DIY-Front License Plate Holder On a GTI

[Texas_MkV]

Made Changes to fix Air Flow problem. Only difference is that when you connect the plate holders to the plate. Connect it to the bottom holes not the top.

I thought that maybe it would be beneficial to see the design on a GTI. I hope yall don't count this as a repost. :)

Cheap and Easy DIY- Front License Plate Holder
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/4367/frontclean8wc.jpg
2- ¼” -20 x 4” Round Head Bolts
4- Big Washers
4- 5/16” x 1-1/2” Neopren Rubber Washers
6- ¼ Nuts


It has always pained me to drill into the bumper to mount the front license plate, and the police officers in my area are horrible at writing you tickets for it. So I used a similar design to ones that I have seen to make mine.

Taking off the Bottom Plastic Piece
First you need all the items above, and a Allen Wrench (number 4 on mine). You probably have one around in a set. So it is one of those. Anyway, now you need to pull your car out and look underneath your front end, and you will see these.
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/5721/p10100406ul.jpg
Unscrew all of these and set them to the side.

Now there are 2 in each fender-well that you will need to take out.
Once you have taken these out you will need to pull of the plastic bottom. Now don’t start pulling, you need to push down on the plastic tab that you seen in the fender well. Once the plastic tab is unsnapped, start pulling starting from the side. It will seem like it is not going to budge, but just apply a little force and be patient.
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/6156/p10100410zv.jpg


Layout of Mount
The layout is simple. It is, Bolt, then License Plate, Nut, Gap (as much as you want), Nut, Washer, Rubber Washer, Honey Comb Bumper, Rubber Washer, Washer, then Nut.
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/2203/p10100387pp.jpg

Now putting the plastic piece back on is a hassle. It took me a lot longer to put that thing back on as it did to put the whole thing together.
Now I would suggest trying to get someone to help you hold it up, but I think that it could be done by one person fairly easily. I would suggest starting in the middle. Try aligning everything up and start pushing the tabs back in. It is very aggravating and took me a while to get them all in, but they will all go in. Now I must tell you all that putting the pieces back together is always the hard part for me, maybe I just suck at it.
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/3387/p10100356wn.jpg

Conclusion
It is not a complex design. I have been using it for a couple months and it has worked great. I even took it through a no touch car wash. It is brutal in there, but it didn't budge. I figure if it can make it through that, not much could hurt it.
In the picture mine is pretty close to the bumper, but you can adjust it as you please.

[h82bslo]

that looks good man. unfortunately, the dealer have drilled holes on ours.

[Texas_MkV]

Yeah mine is going to the dealer tommorrow, and I better not see any holes.

[TeknoGroover]

Yeah mine is going to the dealer tommorrow, and I better not see any holes.
Why would they drill holes now? That makes no sense.

[Dude123]

Mine has no holes! That looks kind of goofy because its sticking out. o_O

[Texas_MkV]

Why would they drill holes now? That makes no sense.

I apologize I didn't explain. That was a test fit. The liscense plate was from a different car. I had to take it off, and my car was at the dealers today. I was afraid that they would take it upon themselves to go ahead and put my plates on while it was there. Luckily they did not. So tomorrow, I am going to put it all back on with my new plates.

[jetta1.8tbee]

it looks good, but what if a car back on your car......c..r..a..p..

[Texas_MkV]

Hopefully it will only damage the grill and plate, and not the entire bumper.

[Wantagti]

Our local dealer uses zip ties to fasten their plate to the grille.

[Texas_MkV]

I heard about doing that, but it seems that it would tear up the bumper. I had a plate holder like that on my RSX, and when I took it off to take pictures, it had worn a huge gash in my front bumper.

[NorthGTI]

that looks good man. unfortunately, the dealer have drilled holes on ours.

Always specify on the order that the front plate bracket not to be mounted. That way, if it is, you can reject the car and have them reorder a clean one.

I usually request a "off truck" inspection prior to delivery prep. That way I can retrieve the bracket from the car's trunk to keep away from the dealer's prep guy.

[Acoustic81]

Just come live in PA - no front LP requirement :)

[Texas_MkV]

That is a very elegant solution, Texas MkV. It's very close to how I intend to mount my plate to comply with my state requirements for it. I appreciate your solution and will draw inspiration from it when my plates arrive. Keep an eye on those rubber washers because they will eventually break down exposed to the elements.

I appreciate it. I do agree with the Rubber Washer problem, especially here in Texas. I am still trying to come up with a better solution, but have not had one yet. It is really difficult to take the plate off and on, hopefully I can come up with something easier. Until then, this is going to have to do. :thumbsup:

[kirk180]

that looks good man. unfortunately, the dealer have drilled holes on ours.
I took mine back and my dealer has ordered me a new one to replace the one with holes in it for free.

[alf]

boo caca front plate. i roll no plate, im so gangsta :D

[Wild Hare]

Good job on the placement! I remember when I ordered my '98 Audi and specified NO FRONT LICENSE PLATE HOLDER! They did it anyway.
Keep up the good work!

[Kurupt]

no front LP required in georgia either

[Wild Hare]

Bastids!

[rickerbr]

I appreciate it. I do agree with the Rubber Washer problem, especially here in Texas. I am still trying to come up with a better solution, but have not had one yet. It is really difficult to take the plate off and on, hopefully I can come up with something easier. Until then, this is going to have to do. :thumbsup:

I'm shamelessly stealing your idea, but I'm toying with a few improvements -

1. Replace the carriage bolts with 1/4-20 machine screws (ie. hex head threaded all the way) and flip it around. Home Despot (at least in Lewisville) doesn't have any longer than 1.5" that are threaded this way. May have to go to a fastener store to get these. Bolt head is behind the grill and the tag is held on with a nut. Double nut behind the tag so that way with 2 wrenches I can hold the nuts behind the plate and remove the outer nut to remove the plate, but leave the bolts in place. This is for days when I need extra cooling (e.g. if I was going to hypothetically track the car).

2. I'm going to drill and cut a rubber stopper for the washers. The HD washers are just too thin to be of practical use for any length of time.

All of this is dependant on getting my plates, my 21 days are up on Monday and I still don't have permanent plates yet. Denton County is notoriously slow though.

[Moose]

I zip-stripped mine into my grill... only concern is blocking off the airflow through the bottom grill. Anyone know of any problems resulting from the limited airflow?

Just trying to protect my new baby

[Call.me.Junior]

I heard that someone came up with a plate holder that alot of SRT4 owners were using. It is similar to the CD holders that you put on your sunvisor. This one you put on your passenger sunvisor, and when you put the visor down, the plate is displayed.
did some searching and found this...
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161238

[Texas_MkV]

Do you have any pic's Scotaku

[Texas_MkV]

I was worried about blocking the air from getting to the engine as a few people mentioned. So I moved my mount from the top holes on my liscense plate to the bottom holes. It has worked so far, but there does not seem to be much of a change.

[Texas_MkV]

Lol. I bet that looked pretty nice.

[ünpimptheauto]

that looks good man. unfortunately, the dealer have drilled holes on ours.

http://www.bumperplugs.com

[d.C]

waitin' for the pix Scotaku

[Texas_MkV]

Me too. I am a visual kind of guy. I really don't understand all the words. Lol.

[justintimex1]

All my friends just put there plate on there front of there dashboard. Isnt putting the plate on the dash legal in texas?

[ünpimptheauto]

Another item I discovered, while working on my personal homepage is that some states require the front license plate to be displayed at least 12 inches off the ground.

I've not complied that information, because most people don't know (or it's not documented on the web).

State Regulations for Vehicles (http://www.benliaw.com/stateregs.htm)

[Porschephile 924]

In colorado, the cops won't bother pulling you over if you don't have a front plate... the meter maids in Denver will nail you every time... so as long as you park in a private lot in Denver, you're safe!

I'm gonna specify when I order mine that the front plate isn't mounted... and I'll toss it in the trunk, as well as the plate bracket.. then if I get penalized for it, I can say, "Officer, the dealer never put it on... I've got the plate and bracket in the trunk, and I'd be more than happy to get it mounted, I've just not had the time to get to the dealership..."

[JonGrace959]

:thumbsup: this helps out alot.. ive already been pulled over once for not having a front licence plate.. i dont want to drill into it... this really helps me out thanks

[.:B]

Ok help, I removed all the screws and all that's left are the two tabs. Those damn things dont seem to budge no matter how hard i push down..

[phokim]

Once the plastic tab is unsnapped, start pulling starting from the side. It will seem like it is not going to budge, but just apply a little force and be patient.

Do you have more detail on this step?


Would polyurethane washers be better than rubber? Not that that I know where to find them. I will have to deal with the plates soon.

[.:B]

I just got pulled over a week ago for not having front plates, so i will need to put them on ASAP. Pls help thnx

[.:B]

bump

[sonomamkvdsg]

licence plate, I don't need no stinking (front) licence plate

[335 Trojan]

Scotaku: I love the idea, but I am lowered, so the plate would hit the ground all day :(

[ünpimptheauto]

Since my version of the offset license plate mounting was so unpopular with the kiddies, I redid it with a "bling" (just a little).

The fender washers are probably the same, but I used some real CF tubing I had an used a hand saw to cut down to size. Also, I used an hollow-wall anchor, as I did in my offset mount.

I did not use the factory provided plate frame, but one from a BMW E46 M3 trunk frame (I had it laying around).

Still takes 2 minutes to install/remove with a screwdriver. No need to remove anything to install it.

[GTI2007]

That indeed does look better

[phokim]

Do you have more detail on this step?


Would polyurethane washers be better than rubber? Not that that I know where to find them. I will have to deal with the plates soon.

I used the stock license plate holder to make the washers but I simply cannot get behind the lower honeycomb grill to install this thing - any more pointers? I do not have the same tab as shown in the pictures.

[TGZ]

Unpimp,

Can you please post a list of all the hardware you used for that setup. Sizes of bolts, washers, nuts, etc. I live in NYC but bought my GTI in Delaware where they don't require front plates.

The meter maids are terrible here and will give me ticket after ticket for no front plate so I need to get this done asap.

Thanks man. :bow:

[nukta90]

Yeah when i went to pick up my gti about a month ago, the dealer was like, here's your front license plate holder..and i was like uhh? what would i want that for? And he's like well we're not allowed to drill them in now because customers are complaining and want brand new front bumpers haha. I just laughed really hard when i told him that. Apparently a lot of ppl were getting mad about that, and they had to send all the cars back for new bumpers and what not

[vxla]

Ok, I have a 2009 Jetta, but I had the same problem and came up with the following solution (originally posted here (http://www.volkswagenforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12101)):

--

I spent some time looking for the best way to mount a front license plate to my 2009 Jetta. Since my dealer did not drill holes for the front plate holder, I wanted to find a way to mount the front plate easily without needing to drill holes. There wasn't much on the Internet, and paying $60 for a plate holder seemed pointless. Here's the solution that I came up with:

(Disclaimer: any damage caused to any part of your vehicle, or yourself, or anyone around you, is your own fault.)

Requirements

(2) 3/16" U-bolts. These can be found at any local hardware store.
(1) Front license plate holder. There's several models, choose one you like.
(4) locking washers
(1) tube of Blue Loctite
Tools necessary to tighten down any bolts, etc.

Procedure

1. Take the U-bolt and wrap it around the back of one of the lower grill panels. The following photograph shows how the bolt wraps around the back of one of the lower grill panels.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3346/3621469204_e45c9967ce.jpg

2. Attach the bracket that comes with the U-bolt to the bolt, and then place the plate holder onto the bolt. Putting the bracket in back of the plate holder gives it more strength when you tighten the nuts up.

3. Slide the locking washer down and then place the nut on the upper threads. Repeat with the lower washer/nut. Do not tighten yet.

4. Add the second U-bolt following the same procedure as in Steps #1-#3.

5. Next, add Loctite to each set of threads.

6. Carefully tighten down each nut evenly while making sure to center the plate holder properly. Do not overtighten, the plate holder will probably break if you do.

7. Once everything is tight, I added a bit more Loctite, and then a single zip tie, just in case both U-bolts break. So far, things should look like this:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3334/3621469000_30cb3f4da1.jpg

Add your license plate. When finished, the final product should look like this:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3310/3621469540_94b2267fed.jpg

Hope this helps!

In the end, this cost me about $10.

You can see the full size photographs here (http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=14812197%40N00&q=jetta+license+plate&m=tags).

[P-S-Y-K-E]

Texas_MkV, when you say "bottom piece" are you referring to the front lip? Is it not possible to just remove the lower honeycomb grill without taking anything else off and then putting the hardware directly to the grill piece before putting it back on? Forgive me, I have installed my votex lip and i remember it being kind of a bitch, but I've never removed the lower grill to know how it comes out...

[babydubz]

awesome DIY!! just did it today.

First did the DIY open fogs, then decided to mount the plate on the side instead.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Liquid_Ice/DSC043862.jpg

JDM!! HAHAH

[Benjamin T]

Ok, I have a 2009 Jetta, but I had the same problem and came up with the following solution

Hope this helps!

In the end, this cost me about $10.

You can see the full size photographs here (http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=14812197%40N00&q=jetta+license+plate&m=tags).

nice... wish i could do that to my gti but it would completely block airflow to my intercooler :cry: