Replacing Front License Plate on Honda Civic

Maintenance/Repairs
1

Hi,

I am having trouble replacing my front license plate on a 2000 Honda Civic. I was able to get the old plate off (by brute force) but now I have bolts sticking out that I can’t remove (the bolts keep turning but won’t come off). It seems like there might be a nut behind the bolt but I can not access it unless I was to unscrew a lot of the hardware under the hood. Does anyone have ideas of how I can remove the old bolts and then bolt on the new plates? Do I need to remove hardware under the hood so I can get to the nuts for the plates or is there any easier way? Thanks!

2

You may have to do some bolt cutting metal fabrication,got to use the talents you have,get inventive. License plate work rarely made it into the shop for a mechanic to do,doesnt pay

3

Most ft plate screws simply thread into the front bumper cover. Could be stripped threads. put a screwdriver behind the screw head while turning out the screw. hope this works

4

Are you talking about the bracket for the plate or the plate itself? The plate should not be bolted directly to the bumper but rather to the bracket. The bracket should then be attached to the bumper. You may need the bracket so once you get it off you can put it together again properly. At any rate, usually it is a square plastic socket pushed into a square hole in the bumper. When the screw goes in, it expands to hold it in place. I suspect it is just turning in the square hole which is not square anymore. You either need to get a plier, vice grip or something on the back side to hold it while you turn the screw out, or just cut or grind the whole thing off and start over, hence the need for a bracket that can be attached to the bumper.

5

Are you talking about the bracket for the plate or the plate itself? The plate should not be bolted directly to the bumper but rather to the bracket. The bracket should then be attached to the bumper.

I agree that it should be on a bracket but it is very common to see a plate bolted directly to the front cover.

6

Apply outward pressure, pinning the nut, with a screwdriver or better; use a putty knife(this blade will also seat into the threads and assist with the bolt removal).