So I made two variations of a skid plate. the first attempt was just aluminum sheet I manipulated to fit around the header, and tied it down with clamps. My second attempt was more successful. I used a steel sheet and made a template to trace out the design. Then cut it out with a metal saw, and bent it. Then drilled some 2 inch holes in front for max cooling of the header.

 

excellent

 

Is that an expensive header?

The way I've designed my skid plates is to have them mount to the front tow hook area or build off an aftermarket traction bar.

That way, if they take a hit the header doesn't have to support the skid plate.

 

To the OP, how is that a "skid" plate? Sorry but...

It barely offers any protection of any kind. I think you should call it a "scratch panel". Because all it's going to do is keep your headers from getting scratched. Yours offers no real protection whatsoever.

Notice Black R's plate ...it's substantial and thick, and you can tell it's already taken some abuse and offered protection for the header.

 

Ya any good hit and that header is still going to get squished and dented

Looks nice though lol

 

So says you. Ive beat the **** out of it and its still keepin the header safe. Maybe you dont know what Ballston Spa roads are like, but they put it to the test.

 

lol ok bud

 

I'm sorry but 22 gauge sheet metal does not constitute as a "skid plate"

 

The rods going back, what are they going to?

 

probably to the subframe

 

that sheet metal is not going to protect any thing.

 

Pretty much:

 

a good rock or manhole cover would shred that thing like tin-foil. i appreciate the work and dedication used in making this, but you material and mounting idea is all wrong. as stated earlier, this should be fastened to something associated with the frame, keeping in mind the tolerance needed to allow the motor to move freely when under load. there use to be a bunch of companies making them for VW's out of 12 gauge where they fastened to the front cross member, which housed the front motor mount and connected to the frame rails, and the subframe behind the motor where the steering rack is located. this proved to be a very efficient design

 

HT has so many "haters" Ok so maybe its not the "proper way" to mount it, but it is just as thick as the metal used in the skid plate above. I dont see how you can say its not doing anything. I mean it is my car and I kinda drive it. So I would therefore know what kind of beating it has taken, and can take. Its held up fine. If you want to make me a "proper skid plate" id be overwhelmed, but until then this is what I had to work with and I appreciate the inputs. Just not the smart *** remarks.

 

If you folded your sheet over 5 times maybe. That tube one has 1/8" plate, yours is thin gauge sheet that you bent by hand. Think about it, if you bent it by hand, at best you made a diffuser or a reverse heat shield. Honestly, if you haven't trashed it yet, and your roads are as bad as you say they are, then you aren't nearly as low as you think.

PS, you don't want to cool the header, heat is your best friend in an exhaust system.

 

^^^THIS^^^

this is why people heat wrap or ceramic coat their exhaust systems, to keep the heat in so it gets out the proper way. your "solution" is simply letting the heat escape, then be trapped by this sheild, then cooled by incoming air. nobody here is being a hater, we are simply explaining why your design is both inefficient and probably hurting more than its helping. i have no doubts that rocks have pinged off that thing from time to time, but there is no way you have hit anything subtantial. that 1/8" plate will take a massive beating, and it already has the scars to prove it, but yours will start to dent, then just rip right through

 

I think it needs to be mounted on the vehicle, not the header.. A hit to the plate that's bolted to the header is only going to transfer all the energy straight to the header. Just my view on it.

 

Instead of the fighting I would like to see someone start a thread on fabrication a good skidplate, I have a rare S&S one on the 86 and I would like to keep it in one piece

 

the one from Black R seems pretty self explainatory. probably DOM tubbing (same as building a cage) and some 1/8"(?) plate, figure out your bends, angles, and clearances, then weld it all up using the the FRAME

 

keeping your exhaust hotter doesn't necessarily increase performance. Just serves to limit heat buildup in the engine compartment. Which is why I made the holes to cool it. I mean I am only a Nuclear Engineer, and this is kinda my job to transfer heat from point A to B. An exhaust system doesn't need to be wrapped to conserve heat until it reaches the muffler. Unless somehow the heat helped with atomization of fuel in the cylinder chamber( highly unlikely). it is although important to cool the air coming in the intake. So therefore I guess wrapping the header would help keep things cool under the hood. therefore cooler more condensed concentrated air enters the intake. Once again that's why I made some cooling holes for radiation heat transfer which in turn causes convection heat transfer to the rest of the header. I probably blew that out of proportion but idc. Its my oponions, and I dont seem to like the way soviXetday replied to my thread. Good day.

 

regardless of heat transfer and blah blah blah...two engineers can go at this all day, and frankly i don't care that much. point being, your design is flawed, your material is too thin, and your mounting system is all wrong. i don't care if you "think" your roads are ****, cause you are either not nearly as low as you are letting people think, or you really haven't gone over anything substantial enough to really test the functionality of your design. i do nothing but mechanical engineering and do analysis on metals all day long, along with shock testing and stress tests. so if you really wanna pull the engineer card on me, so be it

 

why not just do a whole undercarriage skid plate? instead of one that just covers a certain thing

 

OP your skid plate is more of a heat shield on the wrong side of the header. Black R's skid rail/plate is exactly (I mean exactly) what I have envisioned as a skid plate.

 

was under the impression that hot air travels faster

 

Correct!

But, I don't want hot near my oil pan heating up the oil.

And grudynski told me not to heat wrap it...