Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: surfguitar58 on Tuesday,November 21, 2017, 12:07:39 PM
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Probably the “least consequential part on the whole car”, but here’s my take on a front license plate bracket. Searching the knowledge base I found loads of posts dating back to 2000 brimming with good advice about what to tell the state trooper when he pulls you over without one (“My front license plate bracket is backordered from England” being my favorite) but I found little practical plate mounting advice that doesn’t involve drilling holes in precious fiberglass.
This bracket uses the two bottom screws holding the grill grate in place. These thread into metal C-clips and, at least on my car, are long enough to handle the extra thickness of the fabricated bracket and a washer. I used some scrap carbon fiber I had lying around, but 18 ga aluminum would also work nicely, and no new holes!
Nominally I will mount this once per year when I get my vehicle inspection sticker and rely on excuses and my good looks after I take it off. I suppose I should also reinstall it on long toll road trips where Big Brother takes my picture to verify my ez-pass/fast-pass toll transponder. The car sure looks a lot better without a silly front plate.
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This was the standard mounting place...Except mine was mounted on the passenger side.
(http://lotus-europa.com/photos/front_tag.jpg)
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Although I live in a state that requires a front plate I refuse to install one. I have found that as long as you have historic plates the local police don’t bother you. As a matter of fact, my 64 Élan rear plate area isn’t even large enough for a NJ plate so I have to trim the top and bottom of the plate to fit, which is also illegal.