Told my dealer to NOT DRILL and MOUNT FRONT LICENCE PLATE BRAKET to the bumper as I was going to figure out a way to mount a front plate without any HOLES. Looked at what was out there from the aftermarket, and did not really see anything I liked.
Ended up fabricating a mounting system to mount the factory front plate bracket to to the lower honeycomb grill without modifiying ANYTHING on the car.
Parts Needed:
* I found some rubber oil cooler mounting blocks in my junk box (approx. 7/8" x 1-1/8" x 2" long with 5/16" hole thru center) and cut a 3/8" wedge off one end to match the 30Deg lower grill angle (1-5/8" long top / 2" long bottom with the 1-1/8" block dim vertical).
* Strip of 1/8" x 1" S.S. x 11" long (cut from a piece of 304 S.S. I found at work)
* 2) 18-8 S.S. M6 x 90MM Long Pan Head Phillips Screws (McMaster Carr # 92000A470, $5.03 per pack of 5)
* 2) 18-8 S.S. #10 Size 1" O.D. Fender Washers (from local hardware store, $0.19 each)
* 2) 1" O.D. x 1/16" thick rubber washers (made from rubber sheet stock) to go between plate bracket & Fender Washers
* 4) Strips of 1/8" x 1" Adhesive Backed Closed Cell Neoprene to wrap around ends of S.S. Strip on eithe side of tapped holes (roll from McMaster Carr); not really neccessary but helps in positioning / holding strip in place as you tighten down the screws.
Drilling & Tapping the Stainless Steel Strip:
* Mark the 2 mounting holes in the S.S. strip 8-11/16" apart (centered).
* Drill the 2 holes using a 5MM drill (at 90 Degrees 1st).
* Then put it in an adjustable angle vise at 30Deg off of 90. With a hand drill run the drill bit thru starting at 90Deg to the strip and slowly work the drill bit until it is vertical and 30Deg to the strip.
* Now comes the tough part ... tapping the M6x1 thread on a 30Deg angle !! I chucked the tap in my drill press and with the chuck key slowly turned the chuck by hand ... use plenty of tapping fluid (in my case at home ... motor oil). 1st one went pretty smooth, but went too fast on the 2nd one and broke the tap. Got the broken part out and somewhat salvaged the tap by grinding down and re-chamfered end. With this fixed tap I had to go extra slow, but I got it to finish the job.
Installation:
* Remove the upper flat panel between the top of the grill & radiator support to gain access to the back of the lower grill (8 push pins that you grab the center part with two fingernails and pull up).
* Reach one arm down behind the grill with the flat bracket and with the rest of it assembled in front in your other hand get both screws started into the tapped holes.
* Before completely tightening, get it centered and level and making sure the two rubber blocks are centered over the two openings in the honey comb so you have equal engagement top & bottom.
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I originally wanted to use 10-32 screws (more threads than 10-24), but was having a hard time finding screws long enough and 1/4" was too big for the L-P bracket. The M6 ended up being the best bet, it is midway in size between 10 & 1/4" and they just barely fit thru the size 10 fender washers (had to spin them on) and the 90 MM length (3.54") was perfect. Probably would not have been able to sucessfully tap the smaller 10-32 on the 30Deg angle anyway.
You could also do this using a strip of galvanized steel and Zinc Plated Screws / Fender Washers, but I went with S.S. because this car will be driven year round and see at least 6 harsh Wisconsin winters before I sell it.
I orginally just used a 2" wide strip of 3/8" plywood and 4" long drywall screws and that worked fine too. But it is a much more "solid" installation with the metal hardware and having the tapped holes parallel with the grill openings and perpendicular to the plate bracket made it just fit so much better.
Here are 9 pics on photobucket:
2010-11 V6 Mustang No-Drill Fr L-P Bracket Adapter pictures by yellowV6sport - Photobucket
Doug
Ended up fabricating a mounting system to mount the factory front plate bracket to to the lower honeycomb grill without modifiying ANYTHING on the car.
Parts Needed:
* I found some rubber oil cooler mounting blocks in my junk box (approx. 7/8" x 1-1/8" x 2" long with 5/16" hole thru center) and cut a 3/8" wedge off one end to match the 30Deg lower grill angle (1-5/8" long top / 2" long bottom with the 1-1/8" block dim vertical).
* Strip of 1/8" x 1" S.S. x 11" long (cut from a piece of 304 S.S. I found at work)
* 2) 18-8 S.S. M6 x 90MM Long Pan Head Phillips Screws (McMaster Carr # 92000A470, $5.03 per pack of 5)
* 2) 18-8 S.S. #10 Size 1" O.D. Fender Washers (from local hardware store, $0.19 each)
* 2) 1" O.D. x 1/16" thick rubber washers (made from rubber sheet stock) to go between plate bracket & Fender Washers
* 4) Strips of 1/8" x 1" Adhesive Backed Closed Cell Neoprene to wrap around ends of S.S. Strip on eithe side of tapped holes (roll from McMaster Carr); not really neccessary but helps in positioning / holding strip in place as you tighten down the screws.
Drilling & Tapping the Stainless Steel Strip:
* Mark the 2 mounting holes in the S.S. strip 8-11/16" apart (centered).
* Drill the 2 holes using a 5MM drill (at 90 Degrees 1st).
* Then put it in an adjustable angle vise at 30Deg off of 90. With a hand drill run the drill bit thru starting at 90Deg to the strip and slowly work the drill bit until it is vertical and 30Deg to the strip.
* Now comes the tough part ... tapping the M6x1 thread on a 30Deg angle !! I chucked the tap in my drill press and with the chuck key slowly turned the chuck by hand ... use plenty of tapping fluid (in my case at home ... motor oil). 1st one went pretty smooth, but went too fast on the 2nd one and broke the tap. Got the broken part out and somewhat salvaged the tap by grinding down and re-chamfered end. With this fixed tap I had to go extra slow, but I got it to finish the job.
Installation:
* Remove the upper flat panel between the top of the grill & radiator support to gain access to the back of the lower grill (8 push pins that you grab the center part with two fingernails and pull up).
* Reach one arm down behind the grill with the flat bracket and with the rest of it assembled in front in your other hand get both screws started into the tapped holes.
* Before completely tightening, get it centered and level and making sure the two rubber blocks are centered over the two openings in the honey comb so you have equal engagement top & bottom.
-------------------------------------------
I originally wanted to use 10-32 screws (more threads than 10-24), but was having a hard time finding screws long enough and 1/4" was too big for the L-P bracket. The M6 ended up being the best bet, it is midway in size between 10 & 1/4" and they just barely fit thru the size 10 fender washers (had to spin them on) and the 90 MM length (3.54") was perfect. Probably would not have been able to sucessfully tap the smaller 10-32 on the 30Deg angle anyway.
You could also do this using a strip of galvanized steel and Zinc Plated Screws / Fender Washers, but I went with S.S. because this car will be driven year round and see at least 6 harsh Wisconsin winters before I sell it.
I orginally just used a 2" wide strip of 3/8" plywood and 4" long drywall screws and that worked fine too. But it is a much more "solid" installation with the metal hardware and having the tapped holes parallel with the grill openings and perpendicular to the plate bracket made it just fit so much better.
Here are 9 pics on photobucket:
2010-11 V6 Mustang No-Drill Fr L-P Bracket Adapter pictures by yellowV6sport - Photobucket
Doug
