I am trying to take my rear plates off and the top 2 screws are stuck and a bit stripped. Does anyone know how to take them off? Thanks.

 

Ouch. An impact driver might help. You can pick up a hammer impact screw driver from your local hardware store. You hit the impact driver with a hammer and it forces the screw bit to rotate (be careful, you can flip the driver between loosen and tighten, make sure the screw bit is turning counter clockwise before hammering). Spraying the screw with some PB Blaster or similar spraycan lubricant a few minutes prior to impact driver-ing might help too. But more than this, I'm going to go remove mine and put some anti-seize on the screws...

If the screw doesn't come out, you can either drill it, or you might use some tin shears and cut the plate away (then just leave the screw in place and rely on the remaining three screws to hold your next plate onto the car). Sucks, but it happens...yay salt?

 

ya it's salt i think. the bottom 2 screws came out no problem but the top 2 won't move. I will try spraying some PB Blaster or something and see if it works. I can't cut the plate away since i just want to change the sticker on my plate and it is under a plate cover.

 

Ouch. An impact driver might help.

no way I'd use one of these just for some lic' plate screws!!!! Espcly not the 'hammer type' .. you almost certainly end up denting the boot!!!!!! PB or WD-40 and let it sit a bit. Are you sure they are frozen or are they spinning cuz the nut is sticking and had turned in the plastic back plate of the holder? This is what happened to me. I found I could grab the nut from the back with some pliers and once removed replaced that nut/bolt with stainless and some anti-seize ... never had the problem repeat.

 

It's stuck not spinning at all. Can't even turn it.

 

They use pretty cheap fasteners on these cars. A quality drill bit of the correct size will take those heads off very easily.

 

Dremel is your friend.

 

I would sooner use a Dremel with a fiber cutoff wheel to cut a slot across the head, so you can turn the screw out rather than drill the head off and be stuck with a headless stud that now has to be removed. One other option, albeit higher on the skill level, is to use the cutoff wheel to slice off two sides of the head to create a flat you can get a wrench or pliers onto in order to back the screw out.

One other thing that just popped into my mind is to break the frame off and pull it out from under the head. This should give you some room to get a small pair of vice grip pliers onto the side of the head and break it loose. That way you only have to sacrifice your frame, as long as it is plastic and not metal. Good luck.