Arctra's Tiguan Blog

Well, yesterday I met with Alex G and he finished off the skid plate he started doing for me a few weeks back. He started out by making a cardboard template from which he did a rough cut out using 6mm aluminium plate.



There was more work involved in sorting out the prototype than originally anticipated, with several test fittings and removals, spot welding, marking, drilling, etc. The final result is very impressive IMO. Not only does it look awesome, but it is an impressively solid skid plate. Brilliant job by Alex, and a huge thank you. Here are some pics for you...

Underside of Tig with "Noise Insulation removed"


Steel pipe cross-bar to attach the plate to at the front (work in progress)


Steel pipe cross-bar in place. It attaches either side and protects the bottom of the radiator as well as provide an anchor point for the plate.


In this video, Alex is trying to bend the plate along a 3mm deep cut across the plate (on the underside), and struggling as you can see. This stuff is STRONG!


Plate with bend in it awaiting welding


Final bits ready for installation. The steel cross-bar is painted with etching paint to protect it from rust, and the 6mm aluminium plate edges have been cleaned up to remove metal burs and sharp edges. Fine piece of work!


The final installed plate



Now we just need to test it!

Free plug:
For those of you who do not know him, Alex is one of the founding members of this forum and has done a fair amount of work for other forum members. Having seen him work, and seen a couple of his finished product, I can highly recommend him if you want any fabrication work done.