Undertray on a 156

[kmd]

I had the really enjoyable task of removing the badly damaged engine under tray from my 156 v6 on Saturday, it had got to the point where it was dragging on the road. Of course its sods law that one of the star drives refused to budge so I hade to drill it out - was great fun!

My question is should I bother replacing it? Its nice a clean under there at the moment, and obviously it wont stay like that for long, but are there any components that require the undertray for protection?

[DamienCBR]

How much lower does the tray sit that the bottom of the engine, i hit my undertray allot, sometimes quite hard.

Personally i would replace, but then again it is up to you. Get a second hand one that might have scratches on but is essentialy in one peice.

They have obviously put it there for a reason.

I know what you mean about those star drives, pain in the arse!

D

[Wombat Rick]

It's mainly there to reduce drive by noise for EU regs.

So you can run it without, or get a slimline alloy one which increases ground clearance:
www.zeatek.com/

[FUGatso]

Took mine off absolutely useless, caught on everything and really annoying, no problems since removal

[kmd]

Like the look of the ali guards! any idea how much?

[Wombat Rick]

Not much more than the standard crapola ones I think but best to check direct.
I haven't got one myself, but from what I've heard they are extremely well made.

[jwyatt]

When I had my 2.5, a company car driven somewhat enthusiatically, the undertray grounded quite a bit and the garage removed it around 2 years old, without saying anything. When pressed they said this was quite normal for the UK, and it wasn't usually replaced. I had them replace it, I liked to have a warning before I hit something important! It's clearly not vital, but I reckon is worth having.

I'm more careful on bumps in my GTA now, and it has a different undertray, looks like GRP and has vents to shift air to cool the gearbox/diff. Annoyingly this is damaged too, some of the vents look designed to catch on things, I may well change it for a metal one next year when I undertake a little upgrade program of LSD, shocks, etc.

[Avocet]

My wife's 1.8 T'spark had exactly the same trouble. Up here the roads aren't that well surfaced and a lot of the single track ones are quite raised in the middle. Even my wife could catch the undertray and she doesn't drive it that hard and is a lot lighter than me!

I phoned the dealer and enquired about the price and then asked if he had any in stock.

"Oh yes, sir, we always keep plenty of those"! was the answer.

After making some more enquiries, I can confirm that they are fitted to pass the noise test - reduces reflected noise off the tarmac a bit.

My wife's has been of for 2 years now. No ill effects other than:

1. A dirter engine bottom
2. A bit of rust on the chassis extensions at the leading edge of the front wheelarches that support the front bumper.

Engine cools just fine (which was my main worry).

[JamesBondMI5]

The other reason that they're there is to prevent snow getting into the belt drive mechanism. Not much point in most of England...