto-reflective.. but from experience.. they dont check.

yannakis

pa990 wrote: »

a regular plastic plate, with some good double sided tape, will be the job.

no need for a sticker .. remember the plate will have to be reto-reflective.. but from experience.. they dont check.

This sounds better actually.. I was thinking that I would like it to look like a licence plate overall, and the sticker might defy that.

Do you have a particular kind of double sided tape to suggest? Would you put 2 long strips or 6-8 shorter ones?

Curran

I think the sticker I mentioned has been taken up wrong. I just mentioned it as an 'alternative' if you wanted the most flush option.
I suggested that a regular plate, or the current one mounted to the ugly box, would hide the fixing screws of the ugly box.

Screw off the plate
Screw off the box
Use old number to screw into bumper or the holes the ugly box leave behind

3M do a very strong double sided tape. Available in most DIY stores.

yannakis

Misunderstanding from my side @Curran, my apologies. The ugly box is mounted with metal screws, bigger than the plastic ones from the licence plate, so I'll look for some 3M double sided tape and give it a try. I've got a good feeling for this one!

Meanwhile, maybe you can help with another thing I've got in my mind for the rear licence plate which is mounted on the boot door - do you use rubber washers or something else to prevent water leaking into the panel?

MetzgerMeister

If mounting a plate directly onto the bumper I would go for a pressed metal plate before a plastic one. Often times a plastic plate will remove itself due to it trying to flex back into shape. A pressed metal plate can be manipulated into a nice curve before application.

It also depends on your tastes. I'm going from my own experience.

yannakis

Are metal plates NCT compliant?

Edit: I was thinking to go for these before sticking the plastic ones on the bumper actually http://amzn.to/2jAWGdR

ronnie3585

NougatPlease wrote: »

Are metal plates NCT compliant?

Edit: I was thinking to go for these before sticking the plastic ones on the bumper actually http://amzn.to/2jAWGdR

Yes, metal plates are compliant.

Chapter one sets our the requirements for plates - https://www.ncts.ie/media/1004/nct-manual-july-2014.pdf

MetzgerMeister

As long as it's "standard irish plate" it's fully compliant regardless of sticker/plastic/pressed metal.

yannakis

Got these plastic frame and a metal plate after all, and it looks like a charm now