Good idea! If I now cut this one off, will it make me a new one?
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Progress report: The tail is now secured to the car.
It's remarkable how well everything fit -- almost a perfect match on the Prius for width, height and mounting point locations!
Above: I added this "mounting plate" -- a.k.a. a chunk of 2x4 attached to the hatchback with big screws from the inside (through lic. plate hardware holes). There are 2 studs sticking out of the 2x4 that match holes on the tail frame. Big wingnuts and washers hold the frame to the mounting plate.
Here's what it looked like on the Civic:
Up next:
- add a redundant set of ratchet straps as backup/relief for the mounting plate
- install the wiring harness for the tail lights
- glue gun & cardboard based nip & tuck job to tidy up where the front of the tail meets the back of the car.
- try it out!
At the rate things are going, I'll probably be able to take it out for a run this weekend.