Did a search, very limited info on this topic... As long as I have my front valence off (1977 308 GTB, USA small spoiler), I'd like to attach some sort of skid plate/block to protect the metal panel on the bottom. It's very worn, through lots of driveway scrapes. One of the screws is even almost totally sheared off! Is there a ready made, bolt-on plate available? I'm envisioning a 1/4" thick (maybe thicker?) panel that would cover most of that thin, metal panel ( about 2 square feet large) held on by 3 rearward screws (the front seems glued to the lip protrusion). I guess it wouldn't have to be metal, could be some sort of light yet strong plastic, or even wood-based, like a Formula One skid block. Anybody have any info on something like this? Greg
Hi, Have you tried Hill Engineering? I think I saw something like that on their webside but not entirely sure it is what you are looking for. Al
Do you have any pictures of the front and underside? We may be able to fabricate something for you out of delrin, which would hold up very well to impacts. On other cars we've made kevlar guards with good sucess, but that was to protect from road debris and not made to support the weight of the vehicle.
Greg a 1/4" piece is kinda overkill. and IMO would add uneeded weight. TopElement came close as I see it, but Delrin does not have the impact strength. I would use 1/8" UHMW (Ultra High Molecular Weight) Polyethylene. I have used in in many applications including front air dams on dirt track cars (Now that is a beating!). It is available in colors and is commonly used as the white plastic cutting boards you may have seen. Resists cutting, IMPACT, etc. HTH! Kermit
I thought about Hill E., but didn't see anything like that on their website. Never heard of Delrin; the polyethylene option sounds interesting, and lighter... Where do I find that stuff? Greg
Just about any plasics supply firms can get you whatever you want. UHMW is available in sheets, rods (round bar) an many shapes as well as colors. a Skill saw will do the cutting nicely, and if you have a hot air gun, a carefull application of heat can form bends as well. Kermit
The UHMW sheet is commonly available in both natural (white) and black. It's not very expensive... a 1/8" thick 24" x 48" sheet is only around $14.
It'll probably help in normal street use. Recognise that for track use the boys in the UK have found the Euro (shorter) spoiler to be a better bet, particularly if you start playing with ride height. I smashed my "deep dish" on the deck, once too many times and had an extensive repair only to nail the thing again at Gingerman or Road America. Went with the shallow. Butch Hooper sells replacements. Philip
Yes, as Verell mentioned, you can probably find someone locally to you if you look in the yellow pages under "plastics". Or do a Google search for "UHMW sheet" and you'll get several places you can mail-order it.
...here in Houston called Regal Plastics. http://www.regalplastics.com/ I'll call tomorrow morning and see what they have. I think it's a national chain.... Greg
I am seeing three kinds of bottoming out: 1) Driveway entry, where the corners up front hit. 2) High centering when traversing speed bumps< (even slowly). 3) Front corss member bottoming in high speed bumps, or under hard braking. Most of my bottoming problems seem to occurr with driveway entry. This, of coarse, grinds right through the fiberglass lower pan at these front corners and starts wearing on the frame. If a black skid plate could be mounted to these low points below the fiberglass, the fiberglass and frame might have half a chance Conveniently, thses skidmarks were covered with undercoating by the dealer, so i was ok with the front underbody on PPI. The steel frame at these two front points is, about 1.5 by 1.5 inches square so the material would probably have to be at least 3/4 inches thick to provide some life expectancy. Attachment is a bit of a problem. Even pocketing the fastener(s) doesn't leave much sacrificial material to protect the chasis/fiberglass front pan. A 2X2X2 inch block might not slip past the concouse judges or steel casters like on the rear of a motor home--sorry, it has been a hard day in the salt mines. Stiffer springs has taken care of the front end bottoming under braking but the driveways up here in humboldt county are a killer. Looking forward to suggestions for skid plates - as odious as they are, I would rather not raise the car, and equally, I would not like to grind the frame. perplexed, chris
My 308 has a very low front end, but not abnormally so. I've set the ride height, via my Varishock/QA-1 Spring combo, to stock ride height. Nonetheless, I still scrape when entering/leaving driveways. I have to approach at an angle to have ANY chance of not scraping. So, while I've removed the front valence (valance?), I'm able to have a great look at the skid pan. It's 30" by 17.5". Very worn through, by years of scraping. My plan is to custom cut a sheet of this plastic stuff you guys are talking about. I'll cover the whole area, cutting a drain hole to match the pan, and also cutting away a bit on both sides of the trailing edge to match my wheel well contour. There are scrapes front and rear, so covering the whole area should protect me well. I also want to "slope" the leading edge just a bit, to present a more aero profile to the wind. I plan on fastening it to the pan with stainless hardware, and countersinking the heads into the plastic to prevent damage to them. Maybe well below the surface, to protect from future wear. Anyway, that's the idea. I'm sick of that scraping sound whenever I encounter a dip in the pavement. I'l inform the thread what I find out from Regal Plastics..... Greg
I ran into this problem several years ago, and after replacing my spoiler with one of Butch Hooper's, I riveted rectangular pieces of stainless steel (or was it aluminum?) to both corners and two pieces on the front. It worked nicely and was still going strong when I sold the car years later.
found a pic of goober's... as he says "Skid plate 18 gauge stainless steel food and marine grade (u can eat off it and it will not rust)" have felt it bottom out maybe half a dozen times during hard driving, would be good to see what it looks like from behind/going past... sparks baby Image Unavailable, Please Login
Well, my USA valance is no more. It was shattered in a recent crash, so I decided to go w/ a Euro deep spoiler. I know, I know, I'm a foolish boy! But I just think it looks much "meaner" than the USA shallow valance. I need to fabricate some sort of skid protection, either from UHMW or stainless steel. This time my needs are more severe... I'm going to again cover the belly section, with the drain hole, with 1/4" UHMW, cut to fit, attached w/ ss nuts/bolts But, I need to protect the low forward lip of the spoiler. The whole perimeter needs protection. I'm envisioning a custom U-shaped stainless steel plate, only about an inch wide. It would curve all the way around the forward perimeter. Not sure how I would attach it--I guess drill holes in both the plate and fiberglass spoiler, but: 1) How secure would the screws hold in the fiberglass? , and 2) Might there be a way to secure it with bolts AND nuts? I don't know if there's top access to provide for nuts on the front lip. 3) Do any vendors supply ready-made Euro skip plates? Thoughts anybody? Greg 77 308 GTB
There's room inside the Euro spoiler's lip for 10mm nuts. You may have to drill the holes parallel to the front edge of the spoiler to go from the middle of the flat bottom on the lip up into the matching inside recess. We just had Steven Rochelin's spoiler off for some other work. He had KTR mount 1/4" thick strips of Jabra(sp) a tropical plywood used for F1 skid pans cut to fit his spoiler's corners. It seems to be holding up well so far, but really needed to go all the way across the front. They drilled thru the spoiler lip, then used rivnuts (nuts mount like pop rivits) to hold the pieces on. I understand the stuff is hard to come by in less than skid lots tho. It's a dark brown color, so paint would be needed to blend in. However, even if you protect the spoiler from scrapes with a skid plate, in many places the Euro spoiler's fiberglass is thick enough so that it doesn't flex, just shatters when it gets hit hard enough. First a speed bump, than a year later,after spending 4 weekends restoring it, by my garage steps & the engine wasn't even running(don't ask)...
Thanks Verell, always can count on a good response from you. I'd really like to find a way to custom-cut a piece of stainless steel, about 1" wide or so, to mount all around the lower-most perimeter of the valance. I guess that would entail getting a BIG piece of it, draw a template and have a machine shop cut it to fit. Can anybody think of a better idea? Sounds like SS will be easier to find than Jabra, should hold up better, too.. Does anybody have some spare Jabra lying around?! OR, should I cover the ENTIRE bottom of the thing with a huge SS skid plate, with the front cut to follow the curved contour? Kind of like a big "D"? Greg
This is what I did for my TR...........works great, 1/8" thick, 1 1/2 lbs. Below is the link: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98940&page=2 Hope this is of help..........Kerry Image Unavailable, Please Login
Kerry, Your skid plate is exactly what I envision for my Euro 308 valance. What did you use to make it--materials/tools? Greg
Materials: 1/8" sheet of aluminum 9 - 4mm philips head stainless steel screws Tools: Plasma cutter TIG welder Drill w/ appropriate drill bits and countersink bit Grinder w/a flap wheel Philips screwdriver Fabrication: After repairing the spoiler and then having it coated on all surfaces with Line-X, I laid out the spoiler on the sheet of aluminum and made a pattern. In this case I used a small sheet of aluminum 4" X 2" and made the skidplate in three pieces........two curved ends and the center section. I then TIG welded the three sections together. I them took a grinder and smoothed not only the welds, but the entire piece, making the "leading" edge somewhat angled and rounded, which makes for a smooth/progressive contact surface to the road etc., but also to make it visually non-intrusive. Measured out the points where I wanted the screws to be and drilled and countersunk. Installed the spoiler, held the skidplate in place with duct tape and drilled through the spoiler and front pan...........put the SS crews in and I'm done. By the way when I made the skidplate I made 2 extra ones, so in the event I need to replace it........I have spares. If you have any more questions refer to the link or email me [email protected] Kerry
