Holding my b*st*rd number plates on!!
Holding my b*st*rd number plates on!!
Author
Discussion

Reardy Mister

Original Poster:

13,758 posts

250 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
When did it get so hard to keep a fking number plate stuck to a car? When I was working for a BMW dealer, it was the only method we used, so that new car owners didnt have unsightly screws in place, bumpers weren't drilled and it wasn a st-sight easier.

But now!?

I've already bought the "special" number plate specific, 3mm and 6mm sticky strips from Halfords. They lasted a month.

"Oh you didnt prepare the surfaces properly" he said.

Well excuse me, this aint my first fking rodeo sunshine. The intricacies of applying adhesives to clean surfaces are not foreign to me, I dont need a course in ensuring surfaces are clean and dry and that the tape is pressed for long enough. The glue was stuck fine to both surafecs, but it had come unbonded from the foam itself. That was fun, unsticking the remenants of 4x 3 strips of double sided tape.

So he gives me some more, free of charge. Very decent of him, more of the same st that didnt work the first time, but for free. And this time I prepared the surfaces even more meticulously, even trying a different tape on the rear to see if one performed better. Nope. 3 weeks later and the rear has flown off somewhere on the A338 and the front is looking to follow it fairly shortly.

What a fking crock of st. Is the world so fundamentally broken, that its no longer possible to buy a simple universal-use roll of double sided tape* that I can cut to length I choose, stick where I choose, how I fking choose and expect it just to stick?!

Im not talking space age fking materials! Its not heat proof ceramic stuck to cross-linked polyethalene. Its plastic on painted metal.

Give me a fking strength. And some tape that works.


And a new rear plate.

getmecoat





* Homebase dont sell anything of the sort, I mean why would they? Its not pre-packaged and specifically labelled "NUMBER PLATE TAPE" so that the feckless pricks who are far too clever to work at Macdonalds, can charge a premium for it.

KMud

2,924 posts

184 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
No more nails smile



I used rugged Velcro I got from halfords.

Pints

18,451 posts

222 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
KMud said:
No more nails smile
Beaten to it.

hehe

FreeLitres

6,127 posts

205 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
OP - sounds like you have a screw loose to be honest.

Hitch78

6,118 posts

222 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
You need to get out more OP

PUA

1,060 posts

187 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
good rant clap

I also tried the sticky strips and they lasted about a week and half! added extra strong adhesive to the new ones but still no success; infact lost my rear plate!

eventually got a drill and some screws; the rest is history.

dudleybloke

20,553 posts

214 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
vhb tape by 3M.
its bloody strong stuff, good enough to stick aircraft together!

VxDuncan

2,850 posts

262 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
KMud said:
No more nails smile



I used rugged Velcro I got from halfords.
Agreed - heavy duty velcro (tough black stuff). Worked on my VX220 on which the mount is curved, about half the size of the plate, and leaves it open to the airflow. Held the plate upto 120mph and easily fixed back on it you brush a kerb with it when parking.

CarlT

3,424 posts

275 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
Ordered my stickers through eBay. Been on the car since March with no issues

VxDuncan

2,850 posts

262 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
Whatever you do though - don't try and find something to stick a rearview mirror on without it falling off in the middle of the night and filling the car with glass...

Astra Dan

1,888 posts

212 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
I don't trust any sticky pads and purposely screw my plates on. Vauxhall have always supplied mounting holes in their cars (all mine do certainly) so I use them.

What about te tape they use on door trims etc? I tried to remove a rub strip the other day, it was 23 years old and still had to be cut off.

CarlT

3,424 posts

275 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
These are the ones I stuck our plates on with.


http://bit.ly/OIKfaz

getawayturtle

3,560 posts

202 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
I agree with the OP, sticky pads from Halfords are fking crap!!


Glassman

24,864 posts

243 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
CarlT said:
These are the ones I stuck our plates on with.


http://bit.ly/OIKfaz
Maccess have them (packs of 100 on offer ATM).

OP: PM me your address and I'll send you a few?



V8Triumph

5,995 posts

243 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
Erm, drill two holes in the numberplate, fix with the special numberplate screws (that are the same colour as your numberplate) job done and your plates will not fly off. smile

Reardy Mister

Original Poster:

13,758 posts

250 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
Glassman said:
CarlT said:
These are the ones I stuck our plates on with.


http://bit.ly/OIKfaz
Maccess have them (packs of 100 on offer ATM).

OP: PM me your address and I'll send you a few?
If its no trouble, I wouldnt turn them down.

But having just looked at them, they dont look very different from one of the sets that failed miserably.
frown

I just want that roll you could get, with the green plastic backing on it? Anyone remember it? The green plastic backing was hard enough to the remove. Once in place, a numberplate was nuke proof with it.

Glassman

24,864 posts

243 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
V8Triumph said:
Erm, drill two holes in the numberplate, fix with the special numberplate screws (that are the same colour as your numberplate) job done and your plates will not fly off. smile

4key

11,941 posts

176 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
+1 on velcro. Added bonus that you can remove the front one whenever the mood takes you smile

Glassman

24,864 posts

243 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
Reardy Mister said:
If its no trouble, I wouldnt turn them down.

But having just looked at them, they dont look very different from one of the sets that failed miserably.
frown

I just want that roll you could get, with the green plastic backing on it? Anyone remember it? The green plastic backing was hard enough to the remove. Once in place, a numberplate was nuke proof with it.
These pads are similar in size, but they're the ones that Land Rover use.

The roll is available from Maccess too. If you don't have a Maccess near you (or a trade account with them) I'll send you a roll of it.



Caulkhead

4,938 posts

185 months

Monday 3rd September 2012
quotequote all
Reardy Mister said:
Well excuse me, this aint my first fking rodeo sunshine. The intricacies of applying adhesives to clean surfaces are not foreign to me, I dont need a course in ensuring surfaces are clean and dry and that the tape is pressed for long enough. The glue was stuck fine to both surafecs, but it had come unbonded from the foam itself.
He probably couldn't understand why someone who claims to know what they are doing was in Halfords in the first place. . . . . . wink