Under tray options?

[944sracer]

Hi,

I have a 87 944 n/a and my plastic under tray is starting to hate life. I was wondering if there are any better alternatives out there other than the plastic one? I was hoping for a aluminum or stainless steel one?

TIA

[egil]

My 968 is totally missing the undertray, including the front, crescent shaped piece, so I am also looking for solutions.

There is a German guy on the bay that sells "Porsche 944 / 968 Motor Unterschutz NEU!" which may be made of a different type of plastic, but I have no experience.

(I do have experience with undertrays for an Alfa I have, where there exists plastic aftermarket undertrays that are tougher than the originals, being made from a thermo-plastic that is heat formed. The original is cast, and more prone to cracking)

[Jrboulder]

Oh come on!
Nobody is going to crack a joke about the dealer throwing it away after the warranty period is over?

I would like to get an undertray for my car. I have never seen one before so I don't even know what they look like.

Jackson

[egil]

The part number for the main tray is 944 504 167 03. There is also a rear section 951 504 069 00. On the 968 there is in addition a front, crescent shaped piece, 944 505 075 00 01C. I believe their shape is fairly obvious from the parts book (or google the part numbers). The middle one looks something like this (from the ebay.de ad I mentioned):

[Catamax944]

I was hoping for a aluminum or stainless steel one?

Install an early 944/924 steel one...

[egil]

Originally Posted by Catamax944

Install an early 944/924 steel one...

Seems like a very good idea. The part number for the 924 (shown above) is "477 407 583 C". The up to -85 944 part is "944 341 161 03", which PP lists as NLA. Will these covers match the post-85 front apron? And will the early part interfere with the slanted engine?

[Dean924s]

My 87 924s came with the alu one. (maybe a source to replace the plastic ones)

I have it off at the moment BUT will always reinstall when i go to the track. With out it the car gets nose light at high speed. Almost feels like it is floating. Scared the #### out of me the first time I went out with out it.

[sasquatch]

I plan on building a new aluminum one in about 1800 miles when I have to retension the belt. Is there a market for these? I have all the sheet metal bending/shearing equipment and they may be easy enough to knock a couple out.

Being aluminum I would paint the entire tray with bedliner to reduce resonant vibrations though. Dont know if it is an issue or not.

[egil]

I'm certainly a customer for aluminium ones, it seems like they are the best solution (in my case, assuming it will fit a 968, or can be made to fit). I have not yet tried to see if they are available S/H, though.

Note that there are many quality levels of aluminium. Cheap aluminium is soft and corrodes easily.

[Dean924s]

Having an aluminum one on the shelf I could just measure it out and put it in to AutoCAD. Convert to a DXF file and have the piece cut out on a water jet Then put in a bending brake and in 10 min done. The placement of the louvers for cooling is the only "critical" part of this and these would probably have to be hand bent / expanded after the piece is bent. Again not a big deal but it could be critical with respect to functionality of the piece.

I was thinking of using .040 or .050. I think .060 would work but probably over kill - As for aloy I would go with 5083 or 5086

[Dean924s]

Stainless is also an option but the edges are really sharp.

I would use 316 alloy.

I just looked up the price for a 4'x8' piece of .060 316 and it was a tad under $400 If you can only get one out of a sheet that is a very expensive piece!

I could not get a price for 5083 but 3003 .063 is about $100 for a 3'x8' piece. This is much more reasonable.

[Rasta Monsta]

Early steel unit will not fit a late car.

[petrolhead611]

The ally one on my 924S doesn't seem to resonate noticeably.

[egil]

Originally Posted by Dean924s

3003 .063 is about $100 for a 3'x8' piece.

Wouldn't you think 3003 is good enough quality for automotive use?

[Dean924s]

Originally Posted by egil

Wouldn't you think 3003 is good enough quality for automotive use?

It is the dam engineer in me Why use good enough when better is available? 3003 would work. It can be brittle especially when fatigued.

[944sracer]

I would be interested in two or more actually. Depending on the weight (the race car driver in me ) for either aluminum or stainless. Maybe we could look into the one that goes from the front valance to the lower radiator crossmember too?

[951 Scott]

After reading this thread, I went out and took a look at my undertrays...luckily they both are there. The exception being that the front bat-wing had seen better days and was in need of repair. When I took mine off, there were only six of the 12 or so screws intact (I sources almost exact screws at my local hardware store) and repaired a crack which started near the front and ran almost the whole length....while not a replacement one which would be the preferred situation...it cost me an hour of time and about $6.00 in screws and some JBWeld I had in my garage.

Sorry about the bad photo's but I took them after I reinstalled mine. If you need better photo's for a reference PM me and I take some more in the daytime and post them.


Ziptie Sutures and Screw


More Surtures and JB Weld


Even more Sutures


Barely Noticable taking a photo on one knee

[944sracer]

Dean, what did you mean by needing cooling louvers?

[Dean924s]

The metal one I have has louvers cut in it that appear to allow air out of the engine bay. IE I assume it is for letting the hot air out from around the motor.

[n_hall]

i'm pretty sure it's for ventilation.
i've heard of people putting homemade skid plates on car and them starting to overheat (not these cars).

i just realized how little i post on this forum.