Number plate removal

[graham]

I've managed to change a number of things on my cars over the years, however, I'm stumped on how to remove the plates??

I assume they are just on sticky pads, but I'm worried the plates will snap if I pull too hard. Any ideas?

Many thanks in advance from an ashamed mechanical genious!

 

[Berty]

Mine are quite clearly screwed on, with the screws towards the outside of the plates.

 

[Gordon]

Graham, if they aren't screwed in, then it's likely they are on sticky pads of some sort.

My suggestion would be if you are removing the plates simply for cleaning, not to do it until summer/warm weather, so the glue is softer. Or get a just boiled kettle, one that is still boiling is better if you have a flex long enough to reach the car, and get the hot water vapour flowing around the plate to soften the sticky pads; then the plate should come off without it snapping; in theory.

Good luck.

 

[Destined for Victory]

i removed mine early last year and they are on sticky pads i pulled the number plate as far out as i could leaving a small gap then i used a very thin stanley knife i "borrowed" from work to poke down behind and cut away the sticky pad then its just a case of removing the rest of the pad thats stuck to the car, was simple enough to do

 

[D4VP-C(309)]

Fishing line behind the plates normally works

 

[hoolio]

Fishing line behind the plates normally works

Just about to say the same maybe in conjunction with a hairdryer to soften the glue.

 

[son of solo]

always worth checking when plates are screwed onto the tailgate...remove to check that some hero at the dealers hasnt just drilled straight into the tailgate to fix, there are proper holes but rarely get used. what happens is the area around the new hole starts to rust with the rain and salt getting in and they you got problems....
this happened on my MK1 172....i always check now.

 

[Cue]

mine are bolted on - headless screws basically.

 

[graham]

Cheers for the ideas everyone. It came off with a bit of gentle (read yanking).

All sorted now!

 

[Berty]

always worth checking when plates are screwed onto the tailgate...remove to check that some hero at the dealers hasnt just drilled straight into the tailgate to fix, there are proper holes but rarely get used. what happens is the area around the new hole starts to rust with the rain and salt getting in and they you got problems....
this happened on my MK1 172....i always check now.

Cheers for that, a job for my next day off work.