Front Skid Plates for 355

Anyone tryed them? Brands? Metal or Plastic? I have seen prices from $80 up to $280---

 

I have the silver metal ones from Ricambi. They go with the blue really well, plus they don't make noise when you go over stuff. The plastic ones make a scraping sound. When I put the car up on the lift, I'm amazed at how many scrapes they have on them. Lots of paint saved.

 

I used the Hill Engineering Plastic plates you can get them from Ricambi never had any trouble and yes they do protect the front spoiler.

 

How do these attach? Being the tinkerer I am I was thinking of fabricating my own from aluminum or titanium. Anyone have installed pics?

 

I have been told they just screw right on..no problem-----Does anyone have a pic of the front under side nose of a stock 355?? I think I may have them already, but not sure how to tell what is stock and what is not....I def. have some type of fiberglass or plastic on both sides under the nose--It is black. It looks like skid plates, but I don't think they are...

 

I puchased a set from Ricambi and took them over to my service center (Italy Auto Service). They put the car on a lift to install them. Behind and under the front spoiler you will see some plastic under body paneling. This is where you will see the plates will fit. You will need to mark and drill the holes to mount the plates. I also believe there are a couple of photos on FerrariChat that show this.

 

That must be what I am seeing under there. It seems like it is fiberglass. It has a few scuffs and scrapes on both sides of it... The skid plates should take care of this scraping??

 

Stock bumber has nothing attached to underside....if you have anything that is attached I would say it is some type of skid protection....

 

I made some of my own from CF.

The first template is from clear plastic transposed onto thin ply/card which is then used to make the rubber base plate.

I made them using 3mm hard rubber with a self adhesive back and laminated on the lower surface with two layers of carbon fibre cloth.

I used fast glass resin with a couple of drips of black paint to get the colour impregnated and avoid painting.

I punched four holes through the rubber to help the glass/resin to bond.

After trimming and a little sanding the backing tape was removed and a bead of black Sikaflex run around the edge to aid bonding and fill any gap to prevent the airflow getting underneath. When placed in position, contact is instant and a little Sikaflex can be added where necessary to form a fillet.

My theory is the rubber can help with the shock if the bumper touches the ground and the carbon fibre should resist scuffing. Time will tell.
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Nice job Terry....many thanks for the pics and info...

 

I bought ones from Independant Ferrari Service in Mass, a few years ago..nice design, made from a plastic, Nylon type material...here is a post about them from a while back with pictures/post from bigheadeddennis:

The ones sold by IFS in MA are designed to be somewhat recessed with a beveled front edge, so they only add maybe 6mm in additional depth, but at the front edge they curl over, so you get about 10 to 12mm of material to take the abuse and be "sacrificial" instead of your front bumper/spoiler. Trust me, they are worth it.

Here are some pictures taken by Dennis of his installation:
http://www.photoaccess.com/share/guest.jsp?ID=AB806926154&cb=PA

And his better description of the design advantages:
Well, I found the answer today. My mechanic (and good friend) John Tirrell, of Independent Ferrari Service in South Easton, MA, (508 238 4224)had some customers who were complaining of this problem. He's also concerned about scraping his personal 355 Challenge. One customer came in with a well-used 355 Challenge, and it had a pair of ratty looking plywood screwed into the bottom. John decided he could do better. He ended up having a machine shop make a pair of skid plates out of aircraft nylon -- flexible, with a high degree of "lubricity". The front/leading edge is beveled, to help avoid situations where the plates catch. The plates are machined to match up to, and cover, the factory undertray pieces, EXACTLY. Installation requires a drill and a screwdriver, taking even mechanically challenged nincompoops like me only a few minutes to put on. Here's the procedure: fit plate over undertray piece; drill holes in the undertray, using the plate as a guide; screw it in (using these little screw backing plates or whatever the hell professionals call them on the other side).

 

Looks great Terry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

These arrows are pointing to a stock piece?? Do all you guys have these black pieces?? This is what gets scraped up each time. Or are these some type of skid plate??
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I have the exact same thing on my '99, it's even blurry just like yours! Maybe the later models came with this 'factory' plastic skid plate?
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Robbie are you coming up this way?

Mine are being installed.... I went with the aluminum ones

 

I will be on the Pre-Easter run Saturday most likely. If not, maybe I will wait for a purchase and check your out. I will be attending the Marriot and Reston events this month. I thought about the metal ones, but if you hit something hard--do sparks go flying everywhere??

 

I am not aware nor have I ever seen skid plates on cars from the factory......it appears the normal bulge in the bottom of the front bumper has been painted black on both yours and 285......skid plates were developed by others in an attempt to keep the expensive front bumper from being scuffed/scraped, but that is all it does....if the load on these points is excessive the bumper still cracks.

 

I have the aluminum ones from Hill Eng./ Daniel at Ricambi but I didn’t like the fastening method so I drilled and tapped four holes ¼ 28 in the skid plates and bolted them in from the inside of the bumper with aluminum bolts after bedding with Evercoat Formula 27.

Faired everything in and painted black, it turned out very well.

 

I wonder why ferrari did not use that flexible bumper stuff all other manufacturers use. The 993 bumper for example .

 

So the aftermarket skid plates cover the part I have arrowed to in my previous post??

 

Yes......

 

Good point Goth...but as we all know there is no rhyme or reason for some of the crap in the minds of car mfg's that we owners have to deal with.

 

I'm in for Reston.........

I went with the aluminum for two reasons. One, I think they will last longer. Two, it will have a different sound then plastic / fiberglass. So, if I don't hear metal,I know I have a problem.

 

Rob:

Your photos are correct. If you order the ones from Ricambi (Poly or Aluminum) they fit that spot perfectly. When I mentioned the plastic covering, I was refering to the space directly behind with the screws. This will give you access to screw in the bolts. For what it is worth, I went with the Poly plates as they look like part of the car (no silver sparkle).

 

Very good point.