Rusty Rear Licence Plate Skrews

[phigment]

After going through winter and finally getting around to manual cleaning of the car I was disappointed to see one of the black screws leaving a rust trail on my licence plate. I had this happen on my last car too and it damaged the paint.


Here's what I did to remedy the situation.

My first thought was that I'd pull it out and put in a nylon screw. After taking the screw out I found that I couldn't find a nylon screw that would work. The model 3 uses a type of self tapping metal screw that is driven in to a plastic mount.


I decided that if I couldn't make it all plastic, my next option would be to use stainless steel. All of the stainless screws that I could find didn't have a big enough head. Even the stock screw wasn't properly sized to fit the plate holes.

In the end I went with the following that I could find at Canadian Tire:
-Stainless steel #10 x 1/2" sheet metal screws
-#12 flat washers (I couldn't find #10 with a wide enough diameter)

These just replaced the existing screws. Hopefully these will resist corrosion and rust. Let me know if you find any better solutions.

 

[buste2]

Is your license plate holder missing or you're not using it?

 

[phigment]

Is your license plate holder missing or you're not using it?

Just cropped out of the original pictures

 

[buste2]

I meant the black piece that goes behind the license plate. Or you can't use both holders?

 

[phigment]

I didn't know there was a black piece. Guy any pictures of it?

 

[buste2]

Yeah. It molds perfectly in that notch.

 

[buste2]

Weird. Maybe it's different for you since Canada? Screw holds definitely don't match lol.

 

[phigment]

Interesting. I wonder what other differences exist between US/Canada model 3

 

[tracksyde]

That black piece came on cars built towards the end of 2018 (sorry, dont recall the month), not exclusive to Canadian models. If I recall correctly, the trunk is different. So buying the black plastic piece wont fit the same on an older trunk.

 

[Glamisduner]

That black piece came on cars built towards the end of 2018 (sorry, dont recall the month), not exclusive to Canadian models. If I recall correctly, the trunk is different. So buying the black plastic piece wont fit the same on an older trunk.

I mentioned this some time ago, I saw new 3's with this new license plate holder that is much better than mine.

 

[zhu-]

What's the point of that black piece? To prevent any potential rust or corrosion from touching the car's paint?

 

[Glamisduner]

What's the point of that black piece? To prevent any potential rust or corrosion from touching the car's paint?

prevents the plate from rubbing your paint. The trunk is curved so standard plate holders press into the trunk. The holder that comes with the 3 is crafted to avoid this (has a backing with felt where it touches the car), but most aftermarket holders will rub the paint even with weatherstripping or rubber added to them.

Also looks easier to replace than the plastic bushings, lots of people have trouble with the ones on the 3 because they are a small (non standard?) size, and like the strip or spin.

I wonder what other trunk changes there are though.

 

[phigment]

prevents the plate from rubbing your paint. The trunk is curved so standard plate holders press into the trunk. The holder that comes with the 3 is crafted to avoid this (has a backing with felt where it touches the car), but most aftermarket holders will rub the paint even with weatherstripping or rubber added to them.

Also looks easier to replace than the plastic bushings, lots of people have trouble with the ones on the 3 because they are a small (non standard?) size, and like the strip or spin.

I wonder what other trunk changes there are though.

Good point, but I wonder if a large housing is better. You now have points of contact beween the entire plastic housing and the paint. The '''old" style only touches the paint where the 4 nylon standoffs are inserted. The tesla frame avoids any contact with the waited surface because it only rests on the nylon standoffs.

 

[Glamisduner]

Good point, but I wonder if a large housing is better. You now have points of contact beween the entire plastic housing and the paint. The '''old" style only touches the paint where the 4 nylon standoffs are inserted. The tesla frame avoids any contact with the waited surface because it only rests on the nylon standoffs.

No the metal backing touches the paint too, but instead of sharp edges Tesla folds the metal over and adds felt. The center of the plate top and bottom is where it touches due to the curvature of the trunk.