Best number plate / plate holder style

[manyoo]

Not sure if this has been posted before, but NSW RTA is currently running a promotion to re-style your plates for a one-off fee from $150 (ends 31 May). Restrictions do apply, and details are at their website:

myPlates - Restyle for a one-off fee

Does this also apply to new application as I'll pick up my car next month?

[manyoo]

Does this also apply to new application as I'll pick up my car next month?

I found the answer.. No worries

[Redman]

I have purchased the Lakin Plate kit for my GTI. Both Front and Rear brackets and restyled my NSW Premium Plates to suit the GTI (previous colours were the standard White with Black lettering)
Phillip from Lakin Plates was very helpful with the purchase and the plates arrived all nicely sealed up in a box with lots of bubble wrap to protect the brackets and the covers.

In the box, you get;

• the front & rear plate bracket, associated screws and spacers

• the front & rear plate covers (kingpin)

Installing
The Rear Bracket is easy to install. You will need to drill a few holes into your bumper bar to mount the bracket and screw this onto the bar.
Once mounted, the number plate and cover screw onto the bracket.
The end result is very neat.



The Front Bracket is a bit more tricky than the rear. I was under the impression that the bracket used the original holes that the VW plate bracket uses. I was wrong.
You have to drill into the Standard plate bracket to mount the Lakin bracket. Not that this is a big deal, I was a little concerned as;
- The VW Plate bracket is not a hard plastic, nor is it thick.
- I had to find some smaller screws so that these bit into the original bracket, but did not go "into" the bumper
- Would the screws bite into the bracket enough so that the Lakin bracket would not fall off ?

Anyway, I mounted the Lakin Bracket with some care then fitted the plate and cover.
Initially the curve that the Lakin braket was moulded to was not enough to line up with the curvature of the bar.
I had to remove the Lakin bracket and bend it a little at each end so that it wouldn't stick out.
Overall the fit is good now, and it also hides those holes of the original plate bracket.









Hope this helps those of you who are looking at getting the Lakin Brackets.

[G-rig]

That combination looks quite good on silver Redman. Is it possible to lose the front euro plate holder and perhaps mount with tape?

I think i'm going to get this style, which should look good on CW:

[moonblade87]

Redman,

The front bracket requires drilling too? After speaking with Philip I was under the impression that only the other bracket that goes on directly to the front bumper required drilling.

The finish looks ok though. (the rear looks much neater i must say)

Thanks for sharing!!

[Redman]

That combination looks quite good on silver Redman. Is it possible to lose the front euro plate holder and perhaps mount with tape?

I don't think that tape would hold it. The bracket is a bit weighty and I would hate to arrive home and find that the front plate is missing. You would also need to drill holes in the Lakin plate bracket to use the existing bar holes to securely mount it.

Redman,

The front bracket requires drilling too? After speaking with Philip I was under the impression that only the other bracket that goes on directly to the front bumper required drilling.

The finish looks ok though. (the rear looks much neater i must say)

Thanks for sharing!!

So was I. Wasn't didn't expect to drill any holes.
Overall, I am not disappointed with the results (agree that rear is MUCH better than front) however it could be better designed to really suit the front.
As Lakin's website says that you don't want to hack the bodywork and make use of the existing hardware on the car to mount the plates.
The only advantage I see here is that it does hide the euro plate "holes" so they don't look that ugly.

Cheers

[G-rig]

I don't think that tape would hold it. The bracket is a bit weighty and I would hate to arrive home and find that the front plate is missing. You would also need to drill holes in the Lakin plate bracket to use the existing bar holes to securely mount it.

I've got some plate protetors on without drilling any holes, but those lakin ones look fairly heavy. I dont think i'll bother with covers at all.

[AdamD]

I have purchased the Lakin Plate kit for my GTI. Both Front and Rear brackets and restyled my NSW Premium Plates to suit the GTI.

Thanks for the write-up and photos Redman!

Wasn't didn't expect to drill any holes.

This was initially my understanding as well, but I asked Philip about it directly, and received this reply:

The reason we didn’t use the existing holes/plugs as mounting points is that we were wanting to have a cleaner look – no screw heads showing. The mounting holes we supplied are closer together than the width and height of the smallest number plates available in Australia so they will never be visible if a future owner wishes to fit a smaller plate.

...which makes perfect sense to me. If you were covering the plastic adapter up with a Lakin plate using the same mounting points as the adapter, the screws will clearly show beyond the numberplate, and that arguably defeats the purpose of the new bracket.

Philip also says:

We could make the front bracket with holes lining up with the plastic plugs – this is certainly an option. We could also supply a bracket the same size as the number plate (as the rear one is) with holes as in the present one, to enable the bracket to be attached directly to the vehicle with the adaptor removed. Another option is a large bracket, with holes matching the plastic plugs, fitted without the adaptor. The plugs can be popped back in to the holes in the body and the bracket screwed directly into them. There are so many ways of fitting different plates, and different owners have their own preferences.

Having the adaptor on the car is a REAL nuisance. I think my personal preference would be to remove the adaptor and screw our bracket directly to the bumper using the holes currently provided – understanding that they could be covered up again with the adaptor at a later date if necessary.

I've ordered and received my Lakin brackets (very good quality, excellent finish), but my car won't be delivered till next week so I'll reserve judgement till I get my car and have a good look at how it fits together. However, I'm thinking that the current configuration, as used by Redman, looks a bit heavy and bulky, so I might remove the factory plastic adapter, and have the Lakin plate modded to fit into the holes left by the adapter (so, no further drilling into the bumper required). It won't be perfect, but it's got to be an improvement over that stock plastic rubbish.

Another snippet worth posting:

If you’d like any changes made to your bracket (or if other owners would like the same) please contact me. I want people to be happy with what they’ve bought from us and don’t mind re-working or replacing brackets until we get something that is exactly what the customer expects.

That's great customer service in my opinion, and I'm glad I've bought one of the brackets. I'm sure we'll get it looking good, with a bit of fiddling.

[Redman]

Thanks AdamD
I look forward to seeing the results of your fitment. I could always "retrofit" and I guess the various options would bring out the best results, especially for others that are considering the Lakin Plate options.

Yes Philip is very accommodating and the customer service is top notch. It is great that he is willing to try various configurations and happy to modify the existing to get it right.
Looking back, he made these as a result of a quick trip to a dealer, so if he actually had a MkVI to work with, I'm sure Philip would have considered many ways to for the front to be mounted.

Anyway - not too long to wait until your's arrives - looking forward to see the pics !!

Cheers

I've ordered and received my Lakin brackets (very good quality, excellent finish), but my car won't be delivered till next week so I'll reserve judgement till I get my car and have a good look at how it fits together. However, I'm thinking that the current configuration, as used by Redman, looks a bit heavy and bulky, so I might remove the factory plastic adapter, and have the Lakin plate modded to fit into the holes left by the adapter (so, no further drilling into the bumper required). It won't be perfect, but it's got to be an improvement over that stock plastic rubbish.

That's great customer service in my opinion, and I'm glad I've bought one of the brackets. I'm sure we'll get it looking good, with a bit of fiddling.

[AdamD]

I look forward to seeing the results of your fitment. I could always "retrofit" and I guess the various options would bring out the best results, especially for others that are considering the Lakin Plate options.

Thanks Redman!

My car goes into pre-delivery today and I'll pick it up Monday, so I'll be in a position to evaluate my bracket fairly soon. Philip and I have discussed the option of making up a new bracket for the front, designed to fit directly into the bumper, in the holes drilled for the plastic adapter.

On that, if you or anyone else has removed the adapter to have a look at the bumper behind, I would very much appreciate it if you could post details on the diameter of the holes, their height relative to the top of the bumper, and the width/gap between them. A pic or two would be great as well. Obviously if a new type of bracket is to be made up (for myself and others), we'd need to confirm these measurements first.

GTICam has removed his bracket and posted a short DIY in this thread - mate, any chance you could provide the measurements?