front bumper license holder

[Steve Legel]

REPORT FROM THE FIELD: STEVE’S WORKSHOP FRONT BUMPER REPAIR



My Inspiration Yellow 2002 Thunderbird was originally delivered to California, where front license plates are mandatory and the local dealer there installed the front license plate holder. The 02 generation front license holder is very large and bulky. It is made of black plastic and really stands out against the light colors on the retro generation Thunderbirds. Other members of the online forum ThunderbirdNest had successfully removed the holder and using hardware store plugs and touch up paint made virtually unnoticeable repairs to the front bumpers.

My front holder was attached to the bumper with what looked like simple, small aluminum pop rivets. I thought it would be easy to drill out the pop rivet shaft and remove the holder and find two small 1/8th inch holes, easy to fill.

The pop rivets turned out to be wide metal plugs. The shaft was hard metal, not aluminum. In drilling out the first shaft, the drill slipped off the metal, skipped on to the black plastic holder, went through the holder and left a golf ball dimple in the underlying yellow fascia. Undeterred and now committed, I continued, slowly and more carefully to remove the two plugs. Eventually I was able to remove the license holder. To my dismay, the underlying holes were big. Big enough to put my baby finger into them! Not only were they big in diameter, but the composition fascia is plastic like, and when it was drilled out, the material sort of melts and bunches up, forming a lip around the hole. The lip was covered with the yellow paint, but was not smooth and would not let the plug lay flat. Carefully I used my Dremel like tool to grind down the lip around each of the holes. The result was smooth and flat, but the yellow paint was removed in the process for an additional 1/16th to 1/8 inch around the perimeter of the hole. Not only were the holes big, they now had a ring of black around them. Further, on removing the holder, I discovered that during the original installation, a hole had been mismarked and a small pilot hole was visible beneath one of the large holes. I also had my dimple to contend with. As Charlie Brown would say, "AAARRRUUGGGHHH!"

Notwithstanding, I went to my local "Grand Hardware" (they really do have everything) and found the box of Jandoff plugs. These plugs are used for many automotive attachment applications such as plastic wheel wells, firewall covers and hood insulation panels. The top of the plastic is broad and flat and the stem looks sort of like a christmas tree with retentive fingers that grasp the inside mating surface as it is pushed into place. I had originally hoped to need only the smallest finest, most discreet plugs. Now I was looking for a flat cover of over ½ inch diameter and a stem as big as my pinkie. I found two, one that had a half inch flat surface but way too narrow stem and another with an adequate thick stem to hold in the hole, but the flat surface was nearly and inch and a quarter across, and I felt would be way too visible. I tried both and decided on the smaller.

I lightly sanded the mold marks from the flat surface of the plug with 1000 grit sandpaper, and pushed the two plugs through the bottom of an upside down paper cup. Holding them this way allowed me to paint several coats of matching touch up paint. I used dental composite filling material (I am a licensed Michigan Dentist in private practice for over 24 years) to fill my dimple and the errant pilot hole, sculpting the repairs just below the surface of the bumper. Carefully I built up the touch up paint over the two repairs with a toothpick and light 1000 grit sanding paper and scratch out polish. I used a thin layer of crazy glue around the perimeter of the inside of the plug face and set the painted plugs in the hole, lining them up with a level.

The end result is acceptable. It is not visible from standing distance, and looks like it was a factory intention for optional license plate bracket anyway.

The technique can be used on any late model composition bumper material.

[JerryP]

Nice tech tip Steve.

Thanks

HI STEVE HOW ARE YOU......IN NEW YORK IT IS ALSO MANDATORY TO HAVE FRONT/REAR PLATES.....I WAS FORTUNATE THAT WHEN I PURCHASED MY 03 CORAL BIRD NO ONE HAD ATTEMPTED TO MOUNT THE FRONT BRACKET.....I TOLD THEM IF THEY DO I WOULD NOT COMPLETE THE PURCHASE OF SAID AUTO.......THANKFULLY THEY DID NOT FOR ALL THE REASONS YOU OUTLINED.......I DO TAKE A CHANCE DRIVING IN THE STATE OF N.,Y. WITHOUT FRONT PLATE......I FEEL THE RISK OUTWEIGHS THE UGLY APPEARANCE OF FRONT PLATE JETTING OUT ON POINT OF T-BIRD. WAS STOPPED ONCE.....I GOT OUT....TOLD THE OFFICER THAT THE DEALERSHIP SAID IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO MOUNT THE FRONT BRACKET DUE TO FRONT TORPEDO SHAPE OF BUMBER.....LUCKILY HE BOUGHT IT AND EVERYTHING WAS OK......I KEEP THE FRONT PLATE IN GLOVE COMPARTMENT FOR THESE OCCASIONS.....

[Johnny Gumballs]

Geez Steve........sounds like root canal there buddy!

PS.......I hate my front plate holder.

BROTHER JOHN....YOU PUT THAT UGLY FRONT PLATE ON THAT BEAUTIFUL T-BIRD?????.......AND YOUR SUPPOSE TO BE A "GYPSY MEMBER" !!!! OH , THE SHAME OF IT ALL!!!.....

[islandtime]

My dealer forgot to mount the front plate when I took delivery. It was a Saturday (5/21), and when I asked, they said there was no one there to mount it (huh??? duh???). I was told to come back on Monday, they'd take care of it. I drove home...2.5 miles...was pulled over at 1.5 for no front plate. I tried to explain my way out of it...showed the officer there was no bracket, but I had the front plate displayed in the windshield sitting on dash...no dice, still a violation; was given a written warning. When I went back to the dealer on Monday, the service manager said, "Most people don't like us to mount the front bracket because it ruins the look"...I said,"FINE!, YOU pay all my tickets from now until the day I die!!!!!" They're very serious about it here in VA!

[donfox]

When I was almost ready to pick up my Bird they asked me if I wanted the bracket installed. Thay told me that when they special order a car like mine (SPECIAL!), they give the customer a choice. They take no responsibility for this & had me sign a waiver letting them off the hook. Front plates are mandatory here in California. The ticket is $85. I'll take my chances to not have that thing mess up my cars "face". By the way, I picked up my personalized plate "DONSBRD".

[Allupo]

I am a California resident and before I bought my Bird I owned/drove a '99 Mustang (for 4 years) which had no front plate or plate frame when purchased. Almost immediately, I bought a Mustang Logo plate and put it on the front of my Pony - in the recess where a tag should go.

The only time I was ticketed for no front plate was when the car happened to get a ticket for something else (e.g. I got a parking ticket and the cop added the no front plate fine as well). I was even caught speeding (once or twice... ) but the officer(s) never even mentioned the lack of a front plate.

When shopping for my Bird, I knew I didn't want a front plate/holder and specifically ended up buying a car without one. So far I've (thankfully) had no trouble or tickets due to the missing front tag but IMHO, I would gladly pay the $30 rather than clutter up the face of my Bird.

For some reason I got the idea that if the car has a front plate bracket (or spot to affix a plate - like the Mustang) the cops (or parking cops at least) are more prone to ticket for this offense than if the car doesn't already have a built in spot for a front tag.

Just my .02 cents

[FUN X 3]

My dealer asked if I wanted it, I told them no. I almost made it two years before getting a ticket, $79. Now, one year later, still just the one ticket. It was worth the $.07 per day cost these past three years. I even went through a DUI checkpoint with expired plates as well, but they were too focused on figuring out if I was sober or drunk to notice.