License and number plate recess on the boot

[Fingolfin]

Using both US and UK terms there.

I'm sure British number plates fit fine in the boot recess, but does anyone have creative and attractive solutions for putting an American license plate there?

For comparison, those of you who don't know:
The UK license plate looks like this (520x111mm):

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While the US license plate looks like this (300x150mm):

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Obviously the US plate is taller and skinnier than its UK counterpart.

When I bought my Moggie, the plate was mounted on a large metal assembly that offset the plate from the body by about three inches. This was horrible because the number plate lamp wouldn't shine onto the plate, but behind it. So I need an alternative and haven't been able to find one. I had thought of a simple assembly using the existing holes in the boot shaped like an X that would attach those two holes and the four holes in the license plate, but I'm not sure if that's optimal.

Ideas?

[charlie_morris_minor]

could you not adapt a license plate assembly off a motor bike?

The MO has the plate mounted "upright" on the boot (trunk) with the light on top of that..

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgur ... start%3D36

[mike.perry]

The boot number plate is not even standard British, the plate needs the corners rounded off to fit the space. The U S is not alone, the rest of the world's plates do not fit

[Fingolfin]

Interesting idea, Charlie, but I don't like the look of it.

I was unaware of that, Mike -- it seemed that the recess would fit a British plate, but in retrospect, that must have been just a guess. So does anyone know why they cut the recess to that specification, if no plates fit it?

I suppose I'll end up going with my cross assembly idea, but I've still got ten or twelve weeks before I can do any work on it, since I'm away from Mog til then.

[PSL184]

I guess they either got it wrong or the size of a "standard" plate changed after the bootlid was designed.....

[mike.perry]

It is the only car I know of with rounded off corners on the number plate recess. My plates do not have the corners rounded off so do not fit properly but that is what the car was fitted with in 1952, so they can stay.

[ian.mcdougall]

Hi
I think the Rover 2000 had a plate with rounded corners not sure of the size some of the old jags had an odd size rear plate and I think the big old Rover 3 and a half litre rover had an odd size as well

[ferret76]

Australian plates are also a bad fit. You can see the top sticks up a bit and the bottom is resting on the plate lamp. You can get personalised "Euro" plates here but at a price. Even they don't fit properly.[frame][/frame]

[Bazzalucas]

My car was originally sold here, (Michigan, 1958), so the lid had two holes drilled which line up with the two bottom holes of the plate. I put a chrome frame on it to make the best of a bad situation. Have you considered mounting it on the bumper?

[FrankM83]

hmm can't you order a plate the size of the recess? over here we can and it fits perfectly!! I think the oonly good thing we have over here is that we can order plates whichever size we want

[Fingolfin]

Bazzalucas -- good to hear from another American Moggie owner. I considered bumper-mounting briefly, but this runs into the same problem as with the original bracket: the license plate light won't shine on the license plate, and will therefore be useless. I'd prefer the light shining on the plate to not by a margin of 100 to 1.

FrankM83 -- I don't think Missouri allows non-standard plate sizes. The Missouri Department of Revenue handles this, and while they offer many specialty plates (including ones with political and religious beliefs, organization names, college designs, and those for members of the military), they are all the same dimensions. Privately-made plates are illegal, so far as I know.

The States don't really observe foreign standards in cars, but rather make foreign cars fit our standards -- so no 'Euro' style plates like ferret76 finds in Australia. The advantages and disadvantages of the standards are obvious.

By the way, ferret, that's a beauty. Bazzalucas and Frank, you've got some nice ones too -- Frank's pickup is marvelous, and he's done great work so far on his van. We don't see many pickups or vans on this side of the Atlantic.

[Bazzalucas]

Thanks, Fingolfin. Since you live in the Show Me State, does that mean we get a look at your Minor? BTW, other than a 1275 and 3.9 diff, and the rather obviously non-standard color, my car's pretty much stock. Dead reliable, too.

[Fingolfin]

'Twas a comment on the extraordinary color, my Michigander friend. And touche -- I'd be happy to provide a photo!
[frame][/frame]
The door will be painted as soon as possible, I think. In the meantime, Mog isn't going anywhere. Wiring problems have disabled it.

[Declan_Burns]

Our standard plates fit very nicely indeed-perhaps a few mm too long but with rounded corners and certainly don't look out of place.
The last letter on the plate "H" refers to "historic"-vehicles over 30 years old but are not tax exempt as in UK. We have a standard road tax independent of engine size on "H" registered cars regardless of engine size.[frame][/frame]