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Guide: Motorised Number Plate holder


marzman

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So i managed to fit my motorised number plate holder yesterday. Very happy with it. (Cheers Tarmac :thumbs: ).

 

Guide to be added shortly but his a quick video for now:

 

 

Okay here's the guide. To be honest it's a custom job to fit this rather than a direct bolt-on. It took me about 4-5 hours to fit but i was taking my time.

 

Tools needed:

Angle Grinder

10mm socket

Screwdrivers

Drill

Metal drill bit

Jigsaw

 

Additional Materials:

Metal bracketing

Self tapping screws

Small nuts and bolts.

 

Pro-tip: Use an electric drill battery to operate the plate holder when fitting, before you've wired it up.

 

 

First things first... with the bumper still on decide, where you want the plate to sit. With the Nismo bumper my only option was to have it sit in the lower opening. I made a note of the approximate height off the ground that this would sit.

 

Next you need to remove the front bumper. This is an easy task and you can follow one of the guides from on here. I've done this countless times before and it can be done in around 15 minutes.

 

http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/48292-face-off-front-bumper-removal/page__hl__%2Bbumper+%2Bremoval

 

After this you must decide what to mount the number plate on. Our best option on the zed is to use the large crash bar and suspend it from brackets to the height we need. Out of the box it comes with only 1 metal bracket but we need more than this, so i picked up an extra bracket from Wickes for £1.18. I cut this in half using the angle grinder.

 

http://www.wickes.co.uk/content/ebiz/wickes/invt/156722/Herringbone-Joist-Strut_large.jpg

 

The next step is to work out how long i need the brackets to be. Using some cardboard taped to the crash bar, I offered up the plate holder to the approx height from the floor measured earlier (11.5" in my case) and then cut the cardboard to the length required. And then using this i had a template for the length of my brackets.

 

IMG_0590_zpsf06b4d5f.jpg

 

I measured the center point on the crash bar using the tow hole as the center line and then attached the rear hanger which i bent to shape using the self tapping screws that i'd bought separately.

 

IMG_0599-1_zps14740d89.jpg

IMG_0600-1_zps9c4fa7bf.jpg

 

After this I mounted the plate holder on the rear bracket and worked out the height of the front brackets. I used he two halves of the bracket i'd purchased separately and bent them to shape. Note that they're only mounted half way up the crash bar - when the polystyrene filler is fitted it sits flush against the top half of the crash barrier.

 

IMG_0603_zpscc7837d6.jpg

 

This stage takes the longest to do as you must use a spirit level to ensure it's level in all directions. I also replaced the bumper on the car several times to ensure the positioning was correct. Notice that i also cut out a piece from each bracket to make sure the towing eye can still be fitted.

 

IMG_0602_zps0b49bcce.jpg

 

(I did straighten the plate holder up before i firmly attached everything!)

IMG_0605_zps912293ab.jpg

 

After this i refitted my bumper mesh and cut a hole the width of my plate using snips.

 

IMG_0607_zps2c247791.jpg

 

Now the final stage before fitting the bumper is to wire it up. This is very simple and only needs connecting to the positive and negative terminals on the battery. I routed the cables down the left hand side of the engine bay and under the passenger headlight. I used number plate tape to secure the control unit to the back side of the crash bar.

 

IMG_0609_zps326851c9.jpg

IMG_0611_zps697edd5c.jpg

IMG_0612_zps66cf7906.jpg

 

After this, give it a quick test to make sure it's working, and then refit the bumper.

 

The final stage was to cut the holder down to size. I did this whilst it was mounted on the car using a Jigsaw, and a dremmel to tidy it up. I'd had enough by this point so rushed it.

 

IMG_0606_zps686fa8c7.jpg

 

The final step then was to secure my plate using number plate tape. And job done. B)

 

9802B98D-3663-47DA-891A-E2EFC47BCFB0-431-000000AA176FE2CB_zps574f97cb.jpg

Edited by marzman
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Thanks for the comments guys... :D

 

I've had to park my car facing the other way on the drive today... I was getting up every 5 minutes and retracting it while looking out of the window last night. :lol:

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Very cool, always wanted one but don't think I can with an intercooler. :dry:

 

Different to how I did mine, but mine was using a standard bumper

 

Maybe you could do a guide for those with the standard bumber? ;)

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Thanks for the comments guys... :D

 

I've had to park my car facing the other way on the drive today... I was getting up every 5 minutes and retracting it while looking out of the window last night. :lol:

 

I've been doing exactly the same mate :lol:

 

Checking it works everytime I've parked up too, had some odd looks from people as they watch on at me making it go in and out, half way out, make it go flat but not in...all sorts of combos :lol:

 

Very cool, always wanted one but don't think I can with an intercooler. :dry:

 

Different to how I did mine, but mine was using a standard bumper

 

Maybe you could do a guide for those with the standard bumber? ;)

 

It will be without pics :lol:

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Thanks for the comments guys... :D

 

I've had to park my car facing the other way on the drive today... I was getting up every 5 minutes and retracting it while looking out of the window last night. :lol:

 

I've been doing exactly the same mate :lol:

 

Checking it works everytime I've parked up too, had some odd looks from people as they watch on at me making it go in and out, half way out, make it go flat but not in...all sorts of combos :lol:

 

Very cool, always wanted one but don't think I can with an intercooler. :dry:

 

Different to how I did mine, but mine was using a standard bumper

 

Maybe you could do a guide for those with the standard bumber? ;)

 

It will be without pics :lol:

 

Ha ha... yep the combos, exactly the same. :lol: :lol:

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