Skid plate, pictures...

[GREENME@U]

hello all im new here ive had my delica for over a year now.Im lookin forward to meetin all of ya,and im about to go wvo very soon,i like the looks of the skid plate im in if i can be....i do like st steal. well get back too me and sorry to here the bad news. no rush at all cya

[delica 304]

Oh damn Fishslapper,

My condolences on your loss. I'm still in for a skid plate, whatever you decide will be best is fine by me. Just take care of yourself first!

[sahdot]

Sorry for your loss, fishslapper.

[konadog]

Yeah, sorry to hear about your friend...
And checker plate aluminium sounds awesome - take your time. Once more, your efforts are hugely appreciated!!

[jaggedfish]

My condolences too, man. Never easy losing friends.

Last year was bad for me that way... best if you are able to talk it out with friends and family... or even strangers... PM me if you need to bend a strangers ear. I will be away from the computer for the weekend but back again Sunday night or Monday morning.

The rest can wait... we're not going anywhere and there are always priorities - same on my end with developing the belly plate - all in good time and these folks seem patient when it comes to getting things right.

That said... sounds like you have a winner of a skid plate coming. Once I have the other one close enough, perhaps we can share ideas...

Take it easy.
Ian

[rdub]

Sorry to here about your friend.

Be Well.
Rdub

[jrman]

Sorry to hear about your bud, I know how it feels.
Keep on keeping on.
Sean

[fishslapper]

Thanks..... to all... !!
I got the first (test one) all cut and bent. I am just working with my sched. and delicats sched. to get him over to test fit it to his van.
Then comes the big leap of buyiny 2, 5 foot by 10 foot sheets of metal !! Thats allot of metal.... to me anyway !! :)

I got to meet yukonjack at the ferry terminal last night. It was a moment i would have expected from a delica owner..... He pulled over and 6 or 7 people got out. All were very nice too.
Oh yeah, He drives barefoot !! lol's.
looking forward to a delica meet someday.

cheers

[delicat]

Quick update here.

As fishslapper posted, a 1st skid plate was made but the fit wasn't perfect so it's back to drawing (those angles are a pain to make a nice fit!). Also, the steel that was used was way overkilled and very hard to work with so we think it will most likely be the aluminum version. At first I was afraid it may crack if banged up against rocks but after seing the actual aluminum plate and talking to people experience with those I'm no longer worried. They are also lighter and cheaper... As for stainless I guess it could always be an option but the price difference would be kinda scary!

So sorry for the delay but we're just normal guys trying to fit it all in our busy schedule. Add to this that fishslapper doesn't even have his Delica to do the small adjustment and you get the picture! But I'm just as anxious as the rest of us! Kudos again to fishslapper!

[konadog]

Thanks for the update delicat. I too am indeed looking forward to finally bolting on the now famous skid plate, though you know there is no pressure from this direction - just enthusiastic encouragement I agree that aluminium should be plenty tough enough, and while I always (try...) to go with function over form, I think the checker-plate aluminium will look really sharp. Hope Fishslapper gets his ride soon... You guys rock - Have fun with the final tinkering on the project!

[joedelica]

Cheers to Fishslapper and Delicat for your contributions on this and many more!
I understand the concern with acquiring the material for a project like this.
If you finalize a price per unit, I would be willing to pay you up front to help
acquire materials. And my Deli is available for any needed measurements; live
on the Shore.

Cheers,

Joe

[delicat]

Thanks Joedelica but we'll be fine to do the initial material purchase. It's more about time then money!

Does anyone lives near 176th and Fraser in Surrey? If so it'd be great if you could "volunteer" your van to fishslapper to have the final adjustments done as I have to drive from Bby everytime and our schedules are not always compatible... Anyone?

Thanks!

[jaggedfish]

Hey Delicat...

I PM'ed Fishslapper to let him know that I will help out if I am able. I am usually home in the evenings so if I am not able to get out of the house to his, he is very welcome to stop by mine. Just need a PM with a little advance warning and we can figure something out.

Started to conceptualize the belly pan as well... fairly simple arrangement but have to figure out some rear mounting points for it. I will mock it up using foam-core and snap a couple pix when I get a free moment (might be a week or so before I can trick my wife into thinking I'm being productive.... uh.... yes dear!)

[delicat]

Sounds good! I'll give fishslapper a call and see what could be worked out.
Cheers

[fishslapper]

Sorry there has not been more info for a week or so. It has been a little crazy!

I have plate #2 ready to test fit on either jaggedfish or delicat's delica..
......Or any delica for that matter. I will try to have some pictures of the prototype up soon. I think it looks great. i am very happy so far. I just hope it fits.

I am convinced that the aluminum one is the way to go. Now that i have one in the flesh, I think it will do the job for that area quite nicely.
I will use the hard ox for the area under the van where it needs the extra toughness. All you get when you try to drill through the hard ox is a little dimple where the point of the drill bit was trying to cut into the metal !!!

cheers....