griffinhot

I am new to this forum and bought my first Corvette this month, a 2007
Monterey Red coupe. Did not realize how much I would come to dislike the factory plate mount on upper potion of the bumper.
I have search for info on removal and there are suggestions that it is probably not screwed on but held by 3 spots of some sort of adhesive. To remove someone suggested fishing line to saw through the adhesive to remove plate mount and clean the remainder from the bumper with WD-40 or another cleaner.
However, I cannot find the result of the removal. Specifically, does this process cause damage or discoloration to the bumper? Are there other ways to go about the removal? The paint on my car is excellent but I assume the plate has been on there for 10 years and the covered area may have been protected from the surrounding area fading. Could not tell
how much until plate is removed but others would have notice when they
removed the plate on their car.
Any info on this subject would be appreciated as the plate has to go.

Jmhornz71

Congrats on your Vette. I didnt remove mine it fell off. There were some scratches and to small indents in the bumper from screws that were just a tad long didnt make a hole . The color was still matched to the rest of the car and some touch up paint and a little rubbing and its hardley noticeable

HBsurfer

Take the license plate off of the bracket and make sure the bracket is not screwed to your bumper. It happens a lot. If you see bolt or screw heads, your bumper will be a mess. If not, it is held on with double sided tape and should be easy to remove. Fishing line works well. Plastic pry tools are fine. Don't use a screwdriver or anything metal to pry it off. When you remove the bracket, use Goo Gone , WD40 or something similar to get the glue residue off. You paint will be fine.

Midnight08

My 2008 came with the same front plate. I basically pried, pulled, cut the adhesive, until I got the mounting plate off. No damage to the shape, nor paint. The adhesive left is tough to get off and if you're not careful, it would be easy to damage the paint. What I found to work the best, and I use that term loosely, is Goo Gone. Basically saturating the area/edges and letting it work in a bit, then rub off the edges as they will come off. Initially, once the plate was off, I would try to trap an edge of the adhesive strip using needle nose pliers and slowly peeling it off. This requires a lot of patience, but almost easier than relying on the Goo Gone. It's time consuming, no matter how you go about it.

Regardless of the approach, make sure you clean and wax/protect the area once you are done, if you choose to go down this road.

Also, many states require a front plate, so be mindful of that, too. It might be a pain visually, but getting a ticket for it being gone could be a pain, too. Some keep them on the dash, as some states will allow that, but I have no interest in the plate scratching the dash, nor becoming some kind of projectile if I need to brake quick.

Good luck!

drthomas60

Some of the plates are held on with rivets. I just removed mine and it was held with three rivets that go all the way through the front plastic. If you take the plate off and look at the three indentations they will either have rivets or not, if not consider yourself lucky and just use fishing line and a little heat from a blow dryer. if rivets then you are looking at drilling and filling holes, i am currently in the middle of the job and have almost finished, i plan on some pictures soon. before and after, my thread is here: removed my front plate holder finally.

Good luck

Wampa

Mine was adhesive. Heat gun (hairdryer would also work) softened adhesive so that it easily peeled away. I used compound polish that I had around anyway to remove remaining residue. No evidence left that it was ever there.

TexasMadMan

I also have an 07 Monterey red. I was lucky that adhesive was holding mine on but be advised it's possible the plate holder may have rubbed on the paint along one of the holder edges. Mine did and it shows slightly.

Enjoy your car.

owc6

I pulled my '05 plate off on a warm day, and yes it was that simple.

I wonder about a nose wart that has stayed on there for ten years, though. It might be one of the dreaded ones that the stupid dealer actually screwed on.

griffinhot

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I was thinking the 3 rivet heads on the front of the mount may have just held parts of the mount together. But I now assume it is the same attachment drThomas had encountered. I have a cousin who has owned a body shop for years and is very talented in dealing with problems and let him take a look. I have also seen ads for mount covers painted to match your car. That might help, but I would probably continue to think of it as the wart on my Vette's noses.

cmonkey713

Best way to do it.

griffinhot

Thanks