[16513]

Inspired by a great post awhile ago (I can't find it to give credit) I installed my plate after a year without it. I observed that most dealer frames obscure the top and bottom 1/2", so using a shear at work I snipped away just the crimped section top and bottom, bent the plate at centerline by hand using a 2" pipe to avoid a visible crease and tweaked the lower section to follow the grille contour at the bottom. 3m Super Strength Molding Tape makes for a permanent mounting. Intrusion into the airstream is almost negligible. Now

the front end looks "right".

 

[Kraven]

Looks great Timoshev, well done... So the dealer didn't drill holes in your bumper and mount one of those frames when you bought the car, correct?

 

[quirkySquirt]

Looks like your Volts got something it it's teeth. j/k!

I mask the jealousy with down-putting humor. :-(

 

[Steverino]

Nice! But permanently glued?

Perhaps someone (Scarlett?) could make a frameless metal bracket that attaches to the grill and allows you to screw on the license.

 

[[email protected]]

Wondering how the license plate attachment has held up. Ready to do the same on my 2017 Irridescent White Volt (bought 12-27-16). Got a warning ticket for no front plate. (Going to let the local body shop do it for me next week -- afraid I'll mess it up - body man said "You better make sure you have it lined up correctly when you set it on the tape!") Can the license plate be removed without scarring the grill later? (We get new license plates every 10 years in Texas). In East Texas, lots of bugs, like Louisiana. Might need a clear plastic cover, otherwise the bug impacts wear the plate out after a few years.

Took a look at some of your posts, by the way. I had a 66 Corvair, wished I'd never sold it. Still dreamed for years about buying and restoring one. Love them. I was smitten by the 66 ElectroVair 4 door hardtop seen only in car mags back in the day. Now, the dream is complete in the Volt. Lovin' it. Did Chris Tx's adapter, got 240v service -- love it even at 12 amps! You are so right about using 240v! Maybe 16 amp L2 later. Future - looking at electric mower for a big yard - riding - 1 acre yard. Solar panels -- see what Tesla comes up with that looks like a regular roof -- have a Colonial (Southern) style home.

Turning 71 next October; interesting parallels to some of your comments.

 

[quirkySquirt]

Maybe instead of glue you can rig something up with non-skid rubber mats and rare earth magnets. I forget if the grill is metal, but if magnets stick to it, you can just buy rubber-coated rare earth magnets like these:

https://supermagnetman.com/collections/rubber-coated-magnets/products/rub-d1093

 

[limbery]

There's a video of a guy on youtube who hated having to display the front plate where he lived and he bought a neat little gizmo that holds the plate under the front cowl and you can release it from inside the car and it will spring forward and flip up over the bumper...so if a cop stops you for not having a front plate, you can push the button and tell him to check again LOL

 

[[email protected]]

Timoshev front license copycat

Thanks, Timoshev. I had a local body shop do it in about 15 minutes. The 3M adhesive tape seems secure.

 

[glasspilot]

I guess I'm lucky here in North Carolina. No front plate!

 

[Mr X]

Front plates are ugly.


Got my Volt January 24, 2016 and took it off the day I got it. Since then no problems not having it off. Am in California. Got pulled over once for driving through a right hand only lane to accelerate ahead of traffic and cop didn't cite me for no front plate. My Dad also has no front plate on his Model S since October 2015 and no problems either. But he got a ticket sent to him for being stopped in the street waiting to go into a car wash LOL

 

[SoCalBeach]

In SoCal, Santa Monica parking meter people and LAX police have been known as front plate enforcers. The Beach PDs around here are focused on stop signs, red lights, and speeding with German cars being hot targets. Another thing I've noticed is that Uber seems to be reducing DUIs as you can absorb a lot of fares before you exceed the overall $15K hit for a DUI. The middle of the night chases are very rare now.

 

[[email protected]]

I went without front plate for two months in Texas, then oncoming Texas Highway Patrol vehicle saw there was no front plate, turned around, pulled me over, gave me a warning ticket. Finally decided to go ahead and find a way to put plate on front, but thought the dealer plate was absolutely ugly. The reduced, sheared plate bent to fit the front profile looks much better. The 3M tape seems to be holding so well it might last the 10 years before the state forces me to replace the plates!

 

[SoCalBeach]

I dipped my lower grill area black and got a California black and yellow plate. I had it trimmed, did the slight bend, and used gorilla double sided tape to attach it to the dip. It appears that it would take a gorilla to rip it off. It blends right in with the dip. The big test will be taking it up I5 in 110 degree weather.

 

[quirkySquirt]

I'm assuming that's a matte black? In my head, it looks rather terrifying, a license plate just floating in the middle of a gaping mouth (the lower grill). Neato.

Any concerns with the added weight from the license plate putting stress on the dip and causing it to sag prematurely? I know you can place decals on dip, but a license plate is a good ounce or two and with road vibration, I would think it was cause the dip to sag after a while, 110 degF weather or not.

 

[SoCalBeach]

I'm assuming that's a matte black? In my head, it looks rather terrifying, a license plate just floating in the middle of a gaping mouth (the lower grill). Neato.

Any concerns with the added weight from the license plate putting stress on the dip and causing it to sag prematurely? I know you can place decals on dip, but a license plate is a good ounce or two and with road vibration, I would think it was cause the dip to sag after a while, 110 degF weather or not.

The grill is matte black. The plate is very light and I used 2 inch tape everywhere I could. I had your same adhesion concerns, but not anymore. When I grab grab the plate, I can't move it around at all. The plate blends very closely with grill as it's very close to being flush mounted. The yellow reflecting letters are what pop. It looks totally different from the stock mounting method that breaks up the painted bumper.

 

[quirkySquirt]

Ah, I see. Didn't think about surface area. Since the dip itself adheres to the surface, you distributed the plate's weight using gorilla tape everywhere so essentially no one square inch of dip is taking more than a square inch of plate weight. Cool.

Since the dip is what the tape is sticking to, you could easily remove the plate whenever and not leave behind any residue. Another way of mounting the plate without putting holes in your bumper. Wish I had thought of this and asked the dealer NOT to install the plate for me. This should definitely help future Volt buyers: can of dip (maybe glossifier), some tape, and some elbow grease and you've got yourself a semi-permanent and aerodynamic license plate mount!

 

[Mister Dave]

Just a little FYI from Carl the Cop on the FreeAdvice (free legal advice) forum:

I would argue that it is not legal based on the following section:

CVC 4852 (a) License plates issued for motor vehicles, other than motorcycles, shall be rectangular in shape, 12 inches in length and six inches in width.  The number and letter characters on the plates shall have a minimum height of two and three-quarter inches, a minimum width of one and one-quarter inches, and a minimum spacing between characters of five-sixteenths of an inch.

Cutting them down would bring them underneath this size requirement.

Plus, the plates are not the property of an individual, but of the state. In theory, the person cutting them down COULD be commiting vandalism ... though I think this would be a reach.

http://codes.findlaw.com/ca/vehicle-code/veh-sect-4852.html

Many states have laws about modifying license plates.


I live in a 2-plate state. I refuse to display a front plate. 12 years and counting I have no tickets, but I know a few places where I could get ticketed (at the airport for sure). I don't go there with My Volt.

 

[[email protected]]

To SoCalBeach: Pics, please!!! I would love to see your Siren Red with blacked out grill and plate.

 

[SoCalBeach]

Volt Front Plate

To SoCalBeach: Pics, please!!! I would love to see your Siren Red with blacked out grill and plate.[/QUOTE

 

[SoCalBeach]

Front Plate on ACC

Mods to the front portion of my car: My front plate is mounted with two sided tape. I removed the dip from the top portion of the front section as it came across as strange in my book. If I didn't have ACC or could easily isolate the bowtie, the top portion would be dipped also. Note also the ugly yellow turn signal lights are now gone. A 'Volt Screen' is added to the lower grill area for protection purposes.