02 Civic underbody panel

[rumdog]

Hi all. I am attempting to do an underbody panel (ubp) on my civic. I have been commuting to work with this 4 door sedan for 15 weeks now, about 140km return each day, divided highway. Through this job I have access to a lift in town here, after hours. Have been doing oil changes on it, super easy!
Was talking to a friend about doing an ubp on it and hes like" I have the perfect piece for ya" i was doubtful, but he did! It's just coroplast but it's a long wide piece off his camper about 5' by 13'.
So it's a big task and a little bit overwhelming, so the first night I just wanted to measure and cut the piece to size.
I snapped a centerline on the plastic and measured everything from the front and center. Anyway in couple hours had the panel cut out and roughly on the car. Very exciting!
Then take it down and to the carwash.

Anyone know why my photos are being flipped? Thanks

[Joenavy85]

Be careful of the exhaust piping, I'd imagine the coroplast wouldn't get along with it too well. As far as how to counter that problem, you may be able to get away with putting some sheet aluminum on the coroplast where it's close to the pipe, but I can't say for sure.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Joenavy85

Be careful of the exhaust piping, I'd imagine the coroplast wouldn't get along with it too well. As far as how to counter that problem, you may be able to get away with putting some sheet aluminum on the coroplast where it's close to the pipe, but I can't say for sure.

Yea, people have talked about using metal screen in that area, don't know if it was done though.

A how-to step by step
Belly pan
https://ecomodder.com/wiki/Belly_pan

The material used around the exhaust should be metal, coroplast will melt and deform.

https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...pan-21419.html

Originally Posted by skyking

any pressure gradient at all will push on through a screen like that. It is not just a flow lengthwise, there are differences in pressure under the car. I'd stick to screen only where you had to. In my case, I have a lot of cooling air to deal with so I just left a window under the muffler.

[rumdog]

Great picture Kach22i, looks like a solid build.
yea I am aware of the hot exhaust and plan to either use metal between the exhaust and the coroplast, or metal in place of the coroplast. I had forgotten about the use of screen also.
My trouble is the exhaust is the lowest element in the central area, so im leaning towards metal in place of the coroplast in those zones.
I had the civic back on the hoist couple days ago, planning how and where to fix the panel on there... so I can prebuild the reinforcing structure. at the same time I measured the location of the exhaust, and tried to picture the shape of the finished panel - side to side and the rear end curvature/ diffuser.
otherwise its fairly flat.
I also chucked on a lower grill block for the winter, as I reside in Sask, Canada, and took the panel to the carwash to clean er up.
I find that sometimes the fastest way to make a complicated part/thing is to jump in the deep end and start building it... wing it. rather than overdesigning it. helps when the material is free! no stress to get it perfect the first time.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by rumdog

I had the civic back on the hoist couple days ago, planning how and where to fix the panel on there... ..........

I don't recall the details, but someone in the forum at one time had a car that didn't required any new substructure for the belly pan.

It was like the manufacture designed the car to have a belly pan but it was dropped or never offered as a option, probably for costs/marketing reasons.

[COcyclist]

Check out my albums. On my Golf I was able to screw into plastic drain plugs and a plastic fairing around the gas tank without drilling holes into metal.

[arcosine]

Hi,

When I did my Saturn, I found on a hot summer day that the gas tank was over pressurized. Seems a lot of hot air, from the exhaust and radiator, is trapped. The gas tank was hot! I added some vents near the tank and that solved it. The interior floor was till warm, though and made for an uncomfortable car in summer. Coroplast melted near the converter, I put a piece of aluminum flashing there in between to space it away..