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Official front license plate holder removal process?

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#1
What is the official process for removing the front plate holder? Like if I took my car to ford how would they remove it?
 


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codestp202

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#2
They would drill out the plastic rivets then once the rivets are pulled, it will come off.
 


OP
J
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Thread Starter #3
They would drill out the plastic rivets then once the rivets are pulled, it will come off.
Interesting. So there's no special tool or anything? I can't for the life of me figure out why they would rivet a plate holder to the car. That's stupid lol. Should have just used bolts.
 


codestp202

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#4
No special tools. Just use a drill bit the size of the small center portion. It's a 5 minute job and yeah it stupid they did that. If you have a black car, you can run to autozone and grab some small black plugs and you won't even know they are there.
 


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#5
^negative. Use a big bit. Like, way big. It cuts the centre off the face of the rivet. Works way better than trying to drill the middle with a small bit.
I used to build stock cars, I've lost count of how many rivets I've drilled out.

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#6
And because apart from the mustang, every car I've ever done a pdi on has had the plate holder riveted. Most manufacturers are that way.

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codestp202

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#7
Yeah that should be fine. Just wanted him to be cautious so he doesn't make his stock holes any larger.

I can't say I've built stock cars but I've drilled out a lot of rivets and I have always used a bit slightly larger then the inside portion.
 


alexrex20

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#8
The rivets are metal. Not plastic. Just drill out the center. You definitely do not want to use a drill bit larger than the rivet. That is retarded. If the rivets starts spinning with the drill bit, just grab it with some pliers to keep it from spinning.

There are people that sell color matched plugs for some stupid expensive price like $20. I just went to Lowe's and got some generic Automotive plastic push fasteners. They are like $1 for a pair. My car is grey so the black fasteners are almost unnoticeable.

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#9
Hi everyone. I just wanted to say I'm "retarded" as Alex would say... I used a larger drill bit. I was so retarded that I stopped drilling when the face was removed and didn't force the bit through the bumper. There are multiple ways to do anything. Sometimes you just do what you do and it works fine. Drill out the rivet and be done, who cares.
 


alexrex20

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#10
So how bad did you screw up the bumper when you drilled too deep? Lol

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jeff

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#12
I have a daughter with mental disabilities and I would suggest all humans not use the word "retarded" so casually, have some class people.

I went with the smaller drill bit method and grabbed them with pliers so they would not spin. Plugs are a couple bucks and you're done.
 


Truth in Ruin

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#14
Don't take it personal jeff, alexrex20 has been known to go back-and-forth with others quite frequently.
 


jeff

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#15
Don't take it personal jeff, alexrex20 has been known to go back-and-forth with others quite frequently.
Thanks I don't and I expected that from someone. If what I said makes one person think on a deeper level it's worth it. Alex has yet to leave the shallows of life but I'm sure he's a fine fellow nonetheless.
 


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#16
He's a soft skinned, lippy troll. Just try to ignore him.

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Intuit

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#18
Just a note, this particular troll has expressed a concern about having to walk around with a gun in his pocket, everywhere he goes. His place of employment forbids it though.
 


OP
J
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Thread Starter #19
You know, Ford can suck it on this one. I don't know who all these people are on youtube who can just drill into these things and have them come off so easily. "Oh, it's aluminum so it'll just go right through it." No, no not really. Took a lot of work and in the process the stupid drill slipped and caught the bottom lip of my bumper. Bumper's fine, but the xpel film that i just spent 360 dollars on isn't. Put a nick in it. Most people won't notice it... but i do. Also, those mythical autozone bumper plugs don't exist. Not here anyway. BUT that stupid plate is off now and my car looks much better.
 


alexrex20

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#20
Just a note, this particular troll has expressed a concern about having to walk around with a gun in his pocket, everywhere he goes. His place of employment forbids it though.
[emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]

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