TFS front license plate holder

[GTRS Fiero]

Today, I received the TFS aero front plate holder.  It looks good.

The part you can see from the front of the car looks fine, although I thought there was something to hold the bottom of the plate on the originals.  The bottom of the plate holder has no tabs or slot or anything.  On part of the plate holder that would be hidden from view when mounted, there are some places where the plastic apparently didn't fill the mold.  I'm hoping there are no such thin spots throughout.

Of the 3 aero front plate holders I've had, one has padding on the parts that would come into contact with the car.  This plate holder has only one spot of padding, just a small circle, right where the center divider would touch.

I've been through several sets of back mounting pieces, with different screws.  I lost one back mounting piece, because it didn't hold for some reason.  These mounting pieces are clearly ABS, and seem a bit brittle.  They look much like the TFS power outlet cover for the center console, with the same texture.

I cannot test fitment, at this time, but I'm hoping this new plastic will still be good when the old holders fail.

Has anyone else tested one of these?

[Fierofool]

Your description doesn't sound like it's a reproduction of the original.  The 3 I've had were secured by 2 large wings that were tightened against the back edges of the opening.  There was no padding on any of them that I recall.  They simply had a surface that conformed to the curvature of the fascia. 

[GTRS Fiero]

All 3 previous holders, and this one all look to conform to the curvature of the fascia.

I'll have to put up a picture of the holder with the padding, once I have that holder back in my hands.

[fiero4.3L]

I'd like to see how it fits. I expect a simple frame could be made of thin metal.

[GTRS Fiero]

Somebody (maybe BTR) made a metal aero plate holder.  It mounted behind the front bumper, and had 2 pipes that came forward and held a flat plate that the license plate screwed into.  Not bad at all.  Other than this, I'd rather not have metal by my bumper

[GTRS Fiero]

Not BTR.  It was West Coast Fiero.

[fiero4.3L]

Ah, now I remember seeing that. I guess the plastic one attaches directly to the bumper through the plastic?
Does it attach to the metal behind or just screw into the skin?

I can appreciate what you are saying about metal on your bumper skin, but it would likely use thin foam strips between and the metal could be aluminum rather than iron or steel. Just discussing and not trying to change your mind.

[Raydar]

IIRC, the one that came with my '85 GT, in '85, had a V or U shaped center support that wrapped around the center divider in the middle of the opening. It had a piece that fastened across the back, that held the whole thing in place. It may have had some pads or something elsewhere, to support it, but that was the only place it fastened. There were no holes, anywhere, required to mount it.

[GTRS Fiero]

The metal one does not touch your bumper at all.  A guy here has this one.

The plastic one has clips that fit behind the bumper.  The bumper is the only thing it touches, but it does not screw into anything.  You could put one on and take it back off without damage to your car.

There was a guy on PFF a while back who made a plate holder that folded down.  That's about all I remember about it.

[GTRS Fiero]

Here's a pic of a folding plate, but not the one I remember.

[fiero4.3L]

With the photos of the inside of the nose in the folding plate topic, I can picture how the original holder strapped on.
RAYDAR, were the fasteners where the plate would mount?
Too bad there are no pictures of one off the car.
I don't have an aero nose so I could not make one anyway.
The WCF style mount seems straight forward. They say no damage to the car but I wonder if that means not drilling two holes in the bumper frame? It could clamp around the edge of it.

[GTRS Fiero]

You want pictures of the front plate holder?

[fiero4.3L]

A picture of an original plate holder that mounts the way Raydar described and the mounting of the abs one would help clear any remaining fog.

[Fierofool]

The ones I had had 2 castings on the back with a threaded rod in them.  There were 2 brackets, somewhat shaped like [ with a hole in the center.  The threaded rod passed through the hole and the fingers on the end fit over the back side of the lip of the opening.  A wing nut on each tightened them down and pulled the holder back against the front of the fascia.   

[GTRS Fiero]

Here you go.  You can see the molding imperfections.  I don't recall those little notches in the center piece on the originals.  I don't believe that this one is the same quality as the original, but it is better than nothing.  Someone who knows about injection molding could explain some of what you see in these pictures.