Got my plates, and knowing the kind of luck I have with traffic cops, I decided to put my front plate on. I also knew I wasn't going to put it at the prescribed location, that just looks horrible to me. 'Sol Deep' posted a couple of pics way back where he lowered his by turning the bracket upside down, so I decided to give it a try, and document the process so others can make up their own mind.
Those who have been here awhile have discussed front plates ad infinitum, so in the interest of keeping this thread on topic, and saving you new guys some typing, I am going to prepost the most typical responses.
1. "Thank God I live in a state without front plates!" [Yes, I'm jealous.]
2. "I could never mess up the front of my Solstice with a plate!" [Good luck with your choice, I respect it.]
3. "I think it looks stupid" [Then don't do it]
4. "Bob Lutz says if you move the plate one inch, the car will blow up" [Wait till mine blows up, then say 'I told you so']
5. "If I get pulled over I'll lie to the officer/seduce the officer/run from the officer" [Once again, good luck with all that! ]
With that out of the way, here's the first pic
^An electric jig saw made quick work of the upper inserts. I suggest you don't do this until you have test fitted, as cutting off the wrong ones would suck.
^At least these are the holes I used. It might be possible to use the ones underneath, but they seemed undersized and extra tight, so I went with the ones I marked.
^Here is the bracket inserted upside down from the original orientation. (narrow portion of middle groove up)
^ Only the top 1/4" or so of the two sided tape contacts the car. I went ahead and peeled back the tape about a half inch and let it stick, because I figured it was better for the bracket to be stuck to the finish instead of flopping up against it.
^ Side view
^ This looks a little wierd, as the back of the plate is reflecting the fence beyond.
As you can see, the bottom of the plate is about level with the top of the air dam. I really don't think it will block air from the radiator, plus it allows more air in through the grilles than the stock installation. However, I will monitor coolant temperature and post here if I see any difference.
Here's Emmaline with her new tags.
Allright guys, there you go. Seems firmly mounted. Don't think I'll have any problem with it coming off. Only worry is what will happen if you push the plate over a parking curb, and then back up. Of course, we should all be getting pretty practiced at stopping short of parking curbs, as low as this car is.
Since the holes you used aren't the intended holes and you only have a 1/4" of tape holding it on....
How is it really fasend?
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BIX A BEL Cool, Ebony leather, Chrome, loaded, no XM/onstar Founding member of the "Lost Sols Club"
Deposit (1100) - 9/29/05, 1101/1102 - 2 Feb 06, 2500 - 7 Feb 06, 3000 - 8 Feb 06, 3100 - 13 Feb 06, 3300 - 13 Feb 06, 3400 - 14 Feb 06, 3800 - 24 Feb 06 (112544), 4000 - 24 Feb 06, 4150 - 24 Feb 06
dealer expected deliver 6 March, arrived 28 Feb, picked up that night w 3.2 miles on the clock :)
NOT WAITING ANY MORE! DDM Stage III Upgrade here
The inserts are 'tabbed', for lack of a better word. Once in place, they are fairly locked in. You can pull the plate back off, but it takes a good bit of pull.
Nice mod Aztekz. That seems like the least offensive place I've seen.
I assume you don't even use the sticky tape shown in red?
I left the red film on the sticky tape, except for the little bit where the tape contacts the bumper. I allowed it to stick there because I was worried that the wind would rub the plate against the finish and mar it.
I guess if you have to mount that ugly thing, that is the best option so far.
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Vin# 5765 Ordered 10-17-05, Picked up 11-29-05
Envious/Ebony Leather/Everything but XM, ashtray and polished wheels. Traded on GXP 7460 miles
GXP Ordered 8-4-06 Picked up 12-11-06! $30,197 out the door
Mysterious/Darkside/Ebony Leather/everything but XM, ashtray and spoiler
Pick up mileage - 8
Current mileage - 27575
Alternator Replaced, Top "Tabs" Installed, Rear Main Seal Replaced
Aztek, I think we got ours from the same dealer a month before you. Ours didn't have the bracket. Dealer said they'd get us one. We're still waiting. Not that I plan to use it, but was curious when it would come in. Maybe you got ours. We thought that would be another good excuse, "We never received the bracket from the dealer" And, that's a true statement!
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JR Dallas
VIN 3520, Deep, Steel/Sand, Power, Conv, Prem, A/C, LSD, ABS, Monsoon, Polished. Her baby was delivered 12/6/2005
Ordered Sly Oct 28th
Changed to Cool a week later
Puchased a Sly (private sale - lottery winner) Jan 23rd
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Thanks so very much for the DETAILED presentation. I try to be a good law-abiding citizen, so I will mount my front plate when my little Envious hits Lubbock, TX (plus my wife says I have to. )
I'm going to tell me dealer to not install my front plate and then I'll come home and do what you did.
Thanks again!
--Chemist (Your side-view pic was most appreciated as it clearly shows the plate will not restrict air to the engine.)
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Envious, ebony leather, loaded, DDM Stage II S/C, headers/cat/exhaust, 4-piston brakes/slotted rotors, Probeam, Backbone, Lil' Chromies, K-sphere pedals, Kazera KZ-L wheels, the TWEETY door unlock/lock button, High Note horn, Brushed Al door sills, etched/lighted WindRestrictor, white LED map/footwell lights, 3rd brake light pulser. --- She moves!
Location: Yuba City, California .... The BIG Cowpie!
My only concern is that you will fatigue the grille plastic or the anchor tabs on the plate holder. It is kind of dangling with nothing to resist flapping. The assembly should be very light, so it may never fatigue until it breaks, but the assembly will definitely vibrate constantly, worse over potholes and expansion joints, so it could break. I'm thinking using the screw holes to wire it to the air dam would keep it from vibrating so badly. Vibration can bring unforseen problems and they are never good. Let me know how this works at 70mph with a 30mph cross wind...
Now as a temp fix after a fix-it ticket for no front plate, it's a winner.
But at the same time, since I'll only mount the plate after I get a ticket, it won't be a big deal to use the plate holder with all 4 anchor tabs.
Let us know how it works. I still like the way you think. I'll say this much, there is NO WAY those automatic redlight cameras will ever be able to read that plate. No. Way.
Location: Yuba City, California .... The BIG Cowpie!
Oh, and that matching honeycomb pattern on the front of the plate holder nobody can see is a real head-turner, Pontiac! Big kudos for that brilliant, detail. Now we have a reason to mount the ugly plateholder over the front grille WITHOUT the plate!
Freaking incredible. How do they come up with this freaking stuff?
Motor vehicles should let you stick a vinyl "license plate" to your car body. Make a scale copy of youe plate in vinyl, center it between the foglight and grill, and presto! instant license plate. As long as it matches the back plate, what should they care what the front is made of?
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nice work! after the first ticket will do same....thx
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