Hello everybody, I received my vanity plates recently and while I had no problem with the rear one, the bottom holes on the front one do not line up with the holes that are in the front bumper. I thought about drilling new holes; I would like to bypass that if people on this forum believe that the two bolts are satisfactory. I also thought about loctite although the metal bolt goes into a plastic square that does not have threads on the inside.
I just got 2 bolts on the top of my front plate. Plate is steel, so it isn't going anywhere. Drilling a hole in a chrome bumper starts all sorts of issues down the road, including a rusty, peeling bumper, but if you want to drill holes, do it in the plate.
I would drill the plate*, if it were necessary to secure the plate and two top bolts are not sufficient. But two top screws have been fine on every vehicle I ever owned. *(if not concerned of some heavy handed state's DOT being very proud of their plates and risking a ticket)
Hang it with the two bolts.. don't drill the bumper... if your worried about theft, then take the plastic inserts out if your car has them, and use a machine screw and lock-nut of the appropriate size. All thieves have screwdrivers in their pocket, not many will have the right size box end wrench to hold the nylon lock-nut. It will be a pain to install, but that is the point. We always did that on the 70 car that would sit out on the open trailer at night.. it had the plate "Stage" on it.. JW
I think I used zip ties on the bottom holes of my 70 bumper. I'll take a look next time I am in the garage.