Prototype skid plate

Just collected ready for final fitting and design tweaks.

very nice

needs a nole for oyl fliter

The Mad Hat Man said:

needs a nole for oyl fliter

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Nope. Not getting one.

Why is that? I thought cutting an access hole was a common mod?

The Mad Hat Man said:

Why is that? I thought cutting an access hole was a common mod?

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It is if you're a lazy arse who can't be bothered to take the under tray off once a year to do a service.

You'll also need a hole to get a socket on the oil drain plug and another where the arc of oil flow at X degrees temp will pass through the tray. So that's 3 holes, multiplied by all the different engine types. Apart from the structural compromise, lots of possibilities for that pointy rock to catch on and make recovery of the car that much more difficult.

is it easy to take the skid plate orf.

surely if it makes life easier? I dont think it would compromise the skid plate.

The Mad Hat Man said:

is it easy to take the skid plate orf

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It takes 5 minutes, 10 tops to remove the skid plate, once the bolts have been treated to some copper grease.

Holes in the plate simply allow mud to fill the space above the plate, in much the same way as cheese fills the cheese grater!

...and maybe 45 minutes to get it back on... although I'm getting better at it. That beast would presumably only make it more awkward, but even so, holes would compromise it and its also good to have a good look over the underside of the engine area when doing a service anyway for possible problems looming.

The only benefit of a few holes in it that I can see, is to let the oils leaks out away from where your tyres are

Obviously this is aimed at off road use where a gaping hole/scoop is undesirable at best. So no it’s not getting one. I manage to get them on and off on axle stands easily enough.

i was just thinking of the requisite hole, with recessed blanking plate, so the structural integrity wasnt compromised.

And the price goes up. Mantec never did one. Who am I to argue. Plus all the ****in sump plugs are in different places as has been mentioned

GrumpyGel said:

... and its also good to have a good look over the underside of the engine area when doing a service anyway for possible problems looming.

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and lubricate the clutch lever shaft

Now....some quick release mounting brackets wouldn't be a bad idea.
With six bolts and six screws currently holding it in place it would be an improvement
if say, four easy to access fasteners secured it.

Rich in Vancouver said:

Now....some quick release mounting brackets wouldn't be a bad idea.
With six bolts and six screws currently holding it in place it would be an improvement
if say, four easy to access fasteners secured it.

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That would be a fantastic idea for the standard under tray - would make like so much easier. Mine has 10 bolts and 2 screws - the bonnet has 1 nice lever I can pull!

For underbody protection though, its got to be mounted very securely.

I never said it would be easy!

What would make it a lot easier would be replacing one of the bolts of the pair of bolts on each of the subframe mounts with a rod that pokes out. So you'd slide the back of the tray onto them then just push the front up and to the bolts up there, then the 2 remaining bolts on the subframe - I'm sure the standard tray would be amply supported by 1 bolt each side on the subframe - I know mine has at times when I've been to ****ed off to put all the bolts back !