Up to this point we had been using a 1/8" primitive plate with a 3/16" sheet welded down the middle and down to the transmission crossmember. This plate took some good abuse but it was time to go to something much stronger. Graham Evans helped us design and fabricate the new plate We started with a piece of 1/4" 5052 and drew our design onto it It was cut down using a jigsaw and lots of wd40 A 15 degree bend was added to the front. This section protrudes up into the bumper cover to mount it bosses were welded into the subframe and jacking plate A tubular cross bar was bolted to the bosses - this would be the actual front attachment for the plate whisker's then welded another 1/4" strip to the plate above where the mounting holes would go Then holes were drilled through the main layer so the bolt heads will be countersunk A similar thing was done for the center mounting points
that is at least as beefy as Martin was describing. Awesome. how thick is that tube going across the front? maybe it'll bend a bit before the rad support/subframe.
what blade did you use to cut the aluminum? i used a 24 tpi metal cutting blade for some 5mm stuff i had to make a flange and it took FOREVER to cut and i only needed to cut about 12 inches total.
Yes! Extreme awesome skidplate is extra awesome. Pictures turned out pretty well, except everyone but Graham is moving too fast. Pretty sure that it was just some generic purpose blade. I would think that the issue with using a fine toothed metal blade on aluminum is that the teeth fill up with shavings very quickly. We also used cutting lubricant (WD40) to help make the cutting process more efficient.
Can't remember off the top of my head - around 1" OD I think. this subframe seems quite a bit more robust than the one we destroyed at GPTPR since we added the extra re-enforcements to it (which is why it didn't get jacked up at 100AW when we were smashing the front into those LWB's) like martin said, it was just some all-purpose metal cutting blade. It took a while to cut but considering how long the cuts were it wasn't too bad. spraying the blade with wd40 helped clear the chips and cool/lubricate which helped a lot
Actually, a battery powered circular saw works wonders in aluminum. Quick and clean. Using a normal carbide tipped blade. A little wax to help lubricate, and you're set. (corded ones spin too fast, but cordless is just about perfect).
Nice skid plate. Should be almost able to ride logs like a skate boarder grinds rails with that thing. Looks alot like the ones made by Prodrive for their rally cars. Whiskers should know all about those though, eh? Amy
yes it does appear to be lacking the WRB but still has all the stickers on it from 100 AW.. confused??? I haven't made a trip over to work on it since doing the skid plate, been busy getting ready for the move, but we will all get to see it this week / weekend
/spray paint? lolz i like how theres a massive fan on top of the intercooler. a question on the weight reduction, are you going to all lexan windows? the front ones have a little different tint som i'm guessing their still glass. so the question is does rally allow for all lexan windows or do you need to leave some (like the windshield) glass for structural support/other general safety reasons?
IIRC the windshield needs to be glass. Could be wrong, though. The rest of the windows can be polycarb in open.
front windshield must be safety glass. other windows can be polycarbonate (of a minimum thickness equal to the thickness of the stock glass)
yea i'm really happy with how they came out. they are rock solid, no shake in them at all. mrrhode has them right now for powder coating
Sweet. I cant tell in the pics, do they al have the support piece which goes from the pin to the gusset plate?
yep yea I just put a piece of tape on the bottom of the doors when I rolled on the bedliner. believe it or not we try to keep the car at least somewhat decent looking
