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Recently moved to a state that requires front and back license plates. I have a '96 Honda civic (old but good), it did not have a front plate when I bought it. There are four pre-made holes in the front bumper, but no screws. I bought the correct sized screws/nuts and went to install the front plate but found a thick layer of foam(?) blocking me from reaching behind the front bumper and tightening the screws with the corresponding nuts.

I don't think leaving the screws without a nut is a good idea because I'm sure just the movement of driving can cause them to become loose or something. I tried googling how to install front license plates for my specific car but was told the same thing which amounted to drilling holes in my bumper. My issue is that I can't reach behind the bumper regardless. The only solution I can think of is to buy screws a size too big and force them to thread into the existing holes, but I'm hoping there's a better solution?

Update

I shopped around a couple car places for screws. I didn't realize this earlier but at some point the screw is the right size to fit into the hole, but too big to fit through the license plate. I had a guy with a riveter help me out to a degree, we got the screws to thread through the plate and into the plastic lining the hole, but didn't quite "bite" into it snugly enough. Driving didn't bother them but a person could pull them out easily enough. Settled for using heavy-duty zip ties right now. We'll see how long those last!

Struggling
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2 Answers2

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The front licence plate bracket on a Civic consists of 3 parts. The first is the part your dealing with. Inside the bumper there should be plates with nuts welded to it. Number 4 in the picture, 2 required. The only way to get at it is to remove the bumper fascia (plastic cover). In a civic this is pretty easy. There are only a hand full of bolts and push pins holding it in place.

The second is a bracket that holds the bottom of the license plate. Number 3 in the picture.

The third is a license plate frame. Number 9 in the picture. enter image description here

vini_i
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Here’s what worked for me (I simply fastened the plate directly to the bumper:

Supplies: ‘license kit’ @ four 1/4” x 5/8” slotted hex screws and four rectangular plastic nuts

  • Drill 2 holes into bumper using 1/2” bit, depth only needs to be about 1/2”
  • snap the plastic ‘nut’ into the holes
  • using slotted hex screws, fasten plate
CivicGuy
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