That Naff Piece of Bent Ally?

[ianl]

Whilst on my ever extending suspension, chassis and brakes rebuild mission I’ve removed the tank cradle and the aluminium closing panel. As it is bent, oxidised and generally naff looking I am going to replace it. Does any one know of a source of stainless steel panels? If no source currently exists I intend to draw one up and get a local firm to laser cut and bend / polish a replacement. Would anyone else be interested in such and item? If there is enough interest I’ll get a quote to have a few made at the same time.

IanL

[johno]

I made my own out of sheet ally supplied by my Dad as mine was knackered aswell.

Really easy to do Ian if you want to do your own. I in fact painted mine Black as I didn't have the paint to match the bodywork. It hides it nicely though.

A question for you though. Is yours exactly the same height at either end (if looked at from the rear) I haven't seem one yet that is. When you get it out of the way you can then see how far out the body is from the chassis. Did you find this ??

Cheers

Mark

[mickypee]

Ianl

I would be very interested in having one of your pieces made. Let me know how much it will be. Perhaps you would email me direct.

Thanks

Mike

[chin up]

I have done this already, when I replaced my petrol tank cradle.. Don't want to sound smug or anything, but I reckon a hint of polished stainless down there sets it off rather nicely.

The stainless I used I just had lurking in the back of my garage. What a find!! Shouldn't be too hard to get a fabricator to make you some up though...

As for the level thing Johno, ummm.. I have only jugded it by eye, and not with a spirit level, but once it was all tightened down it looked pretty square to me....The good thing about having a shiny bit of metal down there is that it draws the eye away from such things. As long as it's level with the bodywork, (which it will be once bolted up) everything looks fine.

I haven't got a digital camera, otherwise I would post pictures......

Cheers, good luck, it's worth it.

[ianl]

Thanks for the replies.

A question for you though. Is yours exactly the same height at either end (if looked at from the rear) I haven't seem one yet that is. When you get it out of the way you can then see how far out the body is from the chassis. Did you find this ??

Mark: My existing panel and body are square with the same thickness of rubber spacer between the cradle and chassis.

I would be very interested in having one of your pieces made. Let me know how much it will be. Perhaps you would email me direct.

Mike: I’ll be in touch when I get a price.

Regards
IanL

[steve b]

Ian,

Did you get a price - if so please could you mail it to me?

Many thanks,

Steve.

>> Edited by steve b on Monday 8th April 10:37

[ianl]

OK, I've now looked at two different cars closing panels and they are different. The hole positions in mine are not symmetric side to side so I assume that they are made to fit individual cars. Based on this finding I think I'd be foolhardy to expect any panels I get made to fit any car other than my own.

Oh well worth a try…

[muley]

I don't seem to have a closing panel on my S1.

Where does it go to and from? My petrol tank is totally exposed to the air (and damp).

[ianl]

The closing panel fits on the two M10 bolts that pass through the boot floor and the tank cradle. It covers up the unsightly rubber spacer pieces between the tank cradle and the rear bodywork. Mine was sprayed black but I’ve seen some sprayed body colour and some left polished aluminium.