Cleanest way to mount license plate

[AZ_Mike]

I finally passed smog on the third try after some valve and carb work and got my new 712amb licensed and registered. I ended up going to a private MVD office after the supervisor at the MVD went into a meltdown over the VIN being too short, certificate of compliance, gray Market, and LV3 inspection, initial retail price, etc. She got very aggravated every time I corrected her when she mentioned Australia.

I have a meticulously restored ambulance with all the original medical equipment. There are clear signs of it having aftermarket tail lights "restored" to stock and it has the reverse sensor installed in the tranny but the wires are cut off. I am not that sort of Pinz owner ( I bought it to get it muddy) but I am trying to preserve as much as possible for that type of owner to retain value or valuable parts.

What is the best way to install the license plate on the ambulance while preserving the quick disconnect military plate mounts. I am clearly going to have to add holes and I assume self-tapping sheet metal screws.

Mike

[undysworld]

Often you can drill new holes in the license plate, to fit the existing fasteners on the vehicle. That way you don't alter the truck.

[AZ_Mike]

Upon further inspection, the quick detach mount was mounted to a oversized aluminum plate that was definitely not military. It was installed so high that it would have blocked dissasembling the two licence plate lamps to change bulbs. It looks like someone put four rivet nuts into the fiberglass three of which were welded to the screes with rust and spun and had to be pulled out leaving rough holes. I think I'm going to do the same but with stainless hardware and anti-seize and mount the plate directly to the fiberglass. I will have to fill, sand, and repaint where the original holes are.

For the time being the license plate is taped to the inside of one of the rear ambulance windows.

Mike

[AZ_Mike]

The ambulance door is not so thick. Starting to think about a couple through bolts instead.

Mike

[4x4Pinz]

I like the sex bolt style when bolting through material that has little structural integrity such as fiberglass or layers of sheet metal separated by insulation. Keeps the distortion down and allows items to be secure.

[AZ_Mike]

I considered using sex bolts but decided instead to use a stainless 1/4" carriage bolts because I want to caulk them and be able to remove the the license plate in the future without having everything twist inside.

I have the parts and plan on drilling the holes tomorrow. Today I was working on my JW Speaker Model 165 taillight assemblies and have the mechanical mounting done and just need to work on the electrical. Looks like the previous owner who did the ambulance restoration reverted from modern headlights too stock and cut out some of the wiring and left some things too short. It's going to be a little bit more work than it otherwise would have been.

Mike

[AZ_Mike]

I mounted it today with steel carriage bolts completely through the door. Well sealed with silicone caulk.

[whitesik]

Sounds like my input is a little late but I used nutserts if that would help anybody in the future.

[AZ_Mike]

I've encountered other nutserts on the fiberglass ambulance body including the unit plate that look like they were done correctly and the screws come right out. Not sure what was wrong with that plate holder and how the nutserts there got so corroded.

Mike