PhotoChopping the front end

Don't get it

I can't quite follow you Clark, but I think I want to break free of this discussion. I know we are the champions of BS in this forum, but let's get back to the discussion.

I love my car, but my car is 10.000 miles away safe in my garage, so you guys can go on photoshopping.
 
Smaller smile and middle bumper

makes it look a bit better I think...
Adding a bumper all across the front changes things for sure.

spoiler_zpskpb8aa3g.jpg
 
Again Mr. Clark... that plate really hampers cooling...

Prove it for yourself by running at speed above 60mph with it on and off and note your operating temp.

The solution is to move it to one side. Here is a nice example but difficult to form a "face" out of...



I like function before form but you are welcome to do what you want. Just watch out for those Mounties!
 
OEM brackets on the '74 run the front plate in a higher position so it doesn't disrupt radiator air inflow like Tony mentioned.
o9yVBOv.jpg
 
Not to be argumentative Rob... but I think...

you will find the faster you go the more air that is deflected by the plate even if it is high over the radiator.

I built a towbar adapter out of a 2 x 3 inch piece of angle iron where the 2 inch portion hung down from under the bumper for about 30 inches across. At speeds under 60mph, no problem as the air had time to re-compress around the obstacle and run through the radiator. Over 60, the car started to run hotter and hotter. I then removed the adapter and all was fine.

Others here have verified what I have said about the plate as well. There are also others that say it has no effect.

Prove it to yourself one way or the other is all I can say. Thanks for the kind words too.
 
Tony, no arguments just discussions right? :grouphug:

Are your findings based on the 1300 or the 1500 grille and front bumpers?

Blue baby runs nice and cool at speed (airflow dependent) and only shows a raise in the operating temp if I exit the freeway and engage in low speed driving. Even then, we're talking slightly above the 1/2 mark vs. slightly below the 1/2 while on the highway/freeway. I am running a stock temp cooling fan switch and a 180 degree thermostat.

Red baby (the 78) has the front plate on the 5mph bumpers at a slightly lower mount and it will heat up to 3/4 if I continue to drive it at 75+ mph. That might be attributable to the lower plate mounting but it also might be because the lack of a 5th gear has me running at 5000 rpm at those freeway speeds (4.48 ring and pinion). I am running a low temp cooling fan switch and a 180 degree thermostat.
 
Indeed, I did NOT take the 1300's into consideration...

whether they be the split '74 or ladder-bar...

The late model Bar-bumper could be the BIG deciding factor in this discussion.

BUT... two things could be a factor on your cars.

1. Calibration of the Temp Gauges on each car so that you are comparing apples to apples. I used Mama's digital turkey thermometer in the coolant reservoir plus and another analog one so I knew for sure the exact temperature at each mark. My $25 dollar HF Laser Thermometer is the cat's meow these days...

2. In your case, based on your words, you still have not proved it there would be a difference in operating temperature AT SPEED above 60 mph with the plate ON and then OFF.

Lastly you mentioned fans... or fan, as it were... and if there is only ONE, I strongly suggest you install another, preferably with the stock venturi-type housing. It will cut operating time down to about 15% of how long a single fan operates now.

Great chatting with ya and thanks for the head's up about the 1300's.
 
offset plate

Hi Tony,

moving the plate to the side works well on the bigger bumpers.
On the '74, I found that there really isn't a space for it offset.
The body curves so much, the bumper is not "square" and the turn signal musn't be obstructed.
LIving in a state w/o front plate really is the way to go! :)
 
Ulix said:
.....
LIving in a state w/o front plate really is the way to go! :)
Click to expand...

OK. That settles it. Which state do I need to move to again?
Question: Do you southern folks have Tim Horton's down there? Most Canadians can't live without their coffee!
 
I just ignore the front plate law in NY with the X1/9. Somehow, the cops don't notice it on that, they typically are more focused on the car, since there are no others in my area when we pass through random traffic checks that they hold for inspection/registration violations. I've never been stopped/ ticketed for no front plate, and it is a $400 fine.
 
Hey Ulix, Hussein, and others...

Where there is a will there is a way... I made up a bracket for Mike Busman's car and I believe it was mounted to the bumper shock mount. This was 4 years ago.





Mike Soter tried a couple of approaches here... In this case he mounted the plate to the right but apparently not far enough.




Seen here he has centered the plate and then "contoured" it to fit over the spoiler.



There are probably 100 other ways as well... but its best to move it so it does not block or otherwise redirect the air away from the radiator at speed.

AFAIK... States that only issue ONE plate anymore are becoming rare. AZ once only required one plate but now sends out TWO because the Law Enforcement Cameras need to ID your car from the front as well.

As Hussein says... usually one is not hassled and I have met with the same... even when once being cited for a 75 in a 45 speeding ticket in White Fang... the Sheriff went to the front of the car and sighed... then went around to the back to get the number. Same with Black Tooth a few years back with the AZ plates... and this time the cop asked if it was my car as I lived only a block away.

Alas... then there is my son who gets a fix-it ticket for no front plate even with the car PARKED in EL Segundo... about once a year. HE, along with the El Segundo Police Officer's Association and the City Council put on their BIG DOWNTOWN Car Show each year. Usually he gets the ticket fixed somehow and the new "Parking Enforcement Officer" tuned in. HA!
 
Black-Tooth said:
As Hussein says... usually one is not hassled and I have met with the same... even when once being cited for a 75 in a 45 speeding ticket in White Fang... the Sheriff went to the front of the car and sighed... then went around to the back to get the number. Same with Black Tooth a few years back with the AZ plates... and this time the cop asked if it was my car as I lived only a block away.

Alas... then there is my son who gets a fix-it ticket for no front plate even with the car PARKED in EL Segundo... about once a year. HE, along with the El Segundo Police Officer's Association and the City Council put on their BIG DOWNTOWN Car Show each year. Usually he gets the ticket fixed somehow and the new "Parking Enforcement Officer" tuned in. HA!
Click to expand...

I have a friend in California that is a very smart straight forward type that has a way of saying things in a manner that usually does not offend people. Mike and I did some four wheeling together over the years when I lived in SoCal and neither one of us had front plates because they got pretty bent up from going through brush and the occasional big rock. We often discussed the fact that we didn't have front plates so one day he asked his neighbor who was a CHP. The neighbor told mike that only a prick would give him a ticket for such a minor infraction. So Mike was heading up Cajon Pass about where the weigh station is and a CHP pulls Mike over and informs him that he didn't have a front plate. Mike in his unpretentious way relates what his CHP neighbor told him. As mike told me the cop pursed his lips together turn red and burst out "Well I'm a prick!" then wrote him a ticket for no front plate. I on the other hand drove sans front plate with out any hassle for nearly fifteen years on my 4X4 and my 128 until I moved to the mid west. I had been staying with an aunt for a few weeks until I bought a place down in Arkansas. I was pulling my camp trailer with my wife following in the Fiat 128 and had just crossed the bagnell Dam when a state trooper pulled me over when he noticed lack of plate. The cop and I had a discussion about it similar to what I have already related minus the prick part and I finished up telling him one of the reasons I decided on Arkansas was it didn't require a front plate. As the cop walked back to his unit there sat my wife in the 128 with no front plate. The cop kind of faltered in his step gave slight shake of his head and kept going.
 
Collector Vehicle plates in Washington State

In Washington State one can register their 30 year old or older (so basically almost ANY exe) with collector vehicle plates. The best part is that you only put one plate on the rear of the vehicle:

  • The plates are displayed on the rear of the vehicle. If you provide a set of restored plates, they may be displayed on the front and rear of the vehicle.
and
  • You don’t need to display month/year tabs on the plates.

wa-collvehflat.jpg


It is also pretty cool to do that restored plate thing mentioned, but then you must do both front/rear.

Since my exxe (when finished) won't be a daily driver, I'm totally going the collector plate route.
 
Also...

Also, in WA anyway, when you get collector plates you pay for them and never have to pay again for "tabs" or yearly registration. That, the no-front-plate-thing, and the relatively lax rules make it a no-brainer. Just can't be an obviously daily driver.
 
So Greg and Darin... can you also get custom collector...

plates? Maybe something with 5 letters, characters and/or numbers?

Plates (registration) here in the Golden State are so damn expensive that charges for "vanity plates" are a bit insignificant. Together though on 4 cars, its a coupla hundred more but I am blessed to be able to do it.

And when I do...except for the FIAT... I usually post them front and rear.

I get a kick out of figuring them out sitting in traffic especially when they are clever. Busman had to go a long ways to get BYG BRDD and have it mean something. Some are so far out there that only the OWNER knows what it means... and that kinda defeats the purpose of it all, IMHO.

Apostrophes can help as well as I thought of myself as PDC (pretty damn clever) when I came up with the plate for Mastracchio's Tomato Red X1/9. It will read P'MODORO, short for Pomodor or Pomodoro... which is Tomato in Italian. Pomodor was already taken. We also have words without vowels, others abbreviated and still others spelled wrong but sound and mean the same thing.

He's thinking about F'MAGGIO for is 124 too... short for Formaggio or Cheese in Italian.

Hey... continue having fun!
 
Black-Tooth said:
plates? Maybe something with 5 letters, characters and/or numbers?

Plates (registration) here in the Golden State are so damn expensive that charges for "vanity plates" are a bit insignificant. Together though on 4 cars, its a coupla hundred more but I am blessed to be able to do it.

And when I do...except for the FIAT... I usually post them front and rear.

I get a kick out of figuring them out sitting in traffic especially when they are clever. Busman had to go a long ways to get BYG BRDD and have it mean something. Some are so far out there that only the OWNER knows what it means... and that kinda defeats the purpose of it all, IMHO.

Apostrophes can help as well as I thought of myself as PDC (pretty damn clever) when I came up with the plate for Mastracchio's Tomato Red X1/9. It will read P'MODORO, short for Pomodor or Pomodoro... which is Tomato in Italian. Pomodor was already taken. We also have words without vowels, others abbreviated and still others spelled wrong but sound and mean the same thing.

He's thinking about F'MAGGIO for is 124 too... short for Formaggio or Cheese in Italian.

Hey... continue having fun!
Click to expand...

You have to be careful what you put on your personalized license plate. There is a man here that is a nurse practitioner and a Marine reserve. A real nice guy that stands 6+feet tall and is accomplished in the martial arts. A few years ago when "W" was in office he had a plate with BUSHIDO on it. He got a bit of flack about it but due to his imposing stature nothing much would ever come of it. When he did a tour in Iraq he took the plates off to keep his wife from being hassled. In a simple definition Bushido is a name for samurai warriors. Some people would read it as Bush I do.
 
HAHAHAHA... Cute... and yes I agree...

I like it when they make you think a bit and in this case, I don't think I would have researched Bushido BUSHIDO or BUSH I DO and the number of folks that would understand it would be severely limited.

Same goes for the Italian stuff I mentioned but there are far more Italians out there (or folks familiar with the lingo) than those of which you speak I would believe. Anyway... its fun... most of the time.
 
No...

No, you can't personalize your Collector plates. So it's a choice between the pay-once Collector Plate and the more expensive pay-more-and-also-every-year Personalized Plate. Also you would have two display front and rear.

What you can do if you want a Personalized Plate is get a Special Background, like if you are a cyclist or Veteran, or into horses or whatever. But, costs more.

http://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/licenseplates.html
 
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