I ordered the Ford Racing Mustang license plate frames without knowing that the holes in the rear bumper don't match up with holes in the frame. I also failed to realize that this particular frame has 4-mounting holes, while our bumpers only have 2 mounting holes.

I went to Advance Auto to get some clear license plate covers, but found these "License Mounting Plate" that allow you to slightly reposition the plate and bolt down both plate and frame with 4-bolts for a nice secure fit. These mounting plates were $4.97 a piece and work really well. I thought I''d share this with anyone that wants to use the Ford Racing or any other 4-bolt frame.

Front Bumper with Mounting Plate Adapter:


Front Bumper with Plate and Frame attached with 4 bolts


Rear Bumper with Mounting Plate Adapter:


Rear Bumper with Plate and Frame attached with 4 bolts.

 

Cool! I was thinking about that. I was gonna buy one and make a bracket for the front one that mounts under the front bumper.

 

Not sure I understand, my bumper has four mounting points that match up with the plate perfectly. What exactly is the problem you were having?

 

There are four mounting holes for the rear plate. Sounds like you had the same issue that I had - where the dealer didn't put one of their license plates on, so didn't drill the four holes for you.

You probably saw two small holes at the very top (still not sure what those are for), and four small dimples below (where the four license plate screws go).

I took mine to the dealer and had them drill out the holes, and I was all set.

 

Like RMac said...my dealer only had 2 holes drilled in the rear bumper - the top holes for mounting license plates. Had I tried to use those same holes to mount both the plate and the Ford Racing License Plate Frame, the bottom edge wouldn't lie flush against the bumper and was at a slight angle...ugly and would dig into the bumper material. The plated adapter allowed me to mount both the plate and the frame about 1/4" higher than it would if I had used the original 2 mounting holes.

I didn't realize that the dealer was the ones that drilled out the holes? I thought it was like that from the factory...oh well I learn something every day

Anyways, the plate adapter makes a nice clean fit, the plate is secure with 4 bolt...which I'll change later to some nice looking machined finished anti-theft bolts when I finds some. Plus I no longer have the bare metal rubbing against the plastic bumper.

Anways...it make for an easy fix for me. I don't wannna drill any new holes in the pony

BTW...my pictures of the Mustang frame don't do it justice, it was dark in my garrage. The frame looks like this:

I got them for like $6.69 a piece from http://www.johnbleakleyford.com/frparts.asp

Part # M1828D1

 

Still not completely clear, mine didn't have any "drilled" holes, just 4 little dents where the holes were supposed to be. I don't think the dealer did that, I think those little holes were from the factory.

 

The two tiny holes at the very top are from the factory. The four "dimples" are where the four license plate screws are supposed to go.

Since most dealers usually put on a license plate frame with their logo and info when they prep the car, most people probably have these four "dimples" drilled out when they pick it up.

Mine didn't, so I had the dealer drill them out (I have no drill nor drill bits lol) so that I could put my license plate on.