I purchased a set of the Mugen license plate holders and decided to swap them out the other night. I had the Zeta plate holders which have been on the car since last summer. I thought it would take 2 minutes and it ended up being a one hour job. Long story short while removing the 2nd screw the head came off! I am thinking Crap! the bolt was still inside the hole and the license plate is hanging sideways! A couple of guys across the street came over to help but could not get it out. I finally got my neighbor who is a carpenter to come over and with a vice grip we were able to get it out. I could not believe the amount of rust that was on the screws - here is a picture:


Does this look like a "normal" amount of rust for an item that has been on a car for one year? I also had the Fit tire stem covers which I went ahead and swapped out for some Mugen ones I had ordered, just in case. I have always loved Zeta and their stuff normally works great but I am wondering if all the water and junk we get accumulated on the hatch area would have caused the bolts to rust this fast.

Cat

 

with zeta, they are hit or miss. they should have used a higher quality bolt for that application. a good example of cutting corners to cut costs.

dont let crappy parts discourage you from doing your own work.

 

It's normal for a cheap, non-plated bolt. I don't know what they cost, but I bet they weren't cheap. Zeta should have used stainless bolts, but at the very least they could have used zinc plated bolts to avoid the problem you just experienced.

EDIT; Holy crap!, I just looked them up. For $22 they definitely should have used stainless bolts. Shame on you Zeta!

EDIT 2;
Just as a reference point, the original cadmium plated license plate screws on the '68 Cadillac I recently sold had absolutely zero rust on them after forty years. So no, one year shouldn't do that if the proper screws had been used by Zeta.

 

Nickel, Copper, Iron and Steel bolts or screws will always do that. You can use lubricants such as oil or silicates to reduce the rust effects. But it won't stop it from rusting completely since the lube eventually does wear out.