G-8VXWWTRHPN My DIY License Plate Bracket - VWWatercooled Australia

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My DIY License Plate Bracket

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  • My DIY License Plate Bracket

    Hi all,

    Just thought I'd share what I did to 'clean up' my license plate mounting solution:

    As the car came from the dealer the plates are just bolted on with two flimsy screws and then the typical shroud with the dealer details is attached. It's not great and I find the plate often sits funny on the bumper. Lakin brackets are great (a friend bought a set very recently) but to my DIY addled brain they're just too costly. instead I figured I'd have a crack at coming up with my own solution and making them myself.

    I've only completed the rear bracket for now. The front plate will take a bit more work because I want to mould it to the curve of the bumper, which given my chosen material (acrylic) should be easily doable in a regular oven or with a heat gun. I'll add the front bracket once I'm done but it could be a while as I am waiting on a new slimline number plate

    I bought the Kingpin covers because they're cheap enough and making something of equivalent quality would be fairly tricky:
    Click image for larger version

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    8mm thick Suntuf acrylic. Thick and strong, but easy to work with and dirt cheap. More than enough material to do front and rear brackets:
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    Rough cut done on the drop-saw, and the corners marked for rounding:
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    Manually rounding the corners. It was at this point I wished I had a spindle sander as it would have given much better results. That being said I still got decent finish, it just took a bit of effort:
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    Counter sunk mounting points to attached the bracket to the car. I used the rubber grommet things Lakin sells (threw a few in with my friends order):
    Click image for larger version

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    Counter sunk mounting points for the plate and the Kingpin cover to attach to the bracket. It still needed more finishing work at this point:
    Click image for larger version

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    Test Fit. I thought about leaving the acrylic clear, but it wouldn't have given me the look I was after I kept going with my intended plan:
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    Sanded to help the paint stick:
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    After a few coats of satin black:
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    Ready to roll! Please excuse my office worker tan:
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    Mounted to the car. Cleeeeaaaaannnnnn:
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    Fin. Looks solid. Is solid:
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    From a distance. Pretty hard to capture but I guess that's the point - it looks clean!

    Click image for larger version

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    Probably won't get anyone excited but for me it's the little things. Thanks for looking

    - Matt
    Last edited by mattaus; 05-10-2015, 07:04 PM.
    2016 GTI Performance | Pure White | JB1 | Dog Bone | Full Tint | Stop/Start Delete | Avatar by sandwg

  • #2
    Looks good! Can you get a larger photo from behind of the car?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    • #3

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      • #4
        Originally posted by ASR36 View Post
        Looks good! Can you get a larger photo from behind of the car?
        Thanks! Will do in the morning right after I've shaked the inevitable hangover I'm going to have due to the game of NRL I just watched...
        2016 GTI Performance | Pure White | JB1 | Dog Bone | Full Tint | Stop/Start Delete | Avatar by sandwg

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        • #5
          Picture added to the original post as requested.
          2016 GTI Performance | Pure White | JB1 | Dog Bone | Full Tint | Stop/Start Delete | Avatar by sandwg

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          • #6
            Thanks. It definitely does look good.


            Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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            • #7
              Originally posted by mattaus View Post
              Picture added to the original post as requested.

              mattaus, have you done anything about the front license plate yet? (that ugly black euro plate mount)

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              • #8
                Awesome work!

                I had thought of something similiar, and i agree the lakin stuff is great but damn its pricey....

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