Hi All,

Hoping someone may have some ideas on this one... 1998 Civic LX... Trying to get my license plates off as they are expired.

Both bolts are completely rusted over. Worked for a good hour or so yesterday with PB blaster and a combination of screwdriver/plyers and was able to get one of the bolts about 1/4 inch out (other bolt/screw is turning but not out very far), but now it is just spinning and not budging. Both screws will turn pretty easily now but just spinning -- not sure if they are completely stripped now?

Tried to drill out the one bolt but due to rust and the fact it's a flat screw that is rounded the drill bits just slide right off... Even in the screw groove the bit slides right out no matter how much pressure is applied.

Only other option I've been given is cut screw heads off and then drill them out. Hesitant to do this because I'd rather not re-tap but maybe this isn't as big of a deal as I think?

Any other ideas? I've been told it's likely there is a speed nut or Honda puts something like it behind the plastic insert in the trunk -- does this sound right? Inside of trunk is complete closed off on this model so I'd have to take the trunk off and then open the panel to get access -- not something I'm proficient enough to try. Any ideas/experience would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Try to get ahold of a "EZ out" drill tip. its designed to be spun in reverse from a drill and it will bite into the screw and literally chew the head off of it's stud. you'll still have the stud to contend with but it'll allow you to at least remove the plate. you can always slightly offset your new plate and just drill/tap the holes for the new plate. the only thing other wise that I can think of would be to get a small pry bar and place it behind the head of the bolt and then spin the bolt out with a ratchet/screw driver (depending on what type of fastener you have thats giving you trouble.) while keeping a lot of pressure on the bolt.
In theory this will "force" the bolt to cut a new thread if enough pressure is applied. does your 98 have the license plate insert in the trunk that can be removed? if so you could just remove it and cut the bolts out from behind?

 

^^^
re tapping is probably best bet..
I have a 97 and the trunk has little holes you can reach in and unscrew the black plate frame off, but if you cannot do this and other options have not worked (seems you have thoroughly attempted them).

I have had luck with no rust on my car but when i do run into it i have tried weird things that have worked to get it off. chipping the head and using pliers, ripping it out, tapping, my friend even broke a head off and used a swiss army knife and hammer and slowly unscrewed the rusted screw from a little ledge left over from the missing head. All i can say is rust sucks and youll have to do what you have to do. The tapping kits for drill bits (lol) do seem to work the best if you wanna spend a little money on one and then use larger screws or expanding screws...

 

I agree completely, rust is horrible... Ive spent hours trying to get rusted bolts free and have spent countless more trying to figure out how things get so much corrosion without anyone noticing it. Drilling and Tapping is the best method that Ive found up till this point.

 

I was thinking the same thing.

I haven't looked, but I'm wondering if those license plate screws go into separate brackets (like in the front bumper).

My front ones were rusted pretty well when I bought the car, and I ended up having them spin but not unscrew. I ended up removing the bumper, and found the threaded metal brackets on the back side had broken loose of the bumper, and were just spinning as I turned the bolts.

I ended up just removing what was left of the metal brackets, then replacing the bolts with stainless ones with matching nuts and washers, and just bolted the plate directly to the bumper.