[Vettewine]

FYI, it's not that hard to make your own front license plate mounting bracket using the tow hook mount. I didn't like the looks of any of the available contraptions so I designed and made my own that's custom fitted for CTS-V front ends. All materials were readily available online for less cost than most of the "ugly" retail ones available most places. Attached is my design specs

that's angled 10° from square to the front of the vehicle and uses readily available aluminum bar and rod stock, stainless steel M16 x 2 nuts and some elbow grease to bend and drill the bar stock and thread the rod on both ends. Finish applied was first Birchwood Casey Aluminum Black as a primer and then some rattle can semi-gloss black enamel to top it off.
Here's a few photos of the finished product on my 2011 CTS-V wagon...

 

[Jay-UMN]

looks nice. Did you just bend it in a vise or something similar?

 

[Vettewine]

I have a small 18" bending brake in my shop that's handy for small projects like this. It worked very well on the two 45° bends but I still had to use a vise to make the other two bends as they were too close together to use the brake. I picked up an M16x2 tap & die set on Amazon for under $10 which I ran over my Volvo tow hook to make sure it was the same thread (it was). The 5/8" diameter 6061-T6511 solid rod is great for threading and very sturdy. The 6063-T6 aluminum bar stock is also fairly sturdy so it's a bit hard to bend "freehand" but can be done with time and patience. All-in-all I probably have 3 hours into the project at a cost of materials of less than $25 not counting tools (which I always buy as needed for my shop).

 

[tinman]

I might consider shorter license plate mounting screws. Those look close to your paint.

 

[Vettewine]

I might consider shorter license plate mounting screws. Those look close to your paint.

You can actually see the reflection of the screw in the paint in the last photo which shows it's not too close (about 1/2") but you can always cut the screws off nearly flush to the SS locknuts if you like. The bracket is very sturdy and does not bend or flex easily so I doubt you would have any problem with scratching of paint (a definite no-no, for sure ).

 

[tinman]

Thankfully I live in a 'no front plate' state.

 

[Vettewine]

Thankfully I live in a 'no front plate' state.

Lucky you...! And don't get me started on all the other things wrong with the idiots running this state...!

 

[tinman]

Lucky you...! And don't get me started on all the other things wrong with the idiots running this state...!

Hold on a minute, you don't have a monopoly on that!

 

[Vettewine]

You mean there are other idiots running other states...? Gawd, they must've been "multiplying" when we weren't watching...! Sorry about that...

 

[Karch]

If you are going to talk about politics and government, politician, and other idiots, please take it to the Politics section.


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[Vettewine]

If you are going to talk about politics and government, politician, and other idiots, please take it to the Politics section.


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Just a little light-hearted commentary aside from the general topic of this thread. I'm sorry to say that you have contributed nothing to the subject at hand thus saying more about you than it does about us...!

 

[Karch]

Just a little light-hearted commentary aside from the general topic of this thread. I'm sorry to say that you have contributed nothing to the subject at hand thus saying more about you than it does about us...!

Thank you for letting me know your opinion, I’ll keep that in mind for the future.


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