Topic

I Don't know if anyone else has come across the dreaded (cheap as we can make it) number plate light (or pair off)?
I have ,when I noticed how dim one of them was ,It was time for a new bulb or so I thought.
Yes the screws were rusted away and worst still the clear lens was cracked in half.
Tried just drilling the tops of the screws off to try and grip what was left with pliers/mole grips. No way were they coming out .I then remembered i'd upgraded my VW Passat to led lights and had one of the old standard lights still kicking around.
when I tried this for size it was near perfect to fit within the existing lamp holders (with a bit of modification) Now I did take a bit of extra time when doing this to take a few photos of the work I did as I went . So If you want shiny led lights as attached photo. let me know and I'll happily produce a step by step guied.

Ok.
Have downloaded all my pictures.
some like the idea ,some don't?
but here is a quick rundown of how I did it.
you will need a small sheet of black 5mm Perspex (got off ebay ) and a pair of VW Passat b5 saloon led number plate lights also off ebay (about £8)
So to turn your number plate lights into
first job to remove the light fitting. Now I was told this is a bumper off job? but as I'm one for making jobs easy I tried a 1" wood chisel (blunted)pushed this under the edge between the lights ,a quick tap and push down of the chisel one edge popped out and it was then easy to pop the other side out. follow the wiring inside the boot and you will find a push connector one for each light. disconnect these and remove . you should have aneasy to handle light fitting .
now you can try drilling the heads off the screws and try and grab what's left with pliers or mole grips. mine weren't budging so ended up grinding them level with the plastic.
you now have a nice clean surface to prepare your Perspex for.
Measure the inside of the light fitting and cut out a piece of Perspex so its a snug fit. You will have also ordered the light fittings of ebay (or your own source) .
You will need to glue some flexible plastic to the inside of the new mounting holes to enable you to screw the new lights to the Perspex
I used JB WELD .Its Black ,Epoxy and waterproof.
This is the fun bit. You need to cut out and mount this centrally into your Perspex
Hope this is of some help. and problems please feel free to contact me

ill check mine tomoz see what condition there in..............

Best check mine as well, I hate rusty screws nearly as much as rusty nuts.

I've done them on both my F's, the heads just disintegrate.

It's a pig of a job but well worth doing.I swapped the screws for stainless once I got the shaft of the old screws out.

I must get some leds in, it's easy to swap them now I have removable screws

I say that the harder to red my number plates is, all the better it is for me keeping my licence!

I'll stick with the shitty old standard number plate lights thank you very much!