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Front License plate holder REMOVAL


Edgieguy

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www.bumperplugs.com might be the way to go....

 

I check out bumperplugs too... but when I saw that for 35$ I would still need to drill the holes bigger...I decided to go with the suggested tip. We dont have Lowes here so I just went to homedepot picked up two 0.74$ chrome lockable plugs and voila! It looks great... It looked so good I even got a high-five from my wife.... :blush:

 

Thanks guys... this forum is turning out to be a lifesaver

Edited by SELAWD2011
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Thanks for replying, but I am not sure how to pull the whole piece, looks like the bumper is attached with something else. I tried to lift it, but did not work.

 

By the way.. I had the pesky rivets too... I drilled them out.. went straight at them with a 1/2 inch bit...after a bit the top began to turn so I gave it a little upwards pressure and it popped off... I then grabbed a 3/16" bit to drill the remaining stub into the back of the bumper.. it fell off cleany.. :whew:

 

By the way... when drillinginto the bumper to fit the 3/8" plug I suggest you position the bit as straight as possible and then fully squeeze the drill to make for a clean hole... I went slowly with the smaller bits as I worked my self up to 3/8" and noticed it was peeling the chrome off... So when I got to 3/8 I did it full speed and it did a great job.. I did however have slioght peel so I pushed it in the holes with my fingers and then snapped the plug in to secure it in place. :rockon:

Edited by SELAWD2011
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Thanks for replying, but I am not sure how to pull the whole piece, looks like the bumper is attached with something else. I tried to lift it, but did not work.

 

I showed this link, to a member here, from mechanixtrix for removing the bumper on a Gen1 Edge, which is essentially the same.

 

 

He used that, and did an awesome write up for the LED bars DRL retrofit. It shows the link in the first part of his thread:

 

DIY

 

Edited by cal3thousand
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I showed this link, to a member here, from mechanixtrix for removing the bumper on a Gen1 Edge, which is essentially the same.

 

 

He used that, and did an awesome write up for the LED bars DRL retrofit. It shows the link in the first part of his thread:

 

DIY

HA, FINALLY!! I spent 3 hours to remove the lower grille, and I am gonna warp it to black now! Thanks again for your help. By the way, I have a se version and I am trying to put the led in there, looks like I have to wire it just like doing the HID, right>???

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  • 1 year later...

so i attempted to do the removal of my plate. bought a 7/32in drill bit, started on one, but then the rivit started to spin and broke off the plastic holding it. same thing with the other one.

 

any suggestion on getting those rivits out without removing the grill, since all they do is spin? should i get a small bit and then move up? this is the drill bit i bought http://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-7-32-in-Titanium-Split-Point-Drill-Bit-DW1380/202248748#.UZ9vmpzl8n0

 

 

 

the drill bit went in part of the way to make some nice sharp burs on the ends

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  • 2 months later...

I have broken several drill bits trying to get those damn rivets out and that f***ing plate bracket won't come the f*** off.... I just bought a load of vinyl and can't even get that piece off... There's holes clean through the other side and it still isn't budging, I'm about to hulk out on it.

Edited by mandysueee
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I don't know if it helps you all or not. But since I just replaced my grilles, I went and took a few photos of the rear of the license plate bracket so that you could see what you are dealing with. Actually, it took me less than 20 minutes to remove and replace my bumper. May be worth it to those of you having trouble drilling out the rivets.

 

post-22533-0-13398100-1376830249_thumb.jpg post-22533-0-94377700-1376830267_thumb.jpg post-22533-0-08438300-1376830285_thumb.jpg

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One rivet drilled out pretty easy, the other one started spinning pretty bad which ended up scuffing chrome on the insert a little when I finally got it off. Put two of the chrome plugs in and it looked pretty decent...

 

And then the wife rear ended a flatbed truck which damaged the lower insert. I had repairs done at the body shop at the dealer and SPECIFICALLY requested that they order a lower insert without the bracket...and so now, she's got a beautiful clean smile (sans plastic). I can look at my invoice to see what the cost is if its needed.

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  • 2 weeks later...

2013 Edge Limited (white platinum tri-coat). Have had it for 2 weeks and finally decided to get rid of the cheap dealer-installed license plate holder on the front chrome grill.

 

I went to Lowes and got the 3/8" chrome plugs. It took me about an hour to remove the METAL rivets with a drill, a screw driver, and two different pairs of pliers (worst hour of my life). Ended up with 1/4" holes so I slowly worked my way up to 3/8" with progressively bigger drill bits so as not to leave big burrs on the hole. Rubbed some super-glue gel (that's tested for plastic and metal) on the inside of the hole and pressed in the chrome plugs.

 

Bam! It looks great. Not perfect but WAY better than it did with the license plate holder. Only solution I can imagine would be better is to buy and install a new grill (which I did consider).

 

shootr

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 8 months later...
  • 1 year later...

I drilled off my front plate holder off yesterday. I went with the matching pre-painted ones from BumperPlugs.com, though after ordering them, I realized that was silly because I have touch-up paint coming for that hood scratch and could have got something much cheaper and painted those myself. Ah well. There's some scuffing from where the holder sat, but I think they'll buff out fine. If not, I guess I'll suck it up and have the holes filled in and the whole piece repainted some time. One of the holes was the exact size needed for the plug, but the other somehow wound up a tad larger than ideal. I managed to get the plug held in place with a rubber washer from behind, but I'll need to use something to make it hold more securely. Before and after pics attached.

 

post-39725-0-45450000-1457628873_thumb.jpg post-39725-0-49104900-1457628870_thumb.jpg post-39725-0-64963600-1457628871_thumb.jpg

 

Here's another option I ran across, but I decided that they would look awkward sticking out as much as they would.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B5ZYY38/ref=s9_simh_gw_g263_i1_r?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0E471HT3GVBKW8WJBYZT&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2079475242&pf_rd_i=desktop

post-39725-0-49104900-1457628870_thumb.jpg

post-39725-0-64963600-1457628871_thumb.jpg

post-39725-0-45450000-1457628873_thumb.jpg

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  • 6 months later...

Hey all. New to the forum and to the Edge, and I'm loving both! I have removed my front tag holder and plan on running by Lowe's tomorrow for a couple of those chrome plugs that look pretty flush once installed (like some of the other posts). I will post pics once complete. Thanks for the help and tips! - bubb

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