Skid Plate measurement

[92wagon]

I am looking to see if anyone here has a skid plate on their First Gen? ..

I've come across some aluminum plates and want to fab a skid plate up.
I'd just like to get some measurements from someone who has a skid plate on their car.

Thank you.

[HomeSlice]

dont you have one?> heres mine off a 94

[92wagon]

I don't have one... do you have measurements from it ?? I was really looking for measurements from a first gen primitive plate

[beatersubi]

30" x 30" work pretty well. Coincidentally, very similar dimensions to common road signs.
The rear corners need to be cut off to clear the front suspension. And it needs a couple bends to clear the oil pan and mount to the front crossmemeber.

[HomeSlice]

the TI and MI came with one in 94. did you look? do you still have the under pass seat storage tray? i could take measurements. but id make it alot bigger then oem. impreza 93-07 and prob most legacy up to 02 prob fit. any skid plate i ever seen is jus straight stock with spacer to the crossmember. a lil bend in the front.

[92wagon]

^ ya ive looked.. I've replaced the engine there is def. not one there. I did have the under seat storage but I replaced my seats with 01 RS seats. I was just hoping someone had a primitive skid they could measure. so I could make mine accordingly.

[oldscoobyturbo]

I'll grab some pics and measurements of my boyracer skid plate it covers the entire lower front of the car.

from another thread but its a good pic

[92wagon]

^^^^^^ YES THAT!!!! Thank you!! I would love the measurements and any pictures from it!

[oldscoobyturbo]

here are some pics







you will need to drill two new holes in the front end to fit the lower rad support this one was not made for a legacy but it does bolt up in the rear with longer bolts.

the next pic shows all the dimensions i will list the basic ones here:

39" wide at the front
28" tall/long
22" wide at the rear
3" wide steps going to a 25 deg angled side
the front lip is 2" wide
the rear lip is 1" wide
the lips are at about a 30 deg angle
the 2 access panels are 4.5"x5.5" and 9"x7"
to make the access panels fit you need to change the locations
the larger one goes at the front for the oil filter the smaller is for the drain plug

[92wagon]

Thank you SO MUCH!! this is exactly what I was looking for!

[originalcyn]

So i guess i'll dredge this up....

What are the other benefits of a skid plate? I mean, obviously protection, but would you get, say, a boost in mpg?

[kimokalihi]

Aerodynamics for sure. I want one. Especially on my metro.

[originalcyn]

Kimo,

Like, significant enough to matter? or just like a vague, nebulous improvement?

[kimokalihi]

Probably won't notice but I don't know. Never had one before. I think if you managed to cover up the whole bottom of the car as much as possible and design an effective rear diffuser to direct air up into the vacuum behind your bumper you would see noticeable gains in acceleration and MPG.

[originalcyn]

hmm, i wouldn't mind trying to make one. But i don't want to spend on materials until i'm certain of the benefit. the protection is nice, but i'm not sure i need it. I wonder if i could make one out of something lighter first. Danny had his roadsign one for a while. Maybe he knows. Most of the ones i'm seeing from primitive and what not are only the front 3rd or so of the car, and then a differential protection from primitive.

the cost of materials for an aluminum sheet large enough is fairly close to the cost of a premade plate, if i read the other threads correctly.

[beatersubi]

Corrugated plastic makes a cheap and fairly durable building material. Its usually available for free (its what all the political signs are made of).
I actually read an article on Autospeed wherein the author made an undertray for his commuter car with the stuff and saw a measurable increase in fuel mileage.

[oldscoobyturbo]

i'll 2nd the coraplast material. we use this where I work to line bins for car parts it holds up pretty good to over 500lbs piled on it. its also easy to mark and cut with a utility knife.

[originalcyn]

Hmm, that seems like the ticket. any idea where to get relatively large sheets of it? I'm reluctant to go take campaign signs, for multiple reasons. They actually seem like they'd be too small.

[kimokalihi]

I was once going to make a corrugated plastic one for the metro but couldn't find it locally and it was very expensive online.

[Danny-G]

When I had mine, it seemed to help a little bit in the mileage area. I think 1 or 2 mpg difference, so not a whole lot but it was an improvement.

[beatersubi]

One could volunteer to clean up the political litter along the sides of the road, after the elections, of course.

[cj91legss]

Or you could go sign jacking at 4am

[originalcyn]

One could volunteer to clean up the political litter along the sides of the road, after the elections, of course.

Haha, that might work. I might just go take one from somewhere.

Or you could go sign jacking at 4am

This is less likely to happen. I'm too much of a coward to deal with the ramifications lol.

[kimokalihi]

Yup its a felony and you have to sand the sign down because they put a invisible marking on them to show its their property. There was a couple that stole some signs in my high school that were arrested and charged with a felony.

[originalcyn]

This is all true. I realize cj was joking as well. But my biggest thing is people taking stop signs. That's going to kill someone. Whatever legal consequences there might be, i wouldn't deal well with the idea of having gotten someone killed.