Front skid plate made of 5052 aluminum

[silverfrost1]

Custom made front skid plate made of 5052 aluminum (0.032 mil). No overheating issues, but I live in CT. I do not have to remove the whole thing to change the oil filter. I think there is a slight aerodynamic benefit, and it helps keep road grime out of the engine bay. I bought a 4x8 piece of this material. The dealer rolled it up and put it in the back seat for me! This mil thickness cuts easily enough with metal shears. I call it a skid plate, but the strict constructionists around here would probably call it a splash guard.

[Zack]

No offense, but that is a dumb idea for this car.

[vkirkend]

It looks very nice. how sturdy is it? (Rocks, curbs, etc....

[Haggis]

Glad to hear that you do not have any overheating issues, yet. That will not work for those of us with aftermarket heat exchangers and air filters in the wheel well.

[magindat]

No offense, but that is a dumb idea for this car.

Zack is (as usual) a little blunt. But right.

Lemme translate:
The space you covered is supposed to evacuate air from between the fan shroud and the belt area of the motor. This is part of the reason the fan shroud angles down slightly in stock form. It is also the reason for the notorious air dam.

Keep an eye on your temps especially in traffic as it will be harder for the engine bay to evac hot air build up.

Good luck with it.

Rich

[Raudermaster]

What could we benefit from this though? I mean, it's not like I go four wheeling with my car on the weekends lol, I'll take my dad's truck for that.

[Zack]

Another retired police car driver preparing for the 'what ifs', thats all.

[Power Surge]

That's a nice piece, fits good, well made. Nice job.

I think some of you other guys are out of control. There's nothing wrong with that splash shield. It's not going to hinder anything. Ford actually uses those on many vehicles to help promote airflow TO the radiator. Hell, even some other Panther's have them OEM.

[mtenderenda]

I think the rear skid plate was a good idea....I don't think there is a need for this one.....

[Master]

Do watcha gotta do, and be happy with what you've accomplished. Let us know what you see in the plus/minus categories as the miles are put on this mod.

[silverfrost1]

Another retired police car driver preparing for the 'what ifs', thats all.

I dismiss your presumptuous and ignorant ravings with

[buickconvert]

Hey, how bout getting some louvers stamped into the pan to evacuate the radiator airflow? I think that'd look really cool

[SergntMac]

Ford actually uses those on many vehicles to help promote airflow TO the radiator. Hell, even some other Panther's have them OEM.

Can you help us track it down in application? If there is an OEM application where the OEM has used something like this, that may be helpful to us all.

Meanwhile, I do see a few probable conflicts between this mod, and other mods we enjoy. Though it seems a rather ingenious use of malleable aluminum, how does it attach? Is it easy to remove for access to other areas, such as draining the radiator, frequent oil changes, front end alignments, tranny flushing, even cold air routing to the OEM air box inlet behind the headlight, and so on. My questions abound.

But, I like this approach to this mod too. To para-phrase John (TooManyFords) from another posts recently, "you would be surprised to see what came from a dreamer's workshop, to a designer's work table".

Yep, I bet I would...

[Power Surge]

Can you help us track it down in application? If there is an OEM application where the OEM has used something like this, that may be helpful to us all.

Meanwhile, I doo see a few possible conflicts between this mod, and other mods we have made. Though it seems a rather ingenious use of malleable aluminum, how does it attach? Is it easy to remove for access to other areas, such as draining the radiator, frequent oil changes, front end alignments, even cold air routing to the OEM air box inlet behind the headlight, and so on.

My questions abound, but I like the approach to this mod too. To para-phrase John (TooManyFords) from another posts recently, "you would be surprised to see what came from a dreamer's workshop, to a designer's work table".

Yep, I bet I would...

Just start looking under various Ford products. New Mustangs have them (05-up), some Town Cars, some years of Crown Vic/Grand Marquis (91-97 bodies), and lots of other models. I saw plenty of cars with them when I was a dealer tech. Hard to forget some of those cars, cause they are a PITA when doing oil changes.

[RCSignals]

Can you help us track it down in application? If there is an OEM application where the OEM has used something like this, that may be helpful to us all.

Something like this was used as a lower air baffle on pre-'98 CVPIs, covering the lower space between the bumper and radiator. The idea is to help direct more air for cooling through the radiator.

There must be some reason they have been omitted from later production.