2007AcuraRL

I'm not a fan of the way the front license plate frame sits smack dab in the center of the bumper. Not only does it obscure the bumper but it takes away from the look of the grill too (not to mention that the back of the license plate frame presses into the eurothane bumper leaving permanent groves). The state I live in requires 2 plates on the car, and the highway patrol frequently stops cars missing the front plate, so simply leaving off the front plate for me was not an option.

I decided to move the plate down under the bumper. (See photos below) This is the same mod I did on my 2nd Gen TL. That mod was well received and many people copied the concept thereafter.

The parts needed will run you less than 10 bucks and includes a piece of flatbar, some stainless steel nuts and bolts, and some primer. You start by cutting off some plastic from the back of the OEM license plate frame, as indicated in the picture below. I used a dremel tool but if you exercise care you could use a hacksaw blade or sharp utility knife.

The modified license plate frame attaches to a new bracket you will make out of metal flatbar, which in turn attaches to the original plate frame mounting holes, plus one additional bracket you will make. The brackets are made from four pieces of flatbar. The first piece has a few bends made on either end so that it can attach to the original mounting holes and come out flush with the outer edge of the bumper. Make sure the bracket is parallel to the bumper. The next two pieces get attached to the first flat bar to create mounting tabs for the license plate frame. The last piece is bent a few different ways so that it can stick through the bottom grill louver and its attached with two nut and bolt combinations to the underside of the car. You will have to remove the front grill to reach down and attach this part since there is no access from underneath the car. This bracket is then attached to the bottom tab on the OEM license plate frame, again using a nut and bolt combination.

Total time to do this mod was about 3 hrs, but that included some trial and error experimenting. This mod should be able to be done in 1 hour if you copy my design.

medrxman

sorry, nut imo it was a waste of time

briny319

I also don't know if it's worth it. While it's an improvement, the plate still ruins the bumpers look. I do love the custom plate though.

briny319

Also, those are excellent directions. A+

2007AcuraRL

An improvement is all I was going for, and I think I've acheived it. For me, having a plate on the car isn't an option. The police set up a checkpoint all the time by me on the highway on-ramp, looking for seat belt use, inspection stickers and license plates.

Btw, the plate in the pic is just a photoshop job. It would be nice if we could get plates in that font for real!

2007AcuraRL

Well I dont agree. If you look at the car with the plate in the original location and compare it to where I've relocated it to, the relocated spot gives the car a cleaner look. The original location has the plate in an awkward spot where it looked slapped on and sticks out from the bumper. The relocation puts it nicely flushed in. Again, no plate would be ideal, but as the title of my posting states, if you've gotta have a plate, I say go with this mod.

I dont have a before picture, so I will borrow a pick from the photo section (thank you, Henry!)

neuronbob

Nice job! I think itss better to see the bumper than it is to see the grille.

Unfortunately, front plates are also required in Ohio too...

briny319

Oh to bad. I had TSX as my plate on my last car and I thought it looked really cool.

GoHawks

Nice mod. If I still levied in Illinois I would do it, but I've moved to Michigan where no front plate is required.

lland

Much better. Looks like it belongs there. Of course, you could always move to PA.

LL

larrynimmo

nice mod with great pics to go along with it.

2007AcuraRL

Thanks for the feedback. In the stock location the plate partially blocked the lower grill anyway. I think it makes more sense to give the bumper a clean unobstructed line. I'll take a few more pics zoomed out and at a different angle.

I hope I've inspired at least some of you (living in a 'two-plate' state) to try this mod.

2007AcuraRL

ONE MORE THING: There is one step I forgot to mention in my installation directions. As an option step, you can put a thick 3M foam pad on the front fascia right by where the bottom edge of the plate frame comes near the car. While I filed the edges of the plate to match the curved profile of the fascia, having the foam pad pressed against the bottom edge on each side makes the whole assembly even more rigid from side to side torsion (since the bottom of the bracket is attached at only one point in the center). The pads I used are the same ones that are behind your license plate on the rear trunk. You can see the pad in the forth photo.

S1CK TypeS

I did this on my TL and it defi looks a lot better. nice to see a CT RL

2007AcuraRL

Hey there fellow Nutmegger (CT is called the Nutmeg state, btw) I was one of the first to pioneer this mod back in 2001 on my TL. Some people were just turning the bracket up side down and using a wire tie, but that didnt make the plate sit perpendicular. The key was to use the flatbar and make it out of metal. I did a whole how-to for that mod but I am sure my photos are long gone from it. I just sold my 2002 TL (purchase date Oct. 2001) and the bracket was just as solid when I took the plate back off as it was on the first day I completed the mod.

S1CK TypeS

i used an aftermarket bracket from autozone. what part of CT are you in?

2007AcuraRL

Autozone now sells a bracket to mount the plate below the bumper on the 2nd Gen TL? Shoot! I should have made up a few thousand of mine and sold them. Bummer.....

I'm in Fairfield County, btw. Just a little bit south off the Merit from where you are.

lumpulus

I've never had my front plate on any of my cars, but I keep it in the trunk in case I get pulled over, with a back story in place....I've never had to use it.

A front plate is required in my state, but it's never been an issue. I put it on last week for about an hour to get the car inspected, then off it came as soon as I left the dealer.

Mike_TX

This is a nice mod - subtle, but effective.

Some of you will laugh at this, but the stock location protects the bumper in a lot of parking lot "contacts". As I posted awhile back, I came out a few weeks ago to find a huge pickup truck parked with its front bumper mashed into my license plate holder. This was a "nose-to-nose" type parking lot, and if it hadn't been for the license plate holder, my bumper would have been damaged.

So, even though it's not aesthetically as pleasing as it could be in OEM form, it does help protect the bumper.

.
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Chas2

Acutally, I agree with you totally, also having had my license plate save my bumper a few times over the years, on more cars than just this car.

S1CK TypeS

im in wallingford, further up north on the merrit exit 66

henryr01

Thanks 2007AcruaRL!

I now know what my weekend project will be!
Do you have any more detailed information on the 'flat-bar' used? Source, size, drilling location...etc?

Also, where does the bottom (3rd) bolt attach to the licnense plate frame?

Thanks again, it looks great!

ChrisQ1980

IMO the front plate ruins the look of most modern cars. Unless you have a big heavy metal bumper or a "raised" bump for the plate it should be off. Regardless of law.

In NY the cops are pretty strict and I have never had a problem (knock on wood) with my 05 RSX-S or My 03 TL-S. When I had my Integra's they bothered me. I plead not guilty, took a sick day and go the ticket dismissed cuz the cops never showed up.

It ruins the looks, blocks airflow, and damages the bumper. You will never see a front plate on my car.

2007AcuraRL

I bought every thing at Ace hardware. The flatbar is 3/4" 12 gauge. Sku # is 52139. Its sold in a 3ft long piece. I am sure Home Depot sells the stuff too, its just that most times the miscelaneous screw bins are all messed up at the Depot whereas Ace always has that stuff neat and organized. I used stainless steel screws and nuts and lockwashers (not sure the exact thickness). Just be sure the screws are long enough to clear the thickness of both the plastic panel and the flatbar. I bought a few different sizes to be sure I had what I needed (I think I used 3/4" and/or 1").

I cut the pieces I needed with a hacksaw and then used a grinding bench to round the edges and make it look 'pretty'. There's no exact science as to where to mount the 2 arms off the main bar. You can guestimate based on my pics. The angle that the 2 arms should point down at is derived by first bolting each arm onto the main bar, leaving the bolts just loose enough so they can be moved, and then attaching the plastic panel using two bolts through the holes marked "drill here" in my photo. When the top edge of the plastic panel sits nice and tight up against the underside of the bumper, thats the angle the arms shouls be. Also, I put just the slightest S bend in each arm so that it stuck out just a tad more at the bottom that the top. This was done to get the plate exactly perpendicular.

Lastly, the bottom bracket attaches to the tab that sticks out on the plastic panel right about midway. You can see it in the pics. Be sure NOT to cut it off. There is already a hole drilled in it for some reason. The bottom bracket isnt hard to make but does require a few different bends to get it to poke out from the bottom louver and also to stick out just far enough to attach to the plastic plate and still keep everything perpendicular.

It should take you no more than a hour to do this mod, including the time it takes to go to the fridge and get a cold beer, open it, and drink it before starting I used Stella Artois when I did my plate...

Rob L

Nice job but for me that is a waste of time. I do not stand in front of my car and stare at it so I couldn't care less that a plate sits on my bumper as it does right now. I honestly do not see the point in doing this (and most exterior car mods that people do) other than to be different.

But hey, whatever floats everyones boats I guess. If you're happy then cool...I'll spend my 1-3 hours doing something that is more productive to my life.

2007AcuraRL

Rob, comments like this baffle my mind. If this isn't a mod you would be interested, simply close the thread and move on to something else. If you dont care what your car looks like, may I ask how you went about choosing the color? And may I ask, do you ever wash your car? How about waxing it?

My point is that we all care to some degree what the appearance of something is. After all, you choose certain clothes in certain colors and styles to buy and wear on your body. Now to you, the Acura license plate may look fine where it is. And you're not alone. A few other people also weren't sure that the relocated plate made the front end look better. On the other hand, I feel that the OEM location makes the plate looked slapped on and certainly not aethetically pleasing. When I did this mod 6+ years ago on my TL, a large number of people were very satisfied with the aethetic result.

To say that you don't see the point of this mod is silly. You most definitely understand, if you read my original post, that the reason for this mod was an appearance issue. You may not agree with the resulting appearance and i am fine with that. But to say that me (and anyone else that might now do this mod) is not being productive sure is insulting. I had a great time doing this mod. The enjoyment factor for me counts as productive. But I suppose comments like yours could have a chilling effect on others (including myself) from posting mods around here in the future. If this forum is going to be a static place, where people don't offer up interesting solutions and upgrades, and instead people just log in to acurazine and stare blankly at their computer screens, then I'll certainly not continue to contribute here, and this site will suck , and others who might be looking for ideas will loose out.

Hey, I'd still have a beer with you at a bar somewhere because we're both RL owners, but I'll continue to respectfully disagree with your input on this thread I started.

GoHawks

Well said as I too thought his comments were a tad harsh.

gavine

That dude has a problem with Americans (He's from Canada). He said some derogatory stuff recently.

While I have a front plate and absolutely hate it, I probably won't do the mod but it's nice to know that it's possible and it was very interesting to see it being done. I took it off from day one but my wife got stopped and was very upset that she had to deal with a cop for something like that so I put it right back on again. No ticket but it was because she blamed me.

Thanks for posting it and keep up the good work.