Prototyping Continues...

More work on the GC skidplate got accomplished tonight, as I got down and dirty again with Aaron's '95 Impreza:



First, I began by looking at the front of the frame. Unlike the newer style Imprezas, the first gens only have 2 bolts up front. And since none of them came with any sort of underbody protection (not even a flimsy dust cover!), all of them usually are rusted.



So the first step is to clean out these bolts holes so they can be used. In some cases, you can just force the bolt in there and it'll clean out the rust. But usually this won't work, and you'll have to resort to other means. My solution: take some PB Blaster and spray the inside of the bolt hole. This will dissolve some of the surface rust, making it easier to work with. Then, you'll need a tapping kit. Use a M8x1.25" tap and retap these holes. Make sure to use some sort of lubrication (I found that the PB Blaster I had already used was sufficient) so as not to break the tap. You only really need to work the tap in far enough so you can get the screw started, then you can just force it in and it'll clean up on its own.





After this is done, and with the new jack plate I installed yesterday, I had all the mounting points I needed. I used an existing plexiglass template I had from previous designs and fit it up against the front. Interestingly enough, the distance to the jack plate is just a little bit longer than on the newer body Imprezas, so an adjustment had to be made.



The new holes I made worked perfectly, and the template fit like a charm! With the template up, I measured out where the oil filter and oil drain plug needed to be, and can now transfer that to my CAD system to generate a model. In a few days, we'll have a sheet metal prototype to finalize the design, and soon first gen Impreza owners can rejoice!

Still one problem though, the exhaust headers. Even with stock headers, there will need to be some adjustment made so that the plate doesn't sandwich up against them. There's two options: make some bends to clear the headers, or fabricate some spacers to gain some extra clearance. Just one more challenge, but I'm up to the task!