alexrobinson202

A nice easy lockdown project that I've done, and might be useful for others. Posted in the UK section as the main advice here is where to buy the material from which is UK specific!

Since fitting my K&N intake a couple of years ago I've been meaning to get a cover for the crossmember which is left exposed. No real purpose apart from tidying up the engine bay a little really, so I didn't want to spend much money on it! So DIY it is. After a bit of research you can get aluminium channel section from eBay easily, and even better, you can buy exactly the right size! Below is an example of what you need, though there are lots of sellers, I chose this one as they were open during lockdown.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALUMINIUM...72.m2749.l2649
length: 600mm
size: 3" x 1" x 1/8 (76.2mm x 25.4mm x 3.2mm)
It's about £15 delivered, and you don't even need to cut it, perfect size! Once you have it you'll need to trial fit, and you'll see you need to bend out both ends just slightly to clear the double skinned area. This is easy to do with an adjustable spanner or similar. Once it fits nicely (you want to leave it tight) measure and drill off one hole to fit the thread in the crossmember which is now redundant since removing the factory airbox (you can see this in the second image):


Once this is done paint it to your taste - I got mine powdercoated by the same company as my wheel refurb for £10 which was ideal, but just normal paint would be fine too. Then pick up a stainless M6x40mm bolt to attach and job done!


Hope this is useful for someone!
Cheers

Chuck S

Great solution.

-- Chuck

Fellblade

Nice! After de-rusting my crossmember cover under a stock airbox I've been wondering how to improve drainage...

chrispayze

Brilliant, been meaning to do this for ages. Order placed!

Bruce_17

Fitted my crossmember cover last night. Great cheap improvement.