i have my plates bolted on with through bolts using all 4 bolt holes. no one can steal my plate because unless you hold the nut on the back side its not coming off.

and I will make it a round 20 posts

and no we dont have lives outside our Subarus:lol:

Just one question... those 20 posts... is  that standard or metric?

If somebody wants your LP they're gonna get it. I frequently had to rip plates off of cars at the dealership because the screw heads were stripped or the insert in the trunk lid was rounded and would just spin with the screw.

Once you get one corner loose the rest pull through pretty easy.

Well, it's time for me to join the club. I just became the 2nd surrogate father (owner) of an '08 Impreza. While transferring plates, it became obvious that the screws were rusted junk, the wrong length and diameter for the plastic grommets they thread into, breaking the plastic grommets.

Comparing the typical standard thread stainless steel screws available at the home improvement stores, I counted the threads per inch, and it was not a match. My car had a missing plastic grommet, so I ordered a new one and a spare from Subaru. The Subaru grommet looks like it would take about a #10 sheet metal screw. The grommet is only about 1/2 inch deep before the screw would bottom out or punch through the grommet. I have just a rudimentary education as a machinist. It should not be hard to find out the OEM license plate mounting screw thread pitch, diameter, head design, metric vs. standard, etc. Any machinists out there who can take out an OEM screw and gauge it for us? Hah, I know, "What year, and model?"

The sad thing is, we could probably solve this quest by just ordering the damned screws from the dealer. (Or stealing one from the new Sub in the dealer's lot )

OK, I'll say it here.

My name is Bob, and I'm addicted to Subarus.

Yeah you won't find the right ones in stainless at a hardware store. It's a self tapping thread like #10 screw, but with a wide head. Try Amazon?

Will do, thanks.

I just figure out what tap size will work in the plastic without cutting out too much, then get stainless screws that match the tap.

Add plastic washers to keep the aluminum away from the stainless.

Edited November 18, 20169 yr by DaveT