I've almost started this project several times. Could not see how to get past a few barriers. Now I'm ready to address it again. I want to have a smooth belly pan, front to rear. As smooth as I can get it, that is.
Much credit is due to Ecky and Natalya who have shared photos and notes on their belly pan builds. And to Scott, who makes and sells the excellent aluminum front belly pan replacement that I and many other Insight Gen 1 owners are using.
My exhaust hangs down a bit below the level of the oem rear belly pans. I'm planning on lengthwise spacer strips on either side of exhaust tunnel, to position the panels about 1.25" lower, for clearance. Details later. Anyway, hopefully no belly pan cutouts unless the exhaust system needs cooling air flow.
The car is now lifted for access to the underside. There's more to this than first meets the eye. Put the front up on jack stands first. Lifting the rear first caused the front to angle down too close to ground. No access to see or get a jack in there. The rear wheels are on ramps to take advantage of the hand brake to prevent rolling off. The ramps point away from car so I have room to slide underneath at the sides. So - you can't drive the car up onto the ramps in this configuration. A jack goes under the rear coil spring support to get the wheels up, then slide the ramps under the wheels.
