Clean your plate

[altspace]

One item on the car most of us leave out in the cleaning process is our license plates. They too get dirty and if your like me you want them looking as shiny and new as your car. Especially in regards to the rear plate as dirt and contaminants can become logged behind the plate scarring the paint or worse cutting through over time.

It takes all of a minute to take off the plate, wash it, and clean the spot behind it. Add a coat of wax while your at it to the plate and the car.

This announcement is sponsored by the clean plate club.

 

[Captain KRM P5]

favorite new post of the day

 

[blue-sun]

My wife traded in her Accord last weekend for a Ford Edge. I detailed it for her this past weekend (we had all that rain from Ike right after we bought it and a full schedule during the week) and I pulled the rear plate off in order to clean it and I noticed some rust stains from the screws that hold the plate in.

Yes, I took the buffer to it and it worked! LOL

here's a crappy iPhone pic from later on the day after I detailed it.

 

[BlackCherry06]

I went to Lowes and bought a package of those small, clear silicone 'stoppers', like you find on the back of a bug deflector, and put them on the back of my plate so water doesn't get stuck back there and the plate doesn't rub the paint. It gets dirty back there (water spots mainly) but the plate can't grind it into the paint now.

 

[Bugsy3823]

Most license plate screws that come from the dealership tend to rust after 6 months (especially if you live where it snows a lot). A great substitution for this is to buy plastic screws. Also, to help the license plate stay clean, buy a license plate cover. This protects it from any scratches, debris and even dents (especially good for vanity plates that you do not want damaged)

 

[altspace]

I use polished stainless steel bolts. Much better than plastic for apperance.

 

[tunersteve]

I use polished stainless steel bolts. Much better than plastic for apperance.

Yep, I recommend that as well. Living in MI, I actually had my old car's bolts sieze in the holes and had to drill & tap them to fix the issue. Won't let that happen again.