mfewtrail Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 I plugged the unsightly front license plate holes a while back on my red TGP with some "nylon hole plugs"(got the idea from a Nissan forum a few years ago ) from Lowes. First, I took a drill bit guide with all the hole sizes on it and got an idea of the size of the holes on my car...using a drill bit itself would also work fine. I lucked out and didn't have to drill them out anymore as they were already perfectly sized for 1/4'' diameter plugs. If I remember correctly, the plugs are sold in quantities of two. They're located in the hardware aisle at lowes and are in one of those pull-out drawers. Home depot, etc. should stock them as well. Anyways, I bought some touch-up spray paint that corresponded to the Bright Red color code on my car & painted the plugs + sprayed a few coats of touch-up clear on them. I placed the plugs inside pieces of a slim drinking straw that I cut up in order to spray the heads of them. After I placed them inside the straw pieces, I poked some holes in a paper plate and slipped the straws inside. The straw + paper plate made a pretty good paint stand for the plugs. I didn't think about taking any "before" photos, but I do have an older photo where you can see two of the tag holes + two of the torx screws that were still in the bottom ones. After(yes I know the pictures are crappy and that my car is dirty): and a random picture of the car for good measure... That nice muddy looking stain beside my car is dexcool/rusty water from a friends vehicle that decided to bust open a heater control valve and leak all that nasty shit on my driveway. It rained pretty hard right after I took the pictures and washed most of it away. Quote
Night Fury Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 Thank goodness I don't have to worry about that! Quote
mfewtrail Posted February 4, 2009 Author Report Posted February 4, 2009 Thank goodness I don't have to worry about that! I wouldn't have had to worry about it either if the idiot dealership that the car originally came from hadn't put a front plate on. I forget where the car is originally from, but I'm pretty sure it didn't even require a front plate in the first place. Dealership workers should be beaten with a license plate bracket for doing this to cars! Quote
jake91 Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 in az you dont need a front plate but the dealer put the bracket on it anyway. good idea. i might have to try that with mine Quote
mfewtrail Posted February 4, 2009 Author Report Posted February 4, 2009 in az you dont need a front plate but the dealer put the bracket on it anyway. good idea. i might have to try that with mine Georgia is the same way. A local dealership where my '93 Grand Prix was purchased put the bracket on there so they could throw a cheesy advertisement tag on the car when it was sitting at the front of the lot. Quote
IRONDOG442 Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 front plate ftl X eleventy billion Quote
Dark Ride Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 Looks great! I must say that car looks very nice. Quote
Euro Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 Damn, that would've worked great on my Lumina!!!! Quote
Cully77 Posted February 5, 2009 Report Posted February 5, 2009 Very cool... I wish there hadn't been a front plate on my SS Quote
jeremy Posted February 5, 2009 Report Posted February 5, 2009 nice work!! that looks great...I used to have plugs in the front bumper of my Spyder but they have fallen out over the years, I will have to try this Quote
5speedz34 Posted February 5, 2009 Report Posted February 5, 2009 Nice, put I would rather get them filled and painted, so it looks clean. Quote
Venom Posted February 5, 2009 Report Posted February 5, 2009 Nice idea, I wish we didn't have to have front plates where I live (OH) Quote
White93z34 Posted February 5, 2009 Report Posted February 5, 2009 Nice, put I would rather get them filled and painted, so it looks clean. $3 or $300+. you decide. Quote
mfewtrail Posted February 6, 2009 Author Report Posted February 6, 2009 The plan is to eventually fill them when I have the car repainted. The cheapo plugs work for now and look 10x better than having holes there. Quote
EviLette Posted February 13, 2009 Report Posted February 13, 2009 I've got plugs like that on the inside of my doors from when I had PDR done on my car. Thats what they generally use to fill the drill holes they have to make to access the quarter panels, among other areas. Quote
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 Nice, put I would rather get them filled and painted, so it looks clean. $3 or $300+. you decide. Yep you'd have to take the bumper off and repaint the WHOLE thing (to do it properly). Blowing it in and blending is just never the same. The plugs are a great idea! Sucks if you have a car that is an odd color (like mine) though- touchup spray cans might be hard to find. Quote
1990lumina Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 I wanted to do that with my Lumina since I got it but never did lol. Still has the bolts in the bumper. Lcukily my TSX is new enough to not have the holes put in the front of it (Saskatchewan ued to require two plates up until early 2000s). Quote
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