I'm sure others have bought a car with an un-needed (and unloved in my case) front plate and have removed it or wanted to and didn't know what to do with the holes. I took a few pics along the way and wanted to share for anyone interested.
Here is the car with the front plate, and all the holes the bracket left behind.

From quarter view - prior to front plate delete

All the holes in the front bumper from the bracket - and too-long plate screws
The holes were actually smaller that 3/16", which is the smallest nylon plugs available at Lowes, so I was going to have to carefully drill the holes out a little. I started with the 2 from too-long plate screws, since if it didn't work it wouldn't matter, I could still put the plate back on and live with it. I bought a ColorRite touch-up kit thru Amazon and gave the plugs 2 coats of color and 2 of clear. I cleaned, polished, and sealed the front bumper before verifying the plugs would fit and look decent so I wouldn't be trying to polish around them and tear everything up.

3/16” nylon plugs from Lowes, painted to match car

Bumper thoroughly cleaned and sealed
The "after" shots below show that up close they look fine - if there were only 2 it would be hardly noticable, but 5 does catch the eye. Standing up, they really disappear from a few feet away. I think it is a nice improvement - and worth the $3.36 in parts (plus paint we all need anyway).

Plugs installed in bumper

Plugs are visible from low and close

Plugs pass the “5 foot” test

 

I did the same thing it still looks like crap... 5 screws to hold on a license plate WTF

 

Should have been 3 - which is still 1 too many, but instead of screwing short bolts into some plastic clip-nut-things someone ran 2 more bracket bolts thru the plate and into the bumper. Yuck!

 

Here in the UK it is a legal requirement to have a front number plate.

Yes 5 screws on mine too, but took the plate and the holder off (cleaned up as it was filthy under there!) and paid a body shop to fill & finish professionally, cost me £100.

Then stuck an adhesive one on the bonnet. Technically not legal but has passed two of our Ministry of Transport (MOT) test without an issue. It helps that without fail the testers are petrol heads

 

Did the body shop just blend in that lower part and how did it come out?

 

it is a legal requirement in many, if not most, US states as well. but more often than not it's also (casually?) referred to as a "secondary offense," which is to say, 99% of the time no officer will pull you over for it -- but if they pull you over for anything else then the fine for not having it will be tacked on to your ticket.

 

No front plates required - or available in Florida, so I guess the previous owner had a chrome Leaper plate or similar on it. I like to see the face of my car.

 

The front of the XK looks beautiful without a registration carrier and plate. However, at least the space was designed for it unlike the earlier XK8 where it looked awkward and out of place however it was mounted. My 2001 and 2005 XK8's:





The carrier on my 2014 XK is about half an inch too high instead of being fully below the grille opening. One of the things on the "to do" list:





We don't have a choice in the UK over front registration plates. If we did and I could remove mine, the only solution for me would be to have the holes filled and the bumper refinished with a blended repair. Anything short of that would annoy me every time I walked past the vehicle.

Graham

 

Thank you!

Yes plate removed, filled and blended in, I have a lot of faith in my paint guy as he use to be the master sprayer/trainer at Gaydon for AM

There was also a ding/crease to deal with where the previous owner had either hit something with the number plate plinth or more likely had someone reverse into him.

The repair/blending is invisible and far (IMO) better looking than bumper plugs.

I've only had popo approach me twice and that was to admire the car, one even asked if he could take a selfie with it!. I also asked officers in an APNR equipped Police van would register the front plate...and it could

 

I did wonder about that when I saw your photo and thought the reason may be more slanted towards escapology than aesthetics.

Graham

 

That's a neat solution. If you get chance, would you please take a photo of the front of the car 'head on' - I'd like to see the overall look of your solution. It reminds me a little of the old E-Type solution, which can be no bad thing.

I notice on my regular trips to London that almost all of the guys with Ferrari, Lambo, Bugatti, etc etc, which I see a ton of in SW1 and EC1 just don't bother with a front plate at all. I've seen police sitting in traffic looking at these cars sometimes and they don't seem to bother the drivers at all. I imagine it would be different in the sleepy part of the country I live in.

I'd consider your solution though as a good 'halfway house', especially with the E-Type connotations.

 

Same here. Not to pick fault with the OP#s solution but for me, the cure is worse than the problem. I'd rather see the plate than the repair.

 

Usually if you're pulled over they will give you a ticket for it, but you can go to court (or mail it in) and as long as you provide proof that it was installed later, they will throw it out.

I just use double sided tape temporarily and take a picture.

No chance I am ever drilling into the bumper and permanently mounting a plate - the car does not look the same with it.

 

Amen!

 

I lucked out as my car came from a 1 plate state. They put the plate bracket in the trunk for me. No holes in the front bumper cover. What I because i'm a front state plate was mount an aluminum angle under the front . I then mounted the plate holder to the angle and used double sided tape on the back of the plate bracket. So whoever bought the car in the future just needed to remove the bracket and the angle and no visible holes.

 

FOR UK OWNERS ONLY

Here is a ton of official government information relating to number (license) plates and the MOT Test.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-insp...of-the-vehicle

The guidance is for those actually conducting the MOT Test. Although there are many requirements regarding number plates, there is nothing specifically in the test which precludes mounting the plate on the car body in the MarkyUK manner shown in the photograph. Specifically, there is no MOT Test requirement for the plate to be 'vertical' - just legible which MarkyUK's is. There is no requirement for the Vehicle Tester to check for 'verticality'. This would suggest that a vehicle cannot be failed for this reason so long as the plate follows all of the other mandates, which is in line with MarkyUK's experience.

It is not mentioned on the MOT Tester Guidance Information, but I have also read that it is a separate legal requirement that a UK registration plate must be readable by Police APNR cameras. This has nothing to do with the vehicle passing the MOT Test, which it will so long as all the conditions in the link are followed, but is a separate issue of legality. Judging by the photograph of MarkyUK's car, I would say that APNR cameras would have no difficulty in reading his registration number. APNR is also used in various car parks (parking lots) on entry and exit and it would be useful to know if @MarkyUK has experienced any problems with these.

I am considering following MarkyUK's example and mounting my registration plate in the same way since it looks much better, IMO, than front bumper mounting. This will also mean a trip to a local body shop to have the holes filled and repainted. I can get a few stone chips dealt with at the same time.

EDITED TO ADD:

I just texted my pal who is a UK Police Traffic Officer and asked his opinion about the mounting of the plate and the APNR issue. This is his verbatim reply:

"Looks OK to me. I've seen lots like it, as long as the font is the right size and it looks like [MarkyUK's] pic, then don't worry! Most APNR read from the back anyway."

He did go on to say "Don't go putting neon lights underneath and adding a massive exhaust and dump valves though!" I think we will be OK on that score

@MarkyUK - any chance of a photo from the front when you have time? I'd like to see it and also use yours as a 'template' for mine regarding exact positioning etc. Where did you buy the self-adhesive plate and are they easy to fix so you don't get air bubbles etc? Thanks.

FURTHER EDIT:

I found what looks like a supplier of good quality stick-on plates in the UK:

https://www.onestopnumberplates.co.u...n-digits-only/

 

Barnsie, so you grassed me up to the fuzz??

Just been out and taken some more pics for you, I assure you it is dead straight but at angles doesn't look it



Soz as the car is dirty

My personal observations are:

1) On a white car it needed the black border, on yours it may not.
2) Order at least 4 as they will wear at the edges, mine is 18 months on and in need of replacement (I have 3 spares so no worries).
3) Get the paint shop to apply it they should have a better eye than you and me...well certainly me

 

Why didn't you mount it on the cross bar under the main grill

 

I did! LOL. But I made my mate promise not to make the 400 mile round-trip drive to nick you It's useful I think to get the view of an experienced traffic cop. Trust me, if Dave doesn't pull people for this, nobody will

Thanks very much. I can get all the info I wanted from the pics. Much appreciated.

I always have a border in the car's colour anyway, so in this case I will go for a dark grey border.

OK, thanks.

Good point. I'm pretty good at that sort of thing but as it will be in the shop anyway for the holes to be repaired, they can do it.

Thanks again for the photos.

 

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose? The original UK plate is mounted there and is the same size, more or less, as his stick-on, so it wouldn't make much difference to the aesthetics. What I like about MarkyUK's solution is that it leaves the entire dual grille unmolested (and, to me anyway, using the stick-on plate reminds me of how the E-Type used to look. I believe E-Types came with a stick-on plate direct from Jaguar.

Also, I don't think that cross bar is deep enough - the letters on the plate are actually taller than that bit of bodywork (the size is mandated by UK regs).