DIY Skid Plate

I’ve been meaning to install a skid plate of some sort for a while, the plastic brush/dust guard just doesn’t cut it anymore. There are bolt-on options from primitive that I was looking into for a while, but ultimately decided to go the DIY route using an old street sign since it’s a lot cheaper and looks cooler. I decided on this bike lane sign I picked up when I was a kid because it’s really the perfect dimensions. Ideally I’d like to keep some parts of the old plastic dust cover because I think it really does keep a lot of road dirt off the engine and keeps things clean under there.

Final Product

 

Test fit to see where I’ll need to bend it and to see how off I was with the bolt holes. Plan is to do a single bend across roughly where the pedals are on the bike, and then bolt to the subframe right behind the engine.
I don’t love the location of the front mounting bolts, they mount into pretty thin sheet steel, but it’s really the only mounting point on that part of the car, and it’s where all the aftermarket skid plates mount.
The original, unmodified sign
No press brake? No problem! Used a curb, some scrap wood, and the weight of my subie to bend the slight angle I wanted into the front of the plate.
Angle grinding
We had to clip off the corner of the skid plate to clear the exhaust as it comes down and back towards the rear of the car.
The oil pan (what the skid plate is trying to protect) and the subframe mount directly behind it. That’s where the skid plate mounts in the rear.
For the initial tests I used some steel spacers so the skid plate would clear the exhaust/oil pan. Ideally I’d want a wider spacer because the subframe mount is the middle is the only place the skid plate mounts in the back.
The metal skid plate over the original plastic one. Ideally I’d like to keep the parts of the plastic that are showing here so they can prevent dirt/debris from kicking up into the engine compartment.