Rear license plate - Feng Shui Nightmare

[kanuck]

I have just changed my exhaust from a rarlyl8 zork and 934 waste gate dump pipe to a GT3 setup (with waste gate secretly exiting inside the right pipe) and now my big clunky license plate seems to be affecting the car's Feng Shui!

I'm thinking about having a bracket built to shift the plate to the left side of the bumper.

Does anyone have their rear license plate anywhere but the center of the bumper? Pics perhaps?

Has anyone "trimmed" their plate (maybe a quarter inch off the top and bottom) to have it fit that european bumper a little better?

[McLaren-TAG]

Get a customized plate with only one or two characters and trim it so you have much more room to maneuver.

[GH85Carrera]

Check with the local authorities about restrictions on plate size and placement.

[kanuck]

Because the plate hangs over both the top and the bottom of the bumper, the plate is getting slightly "browned" by the right hand pipe as well.

[javadog]

2 options;

Make a new bracket to raise the plate up.
Make a small heat shield to give an air gap over the pipes. It could be incorporated into the tag bracket, or attached to it.

Moving the plate to the left or right side of the bumper would look like crap, in my opinion.

JR

[kanuck]

My wife just told me to move to Germany where the plate will fit.

I certainly want to keep it in the center if possible. I typically would not go this route, but this plate is driving me nuts, so I am toying with the idea of slicing a little off the top and bottom of the plate so it fits perfectly on the bumper with no overhang. Enough can be taken off without touching any of the numbers or other script and with a little custom plate carrier that hides any raw sides, it may not be that noticable.

The Ontario highway trafffic act only mentions that numbers can not be obstructed and the plate can not be altered in a way that stops photo radar from working.

As I am with javadog on moving it to the left or right would make it "look like crap," I'm also considering a new bumper.

[RedCoupe]

Have someone with a sheet metal brake fold the top and bottom of the plate over so it fits better. That way, you haven't actually removed any of the plate. We did this on a Jeep Wrangler so the rear plate didn't have to stick out beyond the driver's side like the stock Jeep license bracket does.

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

Originally Posted by kanuck

My wife just told me to move to Germany where the plate will fit.

She has a point!

I am toying with the idea of slicing a little off the top and bottom of the plate so it fits perfectly on the bumper with no overhang. Enough can be taken off without touching any of the numbers or other script and with a little custom plate carrier that hides any raw sides, it may not be that noticable.

The Ontario highway trafffic act only mentions that numbers can not be obstructed and the plate can not be altered in a way that stops photo radar from working.

What about just trimming off the outer boarder of the plate that is surrounding it? That's probably what I would end up cutting off.

[BFT3.2]

Like RedCoupe was saying, except I only folded the bottom so the top would be near flush on the '74 RS bumper. Drilled custom holes for proper positioning. Cant take credit for the idea, I stole it from my 70 year old neighbor who was a team mechanic on 904 & 906's. Drives a hot rodded '86 coupe. I hope Im that cool at 70!

[acme911]

Originally Posted by BFT3.2

Like RedCoupe was saying, except I only folded the bottom so the top would be near flush on the '74 RS bumper. Drilled custom holes for proper positioning. Cant take credit for the idea, I stole it from my 70 year old neighbor who was a team mechanic on 904 & 906's. Drives a hot rodded '86 coupe. I hope Im that cool at 70!

I like this idea. I will be needing a solution when mounting a GT3 muffler too.
I am thinking a thin rubber edge treatment around the plate would finish this off nicely.

[JQ911]

What is the size of your pipes? Diameter looks bigger in the photo than my GT3 style muffler on my 3.2. Mine has about 1" clearance from bottom of plate to top of exhaust pipe

[BFT3.2]

I added flat rubber 3mm washers between the plate and bumper to give it slight stand-off to protect the paint. Near the plate's lower edge I put a 1/2 piece of adhesive backed velcro behind it on either side to keep it from vibrating against the bumper. Yeah, I totally over thought this.

[BFT3.2]

Originally Posted by JQ911

What is the size of your pipes? Diameter looks bigger in the photo than my GT3 style muffler on my 3.2. Mine has about 1" clearance from bottom of plate to top of exhaust pipe

Pipes are 2.5". If your plate is mounted with the stock porsche license plate bracket it would be higher then mine. Just a thought

**Edit: Just realized your question is probably for the OP.

[kanuck]

BFT3, that is the inspirational pic I have been waiting for. Center exiting exhaust tips on a '74 RS bumper. Although I am probably going to trim the plate slightly as opposed to folding, your pic definitely shows that a plate that lines up with the top and bottom of the RS bumper (as opposed to hanging over), will restore lost feng shui!

So my final solution, (inspired by BFT3), will be to trim as little as possible off the top and bottom to make it line up perfectly with the RS bumper (unfortunately probably cutting just slightly more than the little trim piece that luccia suggested), and then having thin, black custom frame made from plastic or rubber (as acme911 mentioned) to finish the job and hide any raw plate edges.

Thank you for the collaborative effort!

[kanuck]

Originally Posted by JQ911

What is the size of your pipes? Diameter looks bigger in the photo than my GT3 style muffler on my 3.2. Mine has about 1" clearance from bottom of plate to top of exhaust pipe

My pipes (or tips actually) are the 4" Fabspeed 997 GT3 RS black ceramic tips.

I have my actual exhaust pipe coming from my turbo into the right tip and my waste gate runs into into the left tip, (no muffler).

I have about 1/8 of an inch of clearance, but I'm starting to think (based on BFT3.2's post and pic), that my issues may have been a product of the bumper and not the GT3 tips.

[kanuck]

Here is a picture from underneath.