"Installing a non-standard front license plate holder on a 718 Porsche Cayman."

(just have to drill one very small hole in plastic front "grill"......no other modifications to car)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Some parts of the USA require all cars to have a front license plate. Including New Jersey, where I live. I am not a fan of the "wart-on-the-nose" bracket that comes with the Cayman and I specifically requested that it NOT be fitted to my new 718.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

My previous car was an NB Miata which had a similar issue. In that car I created an offset towhook-mounted plate holder, which looked fine. That is a possibility on the Cayman too, but personally, I dislike it. And, since it is offset to one side, it tends to block one of the radiators. Not good.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Some European plates are not as tall (typically about 4" tall by 18" long), so they can actually be fitted into the central "grill" area of the 718. But the taller NJ plate that I have (which is about 6" tall by 12" long) won't fit. What to do?

-----------------------------------------------------------------

While experimenting, I took an old NJ license plate and tried bending and "curling" it, to see if it could be squeezed into the front grill area. While not ideal, I thought it looked better than any other choices. I like the fact that it is "formed" into the central grill area rather than jutting out like the stock mount or the tow-hook mount.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The "not ideal" part of this is the fact that you have to bend the license plate....which you are not supposed to do. It is technically possible that a police officer might object to this and give you a ticket. My guess it that this is pretty unlikely. But if you're risk-adverse, don't do this.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The good thing about my setup is the fact that you only have to drill ONE, very small hole in the central "grill" panel. If you want to change this later on, you can easily patch the hole with a dab of black RTV or a small, black plastic plug. The hole needs to be big enough for a 6-32 screw to fit though. I used a 5/32" drill bit. In my case, I used a 3/4" long machine screw that I ended up shortening after assembly. (you could use a similar metric size). I used a stainless steel screw to prevent any rust.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Here's the hole I drilled.

I used 1/8" thick aluminum stock to create the "plate holder" (6061 if you want to get fussy). The front "plate holder" is 2" tall by 12" long (ignore the black paint on the left side of it.....I just didn't bother to clean it off). The smaller "backing plate" (which goes behind the plastic grill piece) is about 1.5" tall by 3" long. Both the backing plate and the plate mount get a hole drilled dead center. I used a 5/32" drill bit. You will also need to drill two small holes on the left and right side of the plate holder, about 1/4" from the end. These two holes will accept zip ties to hold the license plate to the plate holder. At some point you will also need to drill two small "zip tie holes" on the left and right side of your license plate. The central, black plastic "grill" area of your car will be "sandwiched" between the plate holder and the backing plate.

Here's the re-shaped, curved license plate.

I re-shaped the license plate in this manner: I pinched it in a vice between some round tubing and a block of wood and bent it over. This is trail and error and it helped that I tried this with an old license plate first.

I have big hands so it's tough to get the backing plate in behind the grill. There's some access holes but they are small. I was going to have my wife do this, but I ended up duct-taping the plate to a skinny wooden stick and was able to guide it into position (with the screw going through the plastic grill). I also duct taped the screw head so it would stay in the plate.

With the screw sticking out of the grill, I gingerly slid the plate holder over the screw and threaded on a nut. While everything was still loose, I threaded two zip ties into the plate holder (one at each end).

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Then I "squared up" the plate holder and tightened the 6/32 nut onto the screw. Since the screw was slightly long, I trimmed it down with a hand-held hacksaw blade. I filed off the rough end and put a layer of duct tape over it to protect the back of the license plate

Then just zip tie the license plate into position and you should be all done.

Nial McCabe's Race Events

McCabe Vintage Racing Sprite

McCabe Racing Escort