Have a bit of free time recently so I made up a DIY bash plate out of 6mm sheet aluminium.
WARNING: this DIY bash plate is not airbag approved like the Subextreme one, so proceed at your own risk.
(However it costs around 1/3 the price of the Subextreme
)
This plate will fit 03-08 SG9 Foresters. I will post plans for both NA and turbo models. I based mine on the original posted by David Peck (Pecky) on offroadsubarus (which is down at the moment), so I'll post Pecky's plans here also. Thanks to Pecky for the originals
You'll need a jigsaw, drill, angle grinder, socket set, screwdrivers and other basic tools
8x25mm hex head bolts x4 (same bolts to attach the BOV to the TMIC) , 5/16 mudguard washers x4
The 600x900mm 6mm Al sheet was bought from Capral for $95. 6mm is very thick and if I were to do it again I would use a thinner piece because the 6mm was very hard to bend using a manual bender. Capral also sell 3mm checker plate which is more blingy. Based on my plan, 600x800 is all you need or you can even use 600x600 which will cover the sump but your headers will still be exposed.
First, put the car up on stands and remove the plastic sumpguard. There are 2 bolts front and 2 rear and several plastic fasteners.
Here are Pecky's plans - note these are for N/A
For XTs use my plan below
you don't need the round cutout as for the N/A
** Important to note that my external dimensions are different to Pecky's. This will affect how you measure up the rear bolt holes**
The front boltholes are the same as Pecky's but as mine is slightly longer you will have to measure in by an extra 20mm or so for the rear (i.e 50mm not 30).
The angles to bend the plate is the same as Pecky's
pic is in high res so you can make out the numbers better, click on the pic
Draw a centre line, then do all your measurements off that.
Use the jigsaw to cut out the external shape, then the angle grinder to round the edges. Drill the holes. You can use the stock sumpguard to help mark out the boltholes.
Take the plate to a sheetmetal bender to bend. I got a fellow GTryda to bend mine up for a keg of Heineken (Thanks mate :silly: ). As I said before the plate was very hard to bend even with both of us jumping up and down on the bender. In the end, he cut the plate along the bend line up to about 20cm , bent it then welded it back up.
Getting the holes to align was a real pain, you may need to ream the holes bigger with the drill to get the correct alignment. As you can see from my pic I needed several tries to make it all align. In hindsight, I should have fitted the rears correctly first , then do the fronts. Less crawling under the car that way. If you look carefully, my boltholes are actually slightly off centre but that's because I am a novice at metalwork. It didn't matter much in the end though
I also added a few beads of silicon just in case of rattles. Let it completely dry before final fitting.
Enjoy
WARNING: this DIY bash plate is not airbag approved like the Subextreme one, so proceed at your own risk.
(However it costs around 1/3 the price of the Subextreme
)This plate will fit 03-08 SG9 Foresters. I will post plans for both NA and turbo models. I based mine on the original posted by David Peck (Pecky) on offroadsubarus (which is down at the moment), so I'll post Pecky's plans here also. Thanks to Pecky for the originals
You'll need a jigsaw, drill, angle grinder, socket set, screwdrivers and other basic tools
8x25mm hex head bolts x4 (same bolts to attach the BOV to the TMIC) , 5/16 mudguard washers x4
The 600x900mm 6mm Al sheet was bought from Capral for $95. 6mm is very thick and if I were to do it again I would use a thinner piece because the 6mm was very hard to bend using a manual bender. Capral also sell 3mm checker plate which is more blingy. Based on my plan, 600x800 is all you need or you can even use 600x600 which will cover the sump but your headers will still be exposed.
First, put the car up on stands and remove the plastic sumpguard. There are 2 bolts front and 2 rear and several plastic fasteners.
Here are Pecky's plans - note these are for N/A
For XTs use my plan below
you don't need the round cutout as for the N/A
** Important to note that my external dimensions are different to Pecky's. This will affect how you measure up the rear bolt holes**
The front boltholes are the same as Pecky's but as mine is slightly longer you will have to measure in by an extra 20mm or so for the rear (i.e 50mm not 30).
The angles to bend the plate is the same as Pecky's
pic is in high res so you can make out the numbers better, click on the pic
Draw a centre line, then do all your measurements off that.
Use the jigsaw to cut out the external shape, then the angle grinder to round the edges. Drill the holes. You can use the stock sumpguard to help mark out the boltholes.
Take the plate to a sheetmetal bender to bend. I got a fellow GTryda to bend mine up for a keg of Heineken (Thanks mate :silly: ). As I said before the plate was very hard to bend even with both of us jumping up and down on the bender. In the end, he cut the plate along the bend line up to about 20cm , bent it then welded it back up.
Getting the holes to align was a real pain, you may need to ream the holes bigger with the drill to get the correct alignment. As you can see from my pic I needed several tries to make it all align. In hindsight, I should have fitted the rears correctly first , then do the fronts. Less crawling under the car that way. If you look carefully, my boltholes are actually slightly off centre but that's because I am a novice at metalwork. It didn't matter much in the end though
I also added a few beads of silicon just in case of rattles. Let it completely dry before final fitting.
Enjoy
