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Old 09-05-2017, 01:25 PM   #1 (permalink)
elhigh
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Location: SE USA - East Tennessee
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Josie - '87 Toyota Pickup
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The beginning of the belly

I have finally, four years after I bought it - and 46 months after I discovered the thing was missing - replaced the the belly pan under the engine in my HCH1.

Material is coroplast from Home Depot. About $14 per sheet. Don't flame me for paying, I have just enough social anxiety that even thinking about calling campaign offices for permission to take abandoned signs gives me hives.

I'm not worried about sagging; I put the corrugations crossways on the car to provide a bit more rigidity that way, and a gentle curve where the forward edge rises to meet the existing under-bumper tray stiffens things up in that direction.

I provided a generously-sized trapdoor for access to the oil filter and drain plug. I'm pretty sure that a quickie-change place probably tore the old one off and discarded it; that appears to be a recurring theme with people who complain that their undertrays are gone. I use a Walmart near me, but I know the guys that work on my car.

I was able to use the existing mounting points for the original tray; I bought a bulk bag of 50 push-through trim anchors specifically for this project and extending belly panning aft.

Pictures are forthcoming, as soon as I can build a link to them.

[edit] Pix!

The approximate size of the sheet I needed to install. The corners needed trimming but overall about 35x27" (90 x 68.5 cm)


The yawning chasm where the undertray should have been.


The new tray in place. The trailing edge of the bumper's undertray had been missing its buttons for a long time too, so everything was quite droopy and sad-looking under there. This has neatened things up a lot.


The maintenance hatch. For anything more involved than oil changes, the whole thing will have to come down.

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Last edited by elhigh; 09-05-2017 at 08:25 PM..
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