Jim

When are we going to see a belly pan with an access door for oil changes?

THAT would be it!!!

Nicole

 

Great Idea, hell I may modify mine for just that purpose...............

 

Nicole the problem is making a trap door that is simple , easy to use and does not compromise the strength of the undertray or significantly increase production costs . Oil changes for many is a once a year task ( 12 months --15,000 mi ?? ) , book time for R and R of the undertray is 30 minutes and affords an opportunity to have a look around while it is open . So if you twist our arm long and hard enough we could look into it further but for the time being we are trying to get undertrays back on those S-4 s that have been practicing unsafe speed ........

 

I buy all of what you say Jim. And it applys especially for those who have a garage service their 928. The person who does their own service will really appreciate the trap door design because getting the pan off of a car that is on a floor jack (and jackstand for safety) is nearly impossible. In other words, we take the pan off because we have to, not because we want to. I would really like to be able to do an oil change using ramps or a floor jack without having to take the belly pan off. It would cut my "under-the-car-on my-back-time" by at least half. I can do the oild change on my A6 with a floor jack, because there are no fasteners on the back of the belly pan, so I don't have to go under the car.....just raise it on a floor jack to get to the oil pan and filter.

FWIW

 

Great idea, but I think the biggest problem would be making the door big enough to change the filter.......you usually need a filter wrench and a couple of hands up there to get it all done........may be a bit much for a trap door to handle......

 

Mike good point especially when (if) you spill oil from the filter on the top of the undertray . Gretch ....maybe that is an answer make the entire undertray a "trap door" hinged at the rear ??

 

I have a home-made pan of 2mm thickness, flat and no holes. To change oil I loosen the front, let it hang by the middle supports and drain into a flat store-bought oil drain container. Works fine. A door would be OK but would likely drop the ability of the pan to dissipate stress, and I won't be doing that.

 

Would be better than the current design, (for this specific purpose). Since I do all my own oil changes, I have not ever needed a filter wrench to get the filter off. That is needed when the filter had been torqued on too tight. I am gonna look at my pan and see if I can cut a hatch in it, reinforce the hole with aluminum sheet metal and find a secure but easily removed fastener to attache the hatch. When (if) I get it done, I will take a picture and post it.

 

It gets easier after a few installs. The hardest part is keeping track of all the screws and washers. Also, I found installing the lighter weight "factory belly pan" is easier on the arms than the aluminum version.

My biggest complaint is that with the front end only on jackstands, the rear pan must be removed before the front belly pan can be removed. This seems silly if your only doing an oil change.

 

borland,

I don't remove the back pan when changing the oil, just the front one.

 

George,

The pan's cooling duct for the starter interfers with pulling the pan forward and off the top of the rear pan. Your jack stand must be pretty tall. Regards,

 

borland,

No on the tall jack stands, I don't have the cooling duct on the belly pan.

 

Correct George , the Brand X undertray is a simplified rendition of the Porsche designed undertray .