Old EBAY License Plate Accepted by CA-DMV

I received the tags and registration for Ole Blue today. The state accepted the plates and the registration sticker as submitted and now I need to put my vintage plates on Old Blue. I have been looking at the bumpers on all the old Fords I see the past few months, looking to see how the license plates are mounted. Each bumper style has its own placement and mechanism for attachment, and as Uncle Ken found out, with the aftermarket bumper on Old Blue the placement is a little different then other F-series bumpers and certainly ANY modern vehicle.

Mounting the rear license plates on a 1966 Ford truck with an aftermarket step bumper requires that the top of the license plate slips between the tailgate and the bed of the truck. It can slide into the ~1/16" gap between the bed and the tailgate and then is bolted at the bottom on to the bumper. Ok - this works fine as I have seen this on a few of the trucks I have looked at in various parking lots over the past few months BUT ...on Old Blue the drivers side tailgate has been pushed in a bit by some unfortunate past event and there is no 1/16th gap anymore...and now the Toppers, if used as I assume intended by the California DMV, mounted to look like Mickey Mouse ears on the rear license plate would be tucked up behind the tailgate and not visible by any law enforcement officer ...

Well, since DMV has not published any instructions on how to mount these mouse ears, I guess I have some flexibility. What are my options?  First I painted them with black enamel and baked them to give them a chance of survival on the California Highways:

1. I do not know if these toppers are specifically required, and from looking at other YOM plates on other vintage cars many YOM owners don't use them, they just put the registration stickers on the plates as if the plates have been used since first registration of the vehicle.

2. I mount them as assumed, on the top of the rear license plate and let them tuck up behind the tailgate. I kind of like this idea as I would be following tte letter of the law and IF anyone ever cared they would be there. However, they may catch on stuff put into the rear bed of the truck.

3. The 'Modified Mouse' option rotates the toppers to cover old tag (but they are still on plate) and lets them be seen while driving. I like this one because it does not effect the old tag.

4. Ignore them and throw them into the glove box where they are there if anyone wants to see them ...


5. Mount them some other way that lets them be seen, like putting on what WAS the front plate and mounting the plate with the 1966 sticker on the front?


So, where should I mount the current stickers? I decided to throw them in the glove box for the time being, though modified mouse was a close second!!! Old Blue is now a California Truck once again - Welcome Home!