Can't get the %$#@! license plate off

Not quite a strictly Honda question, but since I've gotten lots of
good info here in the past, I'd thought I post here.

I have a '97 Civic that I was putting a new front license plate cover
on. The bolts were pretty tight, but I loosened them up with WD40.
The last bolt seemed to turn, but the nut on the inside of the bumper
was turning and not the screw.

Now I can't get the last bolt off to change the cover (or remove the
plate).

Any suggestions.
Thanks in advance.

Brooklin <Brooklin@primus.ca> wrote in
news:t0ls919j71rvius433ejtr776jdgaljpun@4ax.com:

> Not quite a strictly Honda question, but since I've gotten lots of
> good info here in the past, I'd thought I post here.
>
> I have a '97 Civic that I was putting a new front license plate cover
> on. The bolts were pretty tight, but I loosened them up with WD40.
> The last bolt seemed to turn, but the nut on the inside of the bumper
> was turning and not the screw.
>
> Now I can't get the last bolt off to change the cover (or remove the
> plate).
>
> Any suggestions.



Drill it out.


--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

Brooklin wrote:
>
> Not quite a strictly Honda question, but since I've gotten lots of
> good info here in the past, I'd thought I post here.
>
> I have a '97 Civic that I was putting a new front license plate cover
> on. The bolts were pretty tight, but I loosened them up with WD40.
> The last bolt seemed to turn, but the nut on the inside of the bumper
> was turning and not the screw.
>
> Now I can't get the last bolt off to change the cover (or remove the
> plate).

I can't help you with the existing screws (short of taking the bumper
off to get access from the back, it isn't all that hard to do). Make
sure to use M6 metric machine screws to install the new frame, the ones
you have in there are probably #12-24 screws, they are fairly easy to
force into the M6 threads, but can be a royal pain to get back ut.

--
================================================== =====
A very modest collection of Honda tech info can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/ng_randolph

Brooklin (Brooklin@primus.ca) writes:
> Not quite a strictly Honda question, but since I've gotten lots of
> good info here in the past, I'd thought I post here.
>
> I have a '97 Civic that I was putting a new front license plate cover
> on. The bolts were pretty tight, but I loosened them up with WD40.
> The last bolt seemed to turn, but the nut on the inside of the bumper
> was turning and not the screw.
>
> Now I can't get the last bolt off to change the cover (or remove the
> plate).
>
> Any suggestions.
> Thanks in advance.
>

Can you get vice grips on the nut? If you can get it to start to run,
likely you can get it off. Or use a hack saw (ughh) or dremel
tool to cut the head off. A cold chisel could work but it might be
worse than the hack saw in terms of doing collateral damage.

Dan

(This account is not used for email.)