I was wondering if anyone made a aftermarket under body tray? Seems like people are always looking for them in the classifieds...

it wouldn't be hard to mold a nice carbon/kevlar one based on the stock piece...that would be durable.

a good composite mfg could produce them probably for 200 bucks for a 4-6 layer one...ie...you'd have to hit a curb at 60 to rip it.

I've seen "fragile" ones made out of carbon that weren't like "tough" stock replacements....

Just curious...

I'm always looking for ways to make this car more "reliable"

john

 

John

It's already in the works... https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/interest-custom-radiator-ducting-undertray-front-splitter-combo-333609/

 

guess I was thinking of a more "stealth" tray than that...

those are AWESOME for the race track...but if i'm drivin to work every day...I don't want to worry about hitting a curb and shattering my tray.

having that "sharp" leading edge is killer for performance...but really vulnerable from a composite part perspective.

I guess I was thinking of something that looked EXACTLY like the stock tray...but didn't break...

cause a new stock tray is what...120-150 bucks?

oh yah...and by far and away the cheapest carbon i've seen...

http://www.shopmaninc.com/carbonpage.html

I have ordered from them and the quality and service was great.

john

 

John, from my experience, the stock tray is pretty much as durable as it gets. I've beaten that thing so badly, and it just keeps on takin it. It's made of a very tough/durable plastic like material that takes one hell of beating. It's totally understandable that they'd start to fall apart after 12 years if you ask me. So if that's what you're looking for, I'd stick w/ the stocker.

If you wanna get a good price, check on the forum's 3rd gen classifieds section, they pop up every now and then. Also try PMing Benjamin and Fritz Flynn. They have a gazillion stock parts. Lastly, try calling Ray Crowe at Malloy Mazda for the absolute cheapest price you'll get (new). 1-888-533-3400

~Ramy

 

I'm not in the market...I was just wondering if anyone ever did capatilize on the market.

I race rally cars. I've bent 1/4 6061 t6 aluminum in a right angle from hitting a rock the size of your head at 70 mph

the underside of rally cars has best been described to me as...imagine a fire hose squirting water...now replace the water with gravel....thats what the bottom of your car is dealing with. and I believe it....seeing what its done to my skid plate...an my 1/8th inch steel "re-inforcements"...that reformed themselves in a weekend

I have built carbon kevlar under body protection for my rally car...and am in the process of building myself a skid plate to replace the "fragile" aluminum. I'm joking about the aluminum. to get the skid plate to flatten out...I had to run over it...multiple times...with my 9000 lb box van.

the plastic the stock tray is made out of is great for a car that isn't lowered...and isn't 12 years old... but if yours is tired...or your car is lowered so you're constantly hitting crap...i'm suprised someone hasn't produced a beefy replacement. beefy meaning tough...not heavy.

john

 

John,

I'm w/ you, but I don't think anyone on the forum (at least not that I know of) rally races their FD, so the tray doesn't get destroyed as quickly and badly as yours would.

Only two companies (that I know of) bothered to make an undertray, both priced too high to make them worthwhile...

C-West:



And Mazdaspeed:

 

the mazdaspeed one is $$$$

 

lol that would be awsome, ive seen rally t2

 

I don't rally a FD...I rally a galant VR4.

I don't think a FD would do so well rallying....the rear suspension would get torn up REALLY fast with all the rocks.

John

 

My PFS bumper has one about as big as the CWest tray. My car is low and it does get dinged up quite a bit.

 

oh yah

http://www.acp-composites.com/ACP-CAT.HTM

composite laminates...for those wanting to match their own custom nose covers

john

 

I am currently in the market for a replacement under belly. I have the cwest front end on mine, and would be happy with any type of replacment.

You wanna make me one?

P.S. I like the cwest one, but I have not been able to find it. Have not really looked that hard either, as I imagine it is waaaay too much.

 

John, I understood that you don't rally an FD. But I was saying the wear and tear you experience in rallying, which requires such a sturdy undertray is very diff from the wear and tear we get from just driving and tracking our cars. That's prob why offering an aftermarket undertray hasn't really been explored too much.

Speaking of which...a Galant VR4? What's that? I know what the Galant is, and I know what a 3000 GT VR4 is. Is this some rally type AWD Galant?

I dunno if you saw the thread I posted in my first reply, but Damian's currently in the process of making custom undertrays. They'll be compatible w/ the stock front end, 99spec, Mazdaspeed, and C-west front bumpers.

It's $697, to be exact. I'd NEVER pay that much for an undertray...

 

a galant vr4 is like an "evo 0"

basically a 1g AWD dsm with 4 doors....and a "good" wheel base. not too long.

Galant VR4s were the WRC rally cars to beat in 89-91

http://www.rallybc.com/photos/2001/w...ldwest0745.jpg

thats one of my fav pics on the web.

I haven't raced since

http://www.roadraceengineering.com/r...er/treeter.jpg

bad enough they mentioned it in SCC

we were fine...but...umm...need a new car. That one had already had the roof replaced.

there are more pics of the rally car and carbon parts in that folder.

Back on topic.

lets say I could produce a composite Fd3s front belly tray that fit stock "rear" mounting points and fit the stock "plane" for the front mounting points...that you could drill for whatever nose you have?

say...for 300 bucks??

I am just thinking out loud

john

 

Damn I'm lazy. Thanks for pointing that link out again. I went back and read it. Hopefully, Damian will have something put together soon.

 

NP. I'm waitin for the undertray for a C-west front too

 

I have about 1/3 of my tray still hanging on my car. You want that one?

 

LOL I actually have about 1/2 of a tray still hanging on my car. Only part that survived lol

 

I made an aluminum undertray for my stock bumper.
It was pretty painless all things considered.

 

Jon,

I'd love to check it out sometime. Oh, and Damian's actually in the process of making a full car length undertray, so the front undertray would extend beyond the oil pan, allowing air to flow around the pan before exiting, thus cooling the oil. And because it goes that far back, it has a hole for the oil pan plug and duez fastners to quickly release the tray. That peice is gonna also hook up w/ a middle undertray w/ loading channels, so it runs into a rear diffuser. Basically, we're trying to seal the underside of the car.

 

Yeah you can definitely check it out whenever. The one on my car was the prototype. I've since made 2 others for the stock bumper that turned out much better due to a trial and error deal ;p

I could make a full version like the CWest and Mazdaspeed, I'd just need a car to measure for the different front bumpers. About the only thing I didn't do were drain plugs for the radiator or oil, but that is pretty simple IMO as well.

 

With a large sheet of a aluminum and a nibbler, it seems like a full length aluminum undertray would be easy and cheap to make, plus the weight difference between a thin gauge aluminum and composite would be negligable. Not to mention the durability factor, dents could just be pounded out.

 

I caught the back edge of mine on the floor jack and broke the rear middle mounts. did a repair with carbon fiber. worked fine and is tough. while laying under the car, i thought about putting together a knock off of the bottom tray in carbon kevlar. carbon kevlar is expensive stuff especially in a prepreg. a vacuum form mold wouldnt be too tough to cnc. would it be a inexpensive part like the plastic oem, probably not. my guess would be in the $300 - $350 range labor and materials. recovering tooling and cnc time and materials plus cad time would not be included in that same $300 -350 though.
bottom line - dont think youll find a composite part at a price point for most.
chuck

 

Exactly, getting a couple sheets of aluminum at home depot cost like $20. I'm still trying to test the difference between various thicknesses of aluminum. But I wound up denting one of mine and it was quite easy to pound back to its original form.