New Plates, New Problems!

My MOT is coming up in the next 6 weeks or so and I have started dealing with things that could cause me trouble, firstly the number plates.

This might be easier if I do it in pics....

Ignore the dirt but this is the rear plate on the car as I got it, not a legal type face or anything clearly.

So to avoid undue attention from Mr Plod in the past months I got a legal rear plate....

Which would not fill the cut out. Has this cut out in the supra been modified in any way can anyone tell?

So until now I had simply sprayed the old illegal plate black with so so results to match the paintwork and put my now legel plate on top

I dont have a pic of the front plate of the car when I got it but I got a stick on one, again not 100% legal (see the club advertising though )

Still with me? Good

So I wanted to do away with the front one as it ruins the look of the bumper (it was only ever going to be a stop gap thing anyway whilst I got a propper one).

So today I went and got 2 sets of new plates, one set which I will use 364 days a year and one for MOT day.

Heres the front (quite cool I think) theres a matching back yellow one of course and the MOT set is basically the same but with no logo and the details of who made the plates in the corner.

But they still wont bloody fit! The place I had them done didnt think they looked standard and thats the closest jap sized plate they had. Did the stock supra come with a rear numberplate holder or something?

I dont want to use this crappy old painted plate as a filler again!

Any ideas / help welcome on that one.

The front is another problem, the Do-Luck bumper feels thin and I am trying to think how to mount it, the plate is a biggish size and when going fast I dont want it to bend back and damage the plate or bumper, still undecided on how to fix it.

All ideas welcome!

Hi see your probs with rear plate i too have similar prob so i have just orderd some new plates from an online company which offers a wide range of sized plates, still waiting for delivery so will let you know how they fit. or not fit!

Cant help with the rest of the problems but i replaced my rear plate recently and your cut out looks the same as mine (which was a ball ache to get the plate on and sat right)

Are you ordering the plates online?

I went to my local motor shop & one of the gents there measured it & then made it.

He said it was a standard Jap size & the hole in your rear bumper looks the same as mine.

I am not sure what size it is but happy to go out & measure my number plate if you want.

Dont talk to me about rear plates

I seem to get pullled depending on the copper. I had one follow me for a mile as I pulled out of my road Yesterday and nothing. But other days I get pulled.....

Stock came with number plate surrounds bud, 2 black plastic blocks that screw into the recess at either side of the plate. They come up for sale now and again, prices seem to range around £30-£50.

I bought a sheet of pre-pregnated carbon and had it cut to size as a backing plate for mine, looks great on a black car especially if you don't like the look of the stock surrounds.

I had of hell of a job getting the front one to look right, but the rear should be easy as its a standard import size

That'd suit a white trd sticker on the underside of the blade. Nice ass Ed

Yours too mate. Love that carbon frame. Neat idea Jim.

I was going to have "Honk if you're Horny" on the blade LOL

Lol, why am I not surprised

You're not running a US size plate on the rear are you Scotty?

Iirc 7x13 fits perfectly, its either that or 7x14 just cant remember of the top of my head, my car came with a small ish one, but the one i have now covers the hole perfectly! yours bumper hole looks untouched

Heres mine, just covers the hole by 2 mm both sides

Love the horny devil Toyota badge =P

What kind of spoiler is that?

Thought I would give it a go anyway today to see how it looked, plates are made now anyway so tough titty if I wanted to return them.

Thankfully its slightly larger than the old one and matches it in width so just a few MM in height top and bottom covered by the sprayed plate and any bits with my dogey painting are covered so happy for now. Yes it needs shiny new bolts.

I now have to tackle the front, I am not looking forward to drilling holes in a genuine bumper but dont see any way around it.

Does anyone have an example of a bracket they have fashioned or one they have bought? I did a few searches but mainly turned up motercycle plate brackets.

I would prefer to avoid drilling but I think in the long run its the best bet. The bumper doesnt feel very strong so I would probably have to remove it (another thing I need to look up).

If I have to make one up I had something like the idea below hanging down from the top of the bumper in the recess, bit worried about strength and so the strengthening legs would seem to spread the load a bit better when the speed gets up.

Any ideas on this one?