If all else fails, I have metal belly pan from my 83 you can have cheap. But I imagine shipping would be a killer from Tennessee.

 

I have a nice one also for anyone looking for a Left Coast shipping point to save a bit on freight. There's no brackets required as far as I know, at least on the earlys. They take 4-6x15mm and 3-6x18mm bolts to mount. I hear they really help for track use.

 

The aluminum pan just seems like a better idea when it hits -40. That's when my half-cracked plastic one gave it up, and acted like a snow plough. In the 8-10 seconds it took me to stop, it packed my entire engine compartment with snow. I opened the hood, and I couldn't even see my engine, just white snow...

If they're good for track too, that's a bonus, since my car will see the track soon.

Sorry for hijacking this thread.

 

Okie dokie, don't take my word for it then. Try for yourself. If there was a way to make it fit, I would have instead of spending the money again on the plastic one.

 

Care to elaborate on how it doesn't fit? I've been underneath an 83, and my 86, and I don't remember seeing anything different. Then again, the 83 had no belly pan on it, so I don't know how it was attached.
The crossmember is the same, so there shouldn't be any difference there, so they must have changed the cover underneath the rad or something?

 

I can't recall exactly. I *think* that on the driver's side there was no place to attach the upper leg of the pan, and it interfered with something on that side. I remember thinking that I needed to cut the pan so that it was flat, instead of shaped like a cradle. The holes for the front and back mounts also do not line up with the ones existing in the car. New holes need to be made. That's the best I can recall, without getting my metal one out of the attic, removing my splitter, removing my plastic pan, and then trying to fit-try the metal one again. And I ain't gonna do that.........

 

Tifo is right. PET shows entirely different mounting points between the early and late models for the protective plate. I think maybe it has to do with the change in control arm design. I'd check for you put don't want to pull the pan off the 951. Next time I'm in there I'll try to see the differences between them.