Hi All, As you know the first crappy thing we are forced to do with a new car in Texas is to drill holes in our brand new front bumper and ruin the car with a stupid front license plate. I've seen a few solutions in the past, so I went out and designed my own that I hope to sell later on EBay. Here is the first rendition of my 05-07 Mustang front license plate bracket.... What I did was to take a peice of 1/8" steel and bend it into a "C" so that it could fit around the upper part of the lower air intake. I then drilled a 3/8th hole for a thumbscrew which will secure the clamp to the bumper. I also drilled two 1/4" holes so that I could mount a Bell license plate bracket to the clamp.. As you can see, I put a rubber tip onto the end of the thumbscrew so that it won't even scratch the interior of the bumper. On the next version I plan to make the lower lip of the "C" clamp longer so that the Bell bracket won't get tied up with the automotive fastener that the thumbscrew goes through. I'll also incorporate a nut between the thumbscrew grip and the fastener and use it as a lock nut so the thumbscrew won't back off. Here is the assembly attached to my front bumper.... I am also planning to rubberize the C clamp. This will give it more grip with the bumber and reduce the possibility of scratching... And here is the finished product. Notice the license plate is a little crooked. The nice thing about the Bell bracket is that it is very adjustable. I have since straightened the plate out. I think I'll put a couple rubber bumpers behind the plate so it won't rub against the bumper if it begins to oscillate. So if I start selling these, do any of you think you'd be interested. Obviously it isn't that hard to make, so those of you with shop tools, have at it. I'll let you know when I start posting these on Ebay.....
Anything to keep from drilling holes in the bumper. I was thinking about not mounting my front plate(against Missouri law) until I've seen some of the homemade kits online.
My freakin dealer in New Braunfels had a temp BlueBonnet tag already drilled into mine when I got it. I will to buy on when you produce them Dan
Heh..I work in New Braunfels...If you ever see a black GT coupe with SLP LM's roll by honk and say hello! lol.... I have seen that there is a new petition to drop the Texas front plate law, and my last car, a Mazda, had the front plate bracket mounting underneath the front air inlet so there would be no holes in the front, which I thought was very cool. This is a great idea and I wish you well with it. If we Texans get to kick our front plates to the curb someday that would be cool, but this sounds like a great alternative....
I just put my license plate in the front window. I've been pulled over once and the cop saw it and didn't say anything about it either. Either way, this is a great alternative to drilling holes into your brand new bumper. If I wasn't at LSU for college I would definitely buy one from you.
I drove for years without a front plate in Texas. It's not a moving violation so it won't jack with your insurance. However, it's still "rolling probable cause". That's why I started wearing one again. I don't even like talking to those guys.
