Relocated front number plate

[TJi]

So I hate front number plates, and I think the rest of the civilised world should make like 80% of North America has done and get rid of them. I especially hate when they're bolted right into the middle of the front bumper and are the first thing anybody sees when looking at the car. That said, I don't think I could get away with driving without one here, so I tried to mount mine a little more discreetly. Here's what I did:

(Note that this will only work if you have a tow hook. Obviously.)

1. Take one piece of angled steel bar. I was lucky to find one around the right size, with holes already drilled where I wanted 'em, in the scrap metal bin at work.

Cost: free

2. Make some holes in the steel bar. I used a drill and a file. Note that you'll want to measure where to put the holes before this step (blue and black markings.)


3. Get a small hose clamp and open it all the way. Use a good quality hose clamp. I bought a pack at the 1€ store and they were crap; I stripped three of them before I got one right.

Cost: €1

4. Thread the hose clamp through the frontmost hole in the bar. Make sure the tightening-screw points outward so you can turn it.


5. Bolt your number plate onto your steel bar. The bolts, nuts, and washers came from my parts bin at work.

Cost: free

6. This is the tricky bit. Sit the steel bar with the number plate on the front of your tow hook. Thread the other end of the hose clamp around the tow hook, through the rear slot you made in the steel bar, and back into the screw mechanism. Needle-nose pliers are recommended, unless you're a gynecologist.


7. I was going to put three hose clamps on, but filing out six slots was a pain in the butt. So I drilled round holes instead, and attached the assembly to the sides of the tow hook with cable ties. Even if they break the front hose clamp ensures it's not going anywhere.

I had the cable ties in my desk drawer. My company bought them for me at some point.
Cost: free

8. Trim the ends off and make everything neat...


9. Done! The final product.

(Compare with before.)

Total cost: less than €1. (I had hose clamps left over in the package I bought.) Not bad eh?

10. The only problem are the nasty holes left over from where the plate used to be screwed into the bumper. I'm no good at bodywork, I'll have to get a shop to fill those in and match the colour.


Cost: expensive, probably. Oh well.

Also the plate now hangs a bit lower than the front lip, so I'm going to have to be careful going over ramps and speed humps. At least I should have some audible warning before I smoke the lip again.

What do you guys think?

[Rambo]

The jury's out on that one. I reckon it would look better with plastic adhesive plates stuck just above the Lotus badge on the bonnet - where the cops and speed cameras can't read them

[ratman]

Hi mate!
In my opinion you should use the holes under the bumper used for the rubber strip (that is not on your car). Anyway, I think thet the plate is really easy to damage in that position!

[Jackonicko]

Rambo,

E-Type type stick on plates on the bonnet would be good - but surely they'd need to be where the badge now is, and you could relocate the badge further forward, on the clam, or omit it altogether?

[dapinky]

Rambo,

E-Type type stick on plates on the bonnet would be good - but surely they'd need to be where the badge now is, and you could relocate the badge further forward, on the clam, or omit it altogether?

And then there is the slight sticking point of The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001.......

.....The date to consider is 1st January 1973 - 'E' Types were made before then, Elans after then!

Please not the following excerpt - in particular Regulation 6 (3) (a)

Fixing of front registration plates: vehicles registered on or after the relevant date
6. - (1) This regulation applies to vehicles, other than works trucks, road rollers and agricultural machines, first registered on or after the relevant date.

(2) Except as provided in paragraph (5), a registration plate must be fixed on the front of the vehicle in the manner required by paragraph (3).

(3) This paragraph requires the plate to be fixed -

(a) vertically or, where that is not reasonably practicable, in a position as close to the vertical as is reasonably practicable,

(b) in such a position that in normal daylight the characters of the registration mark are easily distinguishable from every part of a relevant area having the diagonal length specified in paragraph (4).

I suppose there may be some sort of arguement that says it is impracticle to fit it vertically - but if the factory managed it...............???????

[Rambo]

Yeah - but they're the rules Dave and we all know that rules are made to be broken

Jacko - i think it would look good on the bonnet as per E-type, but you're right, the Lotus badge is then in the wrong position.

[dapinky]

Yeah - but they're the rules Dave and we all know that rules are made to be broken

Jacko - i think it would look good on the bonnet as per E-type, but you're right, the Lotus badge is then in the wrong position.

Rambo, I merely point out the things that society in general are tasked with compliance of, and I myself am empowered to enforce



(That said, on my 1979 Elite i just stuck black letters/numbers onto the silver bonnet - it was like it for 3 years and never got pulled, or mentioned at MOT time )

[RayD]

A rare excuse to show this picture

[lotusgirlmarie]

I still think the best option is to use the mounting plinth from an Esprit V8. It eliminates the need for holes drilled in the front of the bumper and provides a cleaner intall

[Andy_J]

I just use a stick on number plate

[TJi]

No stick-on plates in Germany... I have seen a standard metal one bent into a curve and glued onto the bonnet of an Elise, but to me that looked funny. Anyway I haven't scraped it on anything yet so I think my mount is working well.

[ksgrimsr]

I still think the best option is to use the mounting plinth from an Esprit V8. It eliminates the need for holes drilled in the front of the bumper and provides a cleaner intall

Can you confirm the proper part is A082B5185F?

Knut

plinth.JPG

[lotusgirlmarie]

I'll need to look at my esprit parts book when I get back to California.

[Rambo]

A rare excuse to show this picture

That's a nice looking beast Ray. Was it yours ?

Oh - and that no. plate looks the dogs bollox too

[RayD]

Unfortunately not Mark ... although I had it for 10months while a friend of mine was moving to Dartmouth.

Looking back, I should have driven it every day ... It’s the only car in which I've had conversations with pedestrians in slow moving traffic.

We brought it from Birmingham in 1997 with the body shell already sprayed black at Martin Robey’s - on a trailer, and all the other bits in boxes.


Ray

[Jackonicko]

Ah, but mine's a road roller.

Or an agricultural vehicle.

LGM,

How about a pic, showing what you mean.