Since I live in VA, I have to have a front license plate, and thus it came with the two holes in the middle of the nose. I also noticed this weekend when I put my new license plates on that the previous plate, which was damaged from my last car's accident, had made a nice horizontal scratch where the top of the plate sits on the bumper. So not only do I have two holes, but I have a few scratches and marks in the same area, so therefore the EvoX plate mount can't be done. I really love the look of the offset plate, but even if I did the plate mount on the bumper, I'd still have an ugly-looking nose with the two holes and marks.

Is it possible to take it to a body shop, have the two holes filled and the scratches sanded/filled? My only concern is what finish to have it done after that work is done. I love the look of the rough polyurethane but it clearly won't look like that afterwards. Is there anything that I could do or put there, like an overlay?

 

you could probably just get them filled in and sanded and then repaint with plasti-dip or a flat black paint. that is a possibility as i do love the look of the side plate mount too. just did it a week ago as well

 

How about just applying a flat black vinyl on the area? Of course after filling in the holes/scratches...I doubt it would be visible if applied correctly.

 

I might go with what Chaz said. I'm going up to an autobody shop tomorrow morning and have them give me an estimate. I want to get those two holes filled, scratches and marks sanded out then repainted. Now, if I go with a flat black then I won't have any paint protection because there wouldn't be any clearcoat applied, so I might have to do a basic black. I'll also have them custom paint the chrome ring as well while they have the bumper off.

I wonder... what would it look like to have the middle of the nose between the lower and upper grilles painted silver to match the car? Black upper and lower grilles, black trim ring, silver mid section to match my car...

 

Well, that idea is down the drain. Got an estimate this morning, too expensive.

To remove the bumper, remove the chrome ring and wrap it in a flat black vinyl overlay, then fill in the license plate plug holes, sand the midsection down, etc etc etc, then paint it to match the car color, and all of the fun stuff involved in doing that, they wanted $800. No thanks.

So, now I'm going to explore cheaper alternatives. Just don't know what thought.

 

Bringing this back up.

I had decided to just put a tinted plate cover over my front plate and had been fine up until yesterday, got pulled over for the tinted covers. So now I'm trying to explore more options to fill and cover the front nose after relocating the front plate. I know I can just put plugs in the two holes, but the scratches from the plate are very visible.

Anyone done this?

 

Find a good vinyl wrap shop and they should be able to take care of the front middle section and the ring for far less than what the body shop was charging (plan on a couple hundred though, as I'd imagine they'd need a lot of material to get the nose-ring done in one piece).

Also, if they do a lot of vinyl wrap, I'm sure they have a textured satin black vinyl that should match the original plastic almost identically. I've used that vinyl myself to overlay my badges and rear reflectors, and the inlay on my hood scoop and it turned out wonderfully. The brand of vinyl I used is made by HEXIS and has been on my car for the past 2 years without any issues. If they don't have it in-stock, I'm sure they can get ahold of some.

Good luck

 

Do you have any pics of the vinyl on your RA? I never knew that you could find vinyl wrap like that, might make things easier now.

 

I had the exact same problem as you when I relocated my plate to the side. The plugs are an easy fix, I grabbed a couple silver 1/2" plugs from Home Depot and plasti-dipped them black. The plugs and the chrome ring with the plasti-dip have held up for probably 8 months now. I am looking at actual black 1/2" plugs now, since the plasti-dipped plugs are slightly delicate when cleaning. Oddly enough with it being winter and the cold weather. The plasti-dip on the plugs holds up crazy well when I use a pressure wand at the car wash. But point is, actual black plugs is one less thing to worry about.

In regards to the scratches from the license plate. Depending on the up-keep of you car, how often you wash it etc. This is what I ended up doing.

I couldn't remove the scratches persay, but I restored the luster of the front nose by using some Simoniz Ultra Protectant spray which is a U/V protect/shine for rubber, vinyl and plastic. Sometime last year Simoniz changed their product to something less viscous, so then I switched to Meguiar's Ultra Protectant. It's like a lotion you apply to the trim, plastic, etc. The point here is you need a substance that has enough viscosity that it'll stay. Since I wash/clean my car every couple weeks, it became an easy habit to just apply the either the Simoniz or Meguiar's products. And it was usually around this time frame when the front nose would need a re-application from the products.

I will say the Meguiar's product dries out the front nose, so it's something to keep in mind. Especially since you want the entire front nose consistent looking. You'll notice the imperfections more so, since it's your car.

Anyway it's a solution, but may not be the more permanent one you're looking for. 03chi-town0Z vinyl suggestion is a good one, I looked into that as well but personally speaking I'm a slow modder, so have been rolling the way I have been since I moved the license plate last summer.

For myself it's 'temporary permanent', I was waiting on JDP to come out with CF overlay for the nose, but that seemingly is dead now. Then there is Rexspeed and GCCruz with whatever other projects they have cooking. I'm still holding out for a proper 'dress up' piece but until then I just keep shining the front nose.

Either or, good luck!

 

Mine's done with vinyl wrap around the chrome ring. There was no need to take it off, it was done in three pieces, as the ring is also partitioned that way, not a lot of material needed that way. I have just plugged in the holes for the plate, as you can see, but I don't see why you couldn't vinyl that area as well.

I also vinyled the chrome lists near the windows.

 

People dog on plasti-dip, but its a could alternative if you do it right. I've painted the nose ring, window trim, hood vents, emblems with it and its holding up really nicely. To me its the perfect matte black and looks super clean.

 

I forgot to mention that I vinyl wrapped the ring in flat black and it makes a world of difference compared to the chrome. My only concern now is how to go about doing the nose on the car properly. If only I can see the textured vinyl in person, that would be enough to sway me to buying some and applying it. We'll see though.

 

I have a little of it left over here, want me to mail you a sample piece to bring to your vinyl shop??

 

Dude, you're awesome. I'll PM you my address shortly. Thanks!

 

Got it. I'll send it out as soon as I get a chance.