I have been playing with this for a while and I think its going to work.

Basically a fold away plate holder.

Requires 4 self closing hinges at about $1 each and a few bolts & nuts .. I used SS so no rust staining.

The hinge springs will hold the plate up tight under the car when retracted and there is enough tension on the hinges when the plate is in front of the bumper to hold it there.

I am lowered and there is still room to flip the plate under.

I'm still working on a bumper pad for the back of the plate so it won't mar the bumper when up.


If it works I'll post a DIY .

Type of hinges used



Plate in the up position ( the plywood is the pseudo bumper ) .



Partly retracted.





Fully retracted



Retracted view from front .. from a standing position in front of the car the hinges aren't really noticable if left black.



1/2 out from the front



Full out from the front.
There won't be as many holes in the plate .. this was a piece of plexiglas I was using and I wanted it firm for body hole placement.

 

Lets see what everybody thinks... Unique...

 

maybe I missed something, but what is the purpose of this mod? I had a friend a while back do something similar on his bike, but that was so when he was going 100+ he could flip it up when a copper came up behind him.

 

Well for me its when I do car shows I prefer no plate for the clean look but we are required by law here to display a front when driving.

I can run around here for months and never get bothered but soon as I'm out of town I get nailed for no plate.

 

Man, I would really LOVE to lose my front plate! In Minnesota "It's The Law"!!! But what about the salt on the road? Would this be a year around mod. Or summer only?

 

Not really sure how it would work but it pretty unique

 

More summer only .. in the winter I have my plate mounted to the bra.

 

I have done test fittings under the car and all seems workable .. If the weather holds I'll mount it in the next few days as a test run for clearances.

Right now it looks like it will angle a bit forward when up but not sure and will lay back flat when retracted.

 

good idea, can't wait to see the finished product

 

some suggestions. Maybe get the screws on the face of the holder riveted so the plate will sit flush. And some foam weatherstrips on the back of the holder in case it does make contact with the bumper.

Oh I just had an idea. Make the backing plate out of acrilc. Then you can use a dremel with the cone bit to make a tapered hole. Then go to the hardware store and get some tapered screws to attach it to the brackets.

Something like this. Notice that the head is flat on top and tapered. http://www.boltdepot.com/dimension.a...=11&cs=52&cm=7

Using the acrilic will make it 1) lighter 2) able to make the plate sit flush and 3) look more high-tech.

 

Will it flip back with the car sitting on all 4 wheels? I mean, when you swing it back and forth will it clear the ground?

 

Good point. You figure the plate is 6 inches plus another 2 for the hinges. I am dropped on tein coilovers at the highest setting and I think it would be very close.

Great idea though.

 

^ same thing I was thinking.

 

My idea is to epoxy/fasten a few large earth magnets to back, inner side of the bumper. Then Teflon coat a metal plate backing, and plastic rivet the license plate to the plate backing, or something similar.

We have a few hardcore earth magnets at work, they are strong as hell.

 

dale, hook it up to a switch inside your car so you can flip it up and down while you drive...i'll buy one

 

That's pretty unique and clever. Keep us updated.

I think what would be an awesome mod for us front platers, would be a plate that could hide away, and then when you get pulled over, you can flip a switch and have the plate fold out. I'd love to see the look on the cops face when he walks around to the front and sees the plate, clear as day, sitting right on your bumper...lol

 

There will be no backing plate , the hinges will bolt right to the plate with a single bolt on each side not 2 as seen here and I have Pan Head SS bolts for that. I have it bolted with 4 bolts for temporary rigidity so I can correctly mount it to the car.

As for the rub strip it also need to be non-porous so it doesn't pick up dirt.

 

I'm lowered on Comptech and it looks like it clears very well .. the use of 2 hinges make it very articulated and once you fold the plate back on the first hinge it sort of tucks under the bumper.

 

oh. so the plate we see in the above pictures is a representation of the actual liscence plate. I get it.

 

gotta get some sort of foam backing for the rear of the plate otherwise the wind will cause it to move and make contact with the bumper leaving a line

 

Exactly.. it was a plexiglass cover I had laying around.

 

yeep .. working on that now.

 

that is such an awesome idea! I love it keep us updated... I know Im a 2Ger but would still be interested I hate my front plate

 

Very unique.. but your saying even if you're lowered you can flip the plate upside down like that and tuck it away? I dont know if I have that much clearance at all.

 

damn man....HAWTT idea....

i recently put my front license plate back on coz of the friggin cops....i miss that clean look....

 

here, check these out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5eFWMWNvEQ&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWIwmtj1IyY

 

That's hot! The WRX back one is useless and kind of gay. The front plate is cool, however $180 bux though..!!! Its cheaper just to pay the ticket. LoL

 

ehh, no thanks...

 

Bring it down to Vancouver, and I'll figure out how to attach a motor and a switch, so you can retract it from inside the car...




Jimmy

 

Lol Jim... I bet you could too .. I've seen some of the electronic things you tackled.... Me .. you .. your driveway... few beers ... Hmm... yeep it will work...

 

Here is the non motorized version of the above holders, a buddy of mine has one on his Accord coupe for shows.

Show-n-go plate holder by Altec
http://www.ninosport.com/Altec-Show-...te-holder-400U






I will definitely be following this thread though. If I can do this myself, I'll have no need so spend $50 on a plate holder lol.

DIY FTW anyway........

 

^ I could use this in CA... I just got a ticket for no front plate =(

 

this makes total sense actually, i didnt get it till i saw the videos and its a pretty cool idea

 

That video with the motorized one is HOT! It even retracts and tucks away. A slight bump on the front end by a parallel parker would probably destroy it though. Damn someone already thought of your idea Jess.

 

Yeah, it's been done, but when he finishes I'd be really interested in a DIY for this. I'd much rather spend $10 and do it myself then pay $55.

 

Sounds cool.

 

i would love to have the front plate mod done. i can see myself getting pulled over and being like i have a plate on the front, see look. nice

 

my friend has the non motorized version on his 5 series, works good

 

 

lol i thought of that to