Technical 4x4 Bash Plate

[IanWalrus]

Took the bash plate off from the underside of my car today and it's in a sorry state. Aside from much flaky paint it's rotted away in a couple of places (see pic). While I'm pretty sure I could clean it up, paint it and put it back as-is I thought it might make a good first welding project. The support beams are still solid and all the fixings came out easily enough.

I have another project that needs more extensive repairs so thought this would be a good task to practise on, that needs doing - at the end of the day I can't make it much worse and no-one will ever see it anyway if it looks like a pigs ear when done.

As a side note, I wondered how hard it would be to re-make in Aluminium? It's a fairly-flat form (mostly bends). Could I do the whole thing in Ali, or would I still need to attach to/make a support frame?

 

[AndyRKett]

Welding something that is that rusted could just result in blowing holes in it all over the place. The problem with the rust (obviously) it thins the metal and the settings on your welding plant depend on the metal being roughly the same thickness throughout. Something rusty like that is very difficult to weld which is why you normally cut the rust out and weld in new metal.

Making it out of aluminium would require a fairly high level of fabrication skills, if you’re pretty handy with sheet metal then go for it but remember with alloy the more you bend and shape it, the more brittle it becomes so you’ll need to keep anelling the piece

 

[IanWalrus]

I just found a website that sells new bash/skid plates for €189 (plus tax, shipping etc), so may just clean up & paint what I have for the moment.

 

[Panda IIs]

I just found a website that sells new bash/skid plates for €189 (plus tax, shipping etc), so may just clean up & paint what I have for the moment.

I had the same idea of fabricating from stainless (bolted to the solid frame for the existing skid plate) I even purchased the 304 stainless sheet (cheaper than 316) but then....

This was Shop4Parts 4 weeks ago - decided to save the stainless project for later! The skid plate I'm replacing was 9 years old so figured the new one should likely outlast the car now...

 

[porta]

Took the bash plate off from the underside of my car today and it's in a sorry state. Aside from much flaky paint it's rotted away in a couple of places (see pic). While I'm pretty sure I could clean it up, paint it and put it back as-is I thought it might make a good first welding project. The support beams are still solid and all the fixings came out easily enough.

I have another project that needs more extensive repairs so thought this would be a good task to practise on, that needs doing - at the end of the day I can't make it much worse and no-one will ever see it anyway if it looks like a pigs ear when done.

As a side note, I wondered how hard it would be to re-make in Aluminium? It's a fairly-flat form (mostly bends). Could I do the whole thing in Ali, or would I still need to attach to/make a support frame?

I re-made mine in ally’, cut out and ground off all the rust and remaining plate, vactan’ed, painted in high build anti rust paint. Then I used frame as a template, cut out aluminium tread plate 4mm (making an inspection slot for oil/sump) placed self adhesive rubber tape on all areas where ally’ would meet steel and mounted using stainless ‘Tek’ screws (with the rubber washers)…screwed the Tek screws in n out a few times, secured and cut/ground the ‘cutting edge’ protruding bit of screw off
It’s still on and still doing it’s job

 

[IanWalrus]

I had the same idea of fabricating from stainless (bolted to the solid frame for the existing skid plate) I even purchased the 304 stainless sheet (cheaper than 316) but then....

View attachment 420378

This was Shop4Parts 4 weeks ago - decided to save the stainless project for later! The skid plate I'm replacing was 9 years old so figured the new one should likely outlast the car now...

ooo... is a metal one? I had a look at the website; the picture is of a plastic-looking one?

 

[Panda IIs]

ooo... is a metal one? I had a look at the website; the picture is of a plastic-looking one?

Yep; full 4x4. Did you use their part number? Otherwise ensure you select vehicle type correctly. Its the shiny version of the one in your photo!

 

[IanWalrus]

It's arrived! Paint is barely there though, so will give it a good few coats of Hammerite before fitting.

 

[Panda IIs]

It's arrived! Paint is barely there though, so will give it a good few coats of Hammerite before fitting.

Yes I added some extra paint also purchased some M6 stainless bolts and penny washers (Screwfix) to replace the sketchy M6 steel hex headed bolts.

 

[TTR]

Eh up all

Good to know where to get these as mines been refurbished 3 times at least

I went belt n braces and actually ran Sikoflex into all the joints you can see on the above photo as extra protection and stop the bl88dy 5h1te getting in, also sealed up the water traps on the inside of the main sump protection piece.

Otherwise they just rot out in months

Plus 1 for stainless fixings but make sure the penny washers are same or smother both sides in stone chip or they will rot out,

I’m betting I’ll be at it again next year as each time I’ve done it generally get 3 years out of it and believe me I do it properly

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Just found this during some random Googling... looks like it might do the job rather well? (although maybe at teh expense of a small loss of ground clearance?)

Steel sump guard for Fiat Panda 4x4

The sump guard is new and fits perfectly for all versions of Fiat Panda 4x4 manufactured between 2011 and 2024.

www.sump-guard.co.uk

 

[IanWalrus]

I saw that one, but it's from Romania - so would attract import duty & VAT. It worked out at the same price as the 'original' one so I went for the UK one as it was less hassle. Plus it uses a different mounting system that, from the look of it, lowers your ground clearance a tad.

 

[Panda IIs]

Just found this during some random Googling... looks like it might do the job rather well? (although maybe at teh expense of a small loss of ground clearance?)

Steel sump guard for Fiat Panda 4x4

The sump guard is new and fits perfectly for all versions of Fiat Panda 4x4 manufactured between 2011 and 2024.

www.sump-guard.co.uk

2mm thick plate?? I think I'd rather the more structural subframe of the OEM even if the gauge of the FIAT sheet material is less? Just my view.

 

[WitleyPanda]

Just found this during some random Googling... looks like it might do the job rather well? (although maybe at teh expense of a small loss of ground clearance?)

Steel sump guard for Fiat Panda 4x4

The sump guard is new and fits perfectly for all versions of Fiat Panda 4x4 manufactured between 2011 and 2024.

www.sump-guard.co.uk

It only bent transversely rather than pressed so not as stiff.