Best number plate / plate holder style

[rageR]

Looks good.

I want to do this myself, but think it might look abit off on white.

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[Ohmang]

Looks good.

I want to do this myself, but think it might look abit off on white.

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You could try painting the lugs. It would be an interesting experiment and if the colours don't match you could always just put the plate cover back on and not know the difference.

[Corey_R]

Due to the ACT Govt not giving us an option for Euro plates, I removed the big black piece of plastic from the front bumper. Works well on a dark coloured Golf....not sure how those 2x plastic plugs would look on a white/silver Golf...

Step 1-remove number plate
Step 2-press in the centre of the x4 plastic plugs.
Step 3-pry out 4x plastic plugs and remove Euro plate holder
Step 4-clean and polish were the holder was sitting directly on the front bumper bar
Step 5-remount the front number plate in (possibly) existing holes.
Step 6-depending on the size of your number plate, refit the necessary plastic plugs to cover up the holes left behind. Faux parking sensors? Oh well....

Cheers
Stu

Thanks for the post Mi16 Man

It also doesn't look too bad on lighter coloured cars. See here and here

Several people were doing that mod a while back, however of late, more people are going for the custom Lakin Plate Brackets.

[Mi16 Man]

Thanks for the post Mi16 Man

It also doesn't look too bad on lighter coloured cars. See here and here

Several people were doing that mod a while back, however of late, more people are going for the custom Lakin Plate Brackets.

Appreciate the heads up Corey - you are right - the lugs don't look too out of place on the red GTI's there.
Cheers
Stu

[virusR]

Hi All!

A question for all MKVI GTI owners who have removed the black plastic factory car plate holder....

... has anyone successfully managed to 'save' the pins that is to be pushed out (from the front side), instead of them dropping behind the bumper?

If yes, can you please explain in detail how you had done so (and I am not referring to removing the bumper, UNLESS its a simple thing to do)?

TQ in advance!!!

[virusR]

Hi AdamD!

On your advice, I agree that I should have posted my question here in the 1st place for the benefit of all. I guess it's still not too late. Hope everyone else does easily catch on to what we are 'talking' about.

Anyway, back to 'our convo'-
I am one for liking a ‘minimalist’ look and hence my ‘current’ top choice would be to align the car plate to sit flush with the lower edge of the bumper, with the plates mounted on the bracket with 3M tape. And I definitely am looking at mounting the plate using just the existing 2 inner factory holes.

Now the further questions I have are:

1) I wonder if the bracket would ‘flex’ about more, giving rise to concerns below.

Now that you mentioned it, the bracket would be structurally weakened, for wanting to mount the bracket higher. In your opinion, is it something that I should REALLY be concerned about?

Do you think that it could ‘potentially’ cause damage to the bumper in any way, given the weight of the plates and/or bracket would put higher stress on the ‘fittings’ at the inner holes? Losing plates and even the brackets is no big deal, but needing a bumper repair is totally another thing.

2) Given the height of my car plate is very similar to yours, if I want to mount the front Lakin bracket my way, it would result in it not being 100% vertical.

But how much of a ‘slant’ would you reckon it would cause? Not noticeable at all unless one is actually looking for it, you think?

3) I am still pondering on rear brackets for the sole reason that I have to actually drill holes into the bumper.

Firstly, I don’t have the tools in hand, AND I don’t trust my hands enough to be drilling anything, what more the brand new GTI.

I read that there is some sort of ‘template’ that helps in that area. But what is it anyway?

I noticed that you (and moonblade87) just aligned your rear brackets to the ‘top‘. Was it just for convenience of installing?

Being a fussy person, I like what Corey_R had done for his rear bracket. Just that I am unsure if I am up to the (tedious) task, especially I am totally inexperienced in handling any power tools some more. Any advice you have for me here?

Lastly, please refer to my post previously (http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/f112...tml#post638926), and hope you can have any ideas on that.

Thanks in advance!


ps: Need opinions - To save money, just fitting the existing lugs back to the outer factory holes; on a CW GTI, looks ok? It looks OK on the Red and and blue, but white?

[Highlander]

According to

Victorian Road Safety (Vehicles) Regulations 2009 S.R. No. 118/2009 Version as at 9 November 2009 page 55, section 48




the key word is "permanently". One could see a lawyer arguing that adhesive tape is not a "permanent" method of securing a number plate on a vehicle.

He would lose. One of the guys on this forum had his NSW number plate ripped off and washed away in the Friday 4 February storm. All that was left was the screws in the bar. I think double sided tape would be "more" permanent - although correctly speaking I doubt if you can have degrees of permantancy.

[Corey_R]

Well 3) is easy. You have to drill holes into the bumper anyway. The rear Lakin plate bracket allows the holes to be centralised within the boundaries that a "regular" plate would cover, even if you're using a Euro plate. Thus if you change styles at a later date or whatever, you have no problems. The other thing I've noticed is that the rear numberplate (at least on my car) _never_ gets any moisture within the cover. This is because the cover secures around the bracket and neoprene then seals it. If this holds up, then there will be very little maintenance (cleaning) required.

As for the front bracket questions... that's harder to answer. The front bumper is far more curved (vertically) than the R is. Also the R has 4 holes.
I would envisage that if you did what to move the bracket higher that Philip could possibly custom make it so that the bracket uses the 2 out holes in addition to the two inner holes which are present on the GTI (which are usually covered by the "slim Euro front plate"). This would secure things better. But then, Philip is the expert, and it's not entirely clear from your questions whether you already have the brackets or not!

[AdamD]

Now that you mentioned it, the bracket would be structurally weakened, for wanting to mount the bracket higher. In your opinion, is it something that I should REALLY be concerned about?

In my opinion, no. The bracket itself feels quite strong and solid, and I don't believe that repositioning it approx. 8mm higher than it is on my car would push the limits. Best to discuss with Philip from Lakin Plates if you're interested in having a bracket made up, but IMO it should be comfortably strong enough. As I said previously, if I was getting another bracket made now I'd probably get it mounted flush with the lower edge of the bumper too.

Do you think that it could ‘potentially’ cause damage to the bumper in any way, given the weight of the plates and/or bracket would put higher stress on the ‘fittings’ at the inner holes? Losing plates and even the brackets is no big deal, but needing a bumper repair is totally another thing.

The bumper itself is pretty tough, but it also comes down to the quality and type of the screws that you use to mount the bracket (which Philip will supply). If you're concerned about damage to the bar (should the bracket be hit with force, for instance - say a minor bump in a carpark), then going with slightly weaker plastic screws may be the go as they may crack or shear off before doing damage to the bar. But that's all conjecture. If we're talking about day-to-day standard wear and tear, the bumper will hold up just fine irrespective of bracket placement.

2) Given the height of my car plate is very similar to yours, if I want to mount the front Lakin bracket my way, it would result in it not being 100% vertical.

But how much of a ‘slant’ would you reckon it would cause? Not noticeable at all unless one is actually looking for it, you think?

It'll be minimal, but it comes down to what the legal requirements are in your country (as you are not in Australia, correct?), and also the type/reflective qualities of your plate. Here in South Australia we have one particular numberplate finish that makes it extremely reflective (and hard to read) if mounted at a strong angle and viewed under bright light. But this'd have to be an exception case.

All else being equal, I don't think you'd have any issue with a slight upward slant on the plate, assuming you mounted the bracket slightly higher (and didn't have the upper edge of the bracket sitting out slightly with washers, to maintain a vertical mount for the plate). We're talking a few degrees at most really.

3) I am still pondering on rear brackets for the sole reason that I have to actually drill holes into the bumper.

As Corey_R said, Australian-delivered GTIs don't come with rear holes pre-drilled, so dealers will do that pre-delivery. If it's the same for you, your dealer wil mount your plate by drilling holes. The only way of avoiding that is to mount the plate using double-sided 3M tape (or similar), assuming that's legal.

I read that there is some sort of ‘template’ that helps in that area. But what is it anyway?

I noticed that you (and moonblade87) just aligned your rear brackets to the ‘top‘. Was it just for convenience of installing?

Being a fussy person, I like what Corey_R had done for his rear bracket. Just that I am unsure if I am up to the (tedious) task, especially I am totally inexperienced in handling any power tools some more. Any advice you have for me here?

Philip may be able to supply a template? Failing that, your dealer may use one when fitting new plates to vehicles pre-delivery.

I didn't mount my rear plate; my dealer affixed my rear bracket and did the hole drilling. If I had the time again I would have done it myself as Corey_R has done, but I'm really not bothered enough to change it.

If you're not confident with doing the work yourself, I suggest you speak to your dealer about fitting the brackets for you, to your explicit requirements. If you're not comfortable with the dealer doing the job, any automotive specialist / mechanic with the right tools and a shred of care will be able to get it done for you in five minutes

Re your last post, my original lug pins were lost forever as soon as I removed them from the bumper along with the stock plate. I'm not aware of anyone who's retrieved them, and I use the custom-made plastic screws Philip supplied with my bracket to fill the bumper holes and attach the bracket to my bumper.

[Corey_R]

A few of the guys who have removed the front plate holder and used the original lugs to plug the holes have retreived the pins. It either involves annoying long tools to get them out, combined with some luck, or taking the "splash tray" out from underneath the engine bay. Initially the pins may only fall into the inside of the bumper and not onto the splash tray. Which means a lot more luck will be needed (cause you'll need to move the car so they fall down, or reach up blindly and feel around). Good luck!