Why, Missouri, why?

"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury) 01/10/2019 at 18:00 • Filed to: None

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They couldn’t just give me new tags. No, they had to give me new plates, and they applied the tags to the plates before giving them to me. I tried removing the plates today, but all I did was damage the head on one, and then pinched my hand several times as the pliers slipped off. I tried soaking them in WD40, figuring that this shouldn’t affect the paint as opposed to stronger penetrants. If I can’t find the vise grips I guess I’ll pay someone with more tools than me to get those screws out.

I’ve been driving with expired tags for a few months now and haven’t had any issues. I wonder if a cop would let me off if I showed current registration and the new plates? I haven’t crossed state lines , nor have I ventured into towns with excessively large and overzealous  police forces looking for a payday. Here in the city there’s so much other bizarre shit going down that they don’t seem to bother with piddly shit like this.

Svend > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 01/10/2019 at 18:21

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Have you tried tightening them up a little then trying to undo them?

I’ve a creme brulee torch which I’d p robably give a go with.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Svend 01/10/2019 at 18:24

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Tried the tightening trick, but I think I need to find a bigger screwdriver that fits the head a little better. And I think I have the same torch...

facw > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 01/10/2019 at 18:25

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I’d just put the new plates in the rear window until you manage to get the old ones off. Especially for something that’s exposed to the elements for years, it would be nice to see the desktop computer-style screws that have both phillips head inside and hex outside. On my old car I tried to take off the acorn nut license plate mounts using pliers because I didn’t have a ratchet or wrenches handy and it didn’t go well. I stripped two completely, and one I was never able to get off I just ripped of the old plate around the nut (aluminum plate) and mounted the new one on top of the nut.

Urambo Tauro > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 01/10/2019 at 18:33

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Yeah Michigan makes us get new plates every 10 years, even if the old one s are still in good shape. When I picked mine up, I stopped them from applying the stickers because I wanted to do it myself. Call me OCD but I just hate crooked or wrinkled tabs .

Svend > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 01/10/2019 at 18:38

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A larger screw driver as you say and an adjustable spanner at the front of the grip for leverage. It usually allows me to use one hand to force the screw driver forward while using the other hand to turn. 

MM54 > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 01/10/2019 at 18:44

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Impact driver will be your friend here, whether the kind you smack or a cordless one meant for driving screws.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 01/10/2019 at 19:58

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I’ve had to replace the license plate carrier on my car. It had metal inserts in plastic holders which had internal threads. The plate bolts/screw s threaded into them. Now when I tried to remove my old plate, the metal insert started rotating in the holder. I removed the plastic trim on the inside of the hatch and removed the whole plate carrier along with the plate and bought a new carrier at Orielly.

Hope your car has a more sensible plate carrier.

Brickman > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 01/10/2019 at 20:50

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Bring your car to the local State Police , they should help if they want a vehicle on the road with an up to date plate.

ateamfan42 > MM54 01/11/2019 at 08:17

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Definitely this. An impact screwdriver can be a lifesaver when those screws bind up.

Then run a tap through to clean up the threads and install the screws with anti-seize.

Sometimes living in the rust belt stinks.

MM54 > ateamfan42 01/11/2019 at 14:43

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I broke the heads off the license plate bolts on the 4Runner with an impact driver when I got it (e nded up drilling them out and re-tapping to 1/4-20 and using stainless hardware ) and it’s not even that rusty!