Front plate fit/Custom solutions - suggestions..

[Fil.FM]

Hi guys,

I originally intended not to install the Front Plate on the GT8 to avoid drilling holes on the front bumper..the problem is the car comes with these holes already from the factory.

I am now looking to cover these 2 small front plate support's holes (see pic n 3 below) with something like an adhesive plate or a small plastic plate with lower height. The aim is not doing anything "intrusive" to it (e.g. filling the holes, paint job etc) and minimise the visual impact of the front plate (just enough to cover the existing holes basically)

Have you had any experiences with "platecreator.com" or similar? Other advices are very welcome!

Thanks a lot
F

[V8Andrew]

What a stunning colour. The two solutions I have seen are simply sticking a small plate over the holes with mirror pads, or like in my case filling the holes and having the front end resprayed to fill (see pic). I know not what you are looking to do, but it does give a good finish.

[Fil.FM]

This is exactly how I would have liked the end result to be !

[AdamV12V]

Assuming you are in the UK, then a front plate is a legal requirements of course, but then you may choose to ignore that. I personally wouldn't want to add to the risk of plod pulling me over in what is already a very eye catching car.

Assuming you have a short personal plate then a legal min cut down plate is a good option, which is what I have. Even with a regular plate you can still shave a fair few mm off the dimensions of the std plate quite legally, and if you have short plate then the end result is statisfyingly small - and all 100% legal.

I used these guys - fast turnaround and a great quality plate.

http://www.dmb.uk.com/prod/4487/custom-size-number...

Quite happy with the end result and covers the factory holes perfectly:

[jonby]

Not got access to my own photos from this computer but you can see some pics of my car on autogespot here
https://www.autogespot.com/aston-martin-v12-vantag...

I have fully road legal font & size lettering (and spacing) but on a much smaller plate, stuck with pads to cover the holes - makes a big difference and actually looks smaller in the flesh than in photos

I got mine from Plates4Cars, it's 330mm by 111mm which is one of their 'standard sizes'. Standard size of a UK numberplate is 520mm by 111mm

Obviously depends partly on the registration as to whether it will fit on that size plate - mine is 6 digits one of which is '1' so much smaller than any other character. All characters are the same size (if road legal) other than '1' and 'i'

I also deliberately chose a GB symbol in black for the rear plate, rather than the conventional multi colour, as my car's exterior is ceramic grey with CF & silver so I think it ties in better

Incidentally it just occurs to me, I wonder what happens when we leave the EU - no more circle of stars above the GB.......

The only aspect of mine which is not road legal apart from the GB on the rear plate not being in colour, is that a plate should have the BS mark number and details of the plate supplier printed on it. But you could have that done on my plate - it would fit

There is a misconception by some that to be road legal, a plate has to be a certain physical size. That's not true - the rules surround the margin either side of the letters, so providing you keep to that, it's road legal. Here are the full requirements
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

Obviously I appreciate many people take the risk of going smaller again - a few on here have a particularly small front plate, with smaller than road legal character size & spacing

Edited by jonby on Monday 29th May 10:16

[Jon39]

You are braver than me Jonby, to park in such a narrow space.
The careless door dingers are everywhere.

Short plate or standard size? A really short registration, 4 or 5 characters, can sometimes look good on a standard plate, because the blank area emphasises the old registration mark.

European Union badges.
Does displaying this now, indicate anything about a car owner's opinion?

[Cold]

Why not just cover the holes with a rectangular piece of reflective white plastic?

[LordBretSinclair]

As others have said go for a legal plate "held on" with sticky rubber pads.
After some time with an illegal 3/4 plate I have now gone for legal size digits with the legal 11mm margin all the way round. Hopefully this will keep my over zealous local copper happy.
(Photo courtesy of IanV12VR )

[Murph7355]

OP - just stick a plate directly over the holes. The simple solutions are best!

Jon39 said:

...
European Union badges.
Does displaying this now, indicate anything about a car owner's opinion?
...

Only OCD on my part. I don't want GB badges stuck anywhere else, and even though I voted out I will definitively drive on the continent again in due course.

[Fil.FM]

Thank you guys, will consider you inputs and see what's the best fit. Will come back to you with the final result

[jonby]

Jon39 said:

You are braver than me Jonby, to park in such a narrow space.
The careless door dingers are everywhere.

Short plate or standard size? A really short registration, 4 or 5 characters, can sometimes look good on a standard plate, because the blank area emphasises the old registration mark.

European Union badges.
Does displaying this now, indicate anything about a car owner's opinion?

Ha ! those photos were in Spa, outside the hotel just after I arrived and unloaded luggage - we were all sat outside the hotel having a drink opposite the cars so I could keep a close eye on mine ! We were there for the Classic weekend. I wouldn't normally park near any other car if I could avoid it

The plate size issue I agreeish, but not on the front plate if it is being stuck directly to the car. If the numberplate is being affixed into a readymade specially sized gap, that's different. Hence me having a full size plate for the rear

[cayman-black]

AdamV12V said:

Assuming you are in the UK, then a front plate is a legal requirements of course, but then you may choose to ignore that. I personally wouldn't want to add to the risk of plod pulling me over in what is already a very eye catching car.

Assuming you have a short personal plate then a legal min cut down plate is a good option, which is what I have. Even with a regular plate you can still shave a fair few mm off the dimensions of the std plate quite legally, and if you have short plate then the end result is statisfyingly small - and all 100% legal.

I used these guys - fast turnaround and a great quality plate.

http://www.dmb.uk.com/prod/4487/custom-size-number...

Quite happy with the end result and covers the factory holes perfectly:

Looking great Adam but reminds me, whats happened to Matt?

[triple5]

Mine came with this solution, I've never seen another the same so have always assumed it's a mount from a different car. Keeps the plate below the grill but also adds a little protection.

[raceboy]

I like that, not keen on the monster plinth, but think the 'no plinth' looks like something is missing.

[Ken Figenus]

A huge subject of great and significant aesthetic importance! I bought 3 different front plates for the Rapide before settling on the one I have now. My thesis for the similarly afflicted:



First (top) one was full legal with a country logo but cropped to minimum margins left and right (not top and bottom). Didn't like the way the text was offset right, and it was too tall to fit nicely on the panel between the lower and upper radiator grilles. It also exposed some self tapper holes I discovered on removing the whopper original plate

I then tried a tight all sides crop on an 80% size plate and filled and painted the self tapper holes. Felt too small on a big car. Self tapper hole remnant marks still bugged me.



Then I specced a plate that was wide enough to cover the self tapper holes, cropped to legal minimum borders and with 90% character height. It sits very neatly on the bodywork without overlapping the upper and lower grilles and just feels very proportional, legal, symmetrical and, to my eye, just sits nicely and is aesthetically correct



A leading university has asked permission to publish this as a case study - trouble was it was the school of mental health not the design one And yes I now sleep very well

[woodsypedia]

I also had this dilemma. In the end, I went to works and they filled the holes and I left the plate off. I'm on day 200 and so far no attention from the Po Po.

I too approve of the colour choice

[V8Andrew]

woodsypedia said:

I also had this dilemma. In the end, I went to works and they filled the holes and I left the plate off. I'm on day 200 and so far no attention from the Po Po.

I too approve of the colour choice

Looks amazing.