MK4 Panzer Plate and aluminum "Full Metal Jacket" side
shield Install Instructions
This
is the install procedure for installing the Dieselgeek.com MK4 Panzer Plate
Skid Plate Kits and Dieselgeek "Full Metal Jacket"
aluminum splash guards. These instructions are for all
1999 1/2 through mid-2005 A4 Jetta, all
1999 1/2 through mid-2006 MK4 Golf, GTI and 2004 R32, and all 1998 through 2010 New Beetles, regardless of engine type, transmission type or body type
(sedan, wagon or hatchback). These instructions and the parts list only
apply to MK4 Panzer Plate kits bought from Dieselgeek.com.
Parts List for Panzer
plate:
One
aluminum skid plate
Two
identical black powder-coated
steel posts with a two-hole flanged foot.
Nine
30mm long bolts
Ten
1 1/4 inch diameter, 3/8" or 10mm 1/8" THICK
washers for all of the bolts above (one washer acts as a spacer for the rear
center skid plate bolt)
Eight
OE VW rivnuts with
one given free as a spare
Rivnut Install Kit
includes (click here for kit picture):
One
10 inch long, 1/8" thick aluminum rivnut tool
Two
black 10mm studs
Two
10mm or 3/8" external tooth lock
washers
Two 10mm nuts with 17mm
flats
Parts list for
"Full Metal Jacket" splash guard kit (these parts are packaged
separately with the side shields, not with skid plate):
One
left and one right aluminum "Full Metal Jacket" splash guard
One
small, gold colored 6mm
bolt for the small angle bracket
Two sheetmetal nuts
Two red plastic body plugs
Four Dzus receptacles or
"speed nuts"
Tools Required:
On all cars except 2.0 gasoline powered vehicles, there is one
bolt that is tricky to
reach with a standard 10" or 12" extension bar. Therefore we
recommend that you have one of the
following special tools on hand to make this one bolt reachable:
10 or 12 inch wobble extension
(click for comparison
to standard extension) Available at Sears or auto parts
stores.
17mm or 11/16 socket AND universal joint adapter
17mm or 11/16 universal joint socket
17mm or 11/16 crow's foot socket
Socket wrench (longer handles are better)
Safety glasses
Torque wrench for more accurate rivnut setting
Car jack and heavy jack stands and/or car ramps
10mm open end wrench (the 10mm/13mm combo wrench from the VW tire change tool kit in your trunk works perfectly)
Two regular flat-bladed screwdriver
Torx T25 screwdriver
Any automotive grease
WD-40 or equivalent lubricant spray
Getting a safe start:
First, jack up the car and place the car on ramps or sturdy jack stands. For manual shift cars, set the handbrake and put the car in gear. For automatics, make sure the handbrake is set and make sure the car is in the "Park" position. Use the floor jack as a third "safety" jack stand in the middle of the subframe. You can also do the install on a vehicle lift if you have access to one. At this point please put on your safety glasses. Once the car is safely raised into the air, remove your center factory plastic air deflector/sound deadening plate by removing all of the Torx T25 screws. Next, remove the engine bay side skirts by either simply pulling them downward or by unthreading the flat star speed nuts with a long screwdriver (two per side) by placing a flat bladed screwdriver in one of the star nut's radial slots and turning the nut counterclockwise. On turbocharged cars and especially the TDI, it may be easier to remove the passenger side skirt after the 10mm nut holding the rear of the intercooler hose is removed and the intercooler hose is pulled downwards. Be sure to reattach the intercooler hose to the frame rail as soon as the side skirt is removed.
The rivnuts are the anchors for the skid plate and provide the super
strong and secure attachment points for the skid plate. During this procedure,
you will install seven rivnuts into preexisting 13mm holes on the car's
subframe (picture 1,
2,
3)
and on the underside of the driver side and passenger side frame
rails on either side of the engine bay. (The subframe is below and behind the
engine and has the steering rack and sway bar mounted on top of it.) It is very
highly recommended that you install the first three rivnuts into the rear
subframe since access is the best and you can get a feel for installing them
without any obstructions.
The very first
step for installing the rivnuts is to load the rivnut tool with a rivnut. This
is done by first greasing all of the
threads of
one of the supplied black studs and then threading it into a rivnut using the shorter
threaded end like this. Fully tighten
the stud into the rivnut by hand only and then loosen it by 1/8 turn. Next,
place one of the external tooth washers on the stud and slide it down against the head of the
rivnut. Next, insert the stud through the centered hole in the rivnut tool and then place two of the thick
washers on the stud. Make sure there
is plenty of grease on the exposed threads of the stud. Finally, thread one of the 10mm
nuts onto the greased stud. Tighten the 10mm nut by hand so
that it keeps the rivnut from turning. This assembly is a "loaded rivnut".
All seven rivnuts will be loaded in the same way prior to being installed.
By using the rivnut tool as a handle, insert the rivnut into one of the rear outer subframe holes until its head is completely flush with the bottom of the subframe. Tighten the 10mm nut using a 17mm socket or hand wrench while counter holding with the aluminum rivnut tool. As you are tightening the 10mm nut, be sure to maintain a gentle but steady upward pressure on the rivnut to ensure that it is butted up against the subframe. As you are tightening the 10mm nut, the threaded tubular section of the rivnut that is inside the subframe will slowly pull down toward the 10mm nut and mushroom out and expand inside the subframe to sandwich itself around the subframe hole (Since the mushrooming action takes place inside the subframe you will not be able to see it.). Tighten the 10mm nut until it becomes noticeably harder to turn. At this point, you may either tighten about 1/2 to 3/4 turn beyond this point of greatly increased resistance to fully lock the rivnut in place or finish tightening the rivnut with a torque wrench set to 30 lb. /ft. Once this final tightening has been achieved, loosen and remove the 10mm nut, washer, rivnut tool, external tooth washer and finally the10mm stud from your first expertly installed rivnut. Reload another rivnut in the same exact way as the first and then repeat the procedure for the remaining outside subframe hole. After these first two rivnuts have been successfully installed in the rear outside subframe holes, repeat the process for the last subframe rivnut by reloading the rivnut into the offset hole of the rivnut tool. Install this rivnut into the rear center hole of the subframe.
Installing
the four remaining rivnuts into the underside of the left and right frame rails
is pretty much the same as installing them into the subframe but the newly
designed rivnut tool and stud system makes it even easier than ever. You will
use the end of the rivnut tool with the offset hole to install the remaining
four rivnuts. Also, you will be loading two rivnuts at a time on the rivnut
tool to install them into each of the frame rails. First, thread the short end
of the two black studs into two rivnuts and place star washers against the
heads of the rivnuts as before. Insert the studs through the rivnut tool on the
side opposite of the stamped letters like this. Place washers on the studs and
make sure there is sufficient grease on the threads of the two studs. Next,
thread the two nuts onto the studs but leave the nuts
slightly loose so that the rivnuts can move. This will make it easier to align
the rivnuts with the two holes in the subframe. Next, reach up with the loaded
rivnut tool and insert the two rivnuts into the two holes on the underside of
the passenger side frame rail. The "tail" of the rivnut tool will go
toward the rear of the car like this. Helpful hint:
A star washer from your plastic side panels (if you have them) can be used to
hold the rivnut tool firmly up against the frame rail as shown in the previous
picture. Tighten the star washer with your fingers by rotating it clockwise.
The star washer will help keep the rivnuts firmly against the frame rail when
you tighten the nuts like this. Tighten both of the 10mm nuts with a ratchet, 12 inch
extension bar and 17mm socket until you reach the point of greatly increased
resistance. Finish the process by tightening 1/2 to 3/4 turn past the point of
greatly increased resistance or by using a torque wrench set to 30 ft.-lbs.
After both nuts have been torqued, remove the big round star washer if you used
one by unthreading it from the stud. Remove all of the other parts including
the black 10mm studs and please be careful to retain the external tooth lock
washers as they will be reused on the driver side of the car. Repeat this
process on the other side of the car in the driver side frame rail
(New Beetle shown, Golf/Jetta similar). On New
Beetles there may be a power steering-related bracket very near the rivnut
holes so you will need to insert the rivnuts into the holes first before
threading in the two studs. Also, you might need to flip the rivnut tool over
on the driver side to get the needed clearance for the power steering bracket.
After
all four of the rivnuts are installed and torqued into the frame rails, you
should spray the female
threaded hole of both of the front mounting posts with WD-40 or equivalent
spray since they are degreased during the coating process and have very sticky
threads if left dry. Next, lightly grease the threads of four of the 10mm bolts
and place the large fender washers onto them. You then attach the front
mounting posts to the underside of the frame rails using the greased 10mm bolts
and thick washers. Leave the mounting post bolts slightly loose. The posts
should be oriented with their legs angled slightly forward in the car
(the post is not welded
perpendicular to the base plate). The skid plate will not fit otherwise. The
four mounting post bolts should not be tight at this time as the slack will
be used to align the plate when is mounted. You will tighten all of the bolts
fully only after the plate and side panels have been mounted.
Once all seven of the
rivnuts have been installed, the vertical aluminum engine bay side panels or
Full Metal Jacket "side skirts" should be installed. If you did not buy our "Full Metal Jacket" aluminum
side shields you should now switch to this install manual instead.
The first step in installing the aluminum side
panels is to first install the big red plastic plugs into the underside of both
the left and right frame rails. This is done by simply inserting a plug into the hole and pushing it all
of the way in with the palm
of your hand. The rim
of the plug should be the only thing protruding from the frame rail. The
next step is to loosely thread the supplied sheetmetal nuts onto
the left and right rear studs where
the plastic side panel's star washers were used previously. Here is a picture of the driver
side frame rail ready to accept an aluminum side panel. The final general step
is to slide all four Dzus receptacles over the oblong holes in the
bottom flanges of the side panels. Here is a picture of both clips
properly installed on the passenger side panel. The flat sides of these clips
will face the ground (and skid plate) after the install.
To prepare the driver side panel for install, place
the small angle bracket from the parts bag against the
side panel where the oblong hole of the bracket meets the threaded insert at
the top of the side panel. Thread the supplied 6mm bolt through the small bracket and into the threaded insert
until it is snug but do not fully tighten this bolt yet. Next, take the driver
side panel and slip it up and in between the front mounting post and the
transmission. As you move it upwards you need to first slip the rear mounting
tab's open slot onto
the stud where you loosely mounted the sheetmetal nut. Slide the aluminum side panel all of the way rearward on this stud and then
push the upper flange of the side panel against the flat underside of the frame
rail. Next, slide the side panel forward until the small bolted bracket
slips between the mounting
post and frame rail. The bolted bracket and the sheetmetal nut will hold
the side panel up while we prepare to install the skid plate. If the bolted
bracket cannot slip between the frame rail and the mounting post then you have
the 10mm bolts for the mounting post too tight. Loosen them a little and try
again. Here is a picture of the passenger side panel installed.
Once the driver side panel has been "hung"
you can do the same on the passenger side. Make sure the front mounting post
bolts are loose by a couple of turns. If you have a turbocharged New
Beetle only, you will need to bend the front perforated tab
at a 45 degree angle
to the flat sides of the panel so that it clears the intercooler duct. If you have any New Beetle, you may also choose to remove this tab completely
if you wish as it is not used on the New Beetle. A hack saw is suitable for
this task or you can bend it back and forth until it breaks off. File off sharp
burrs.
To install the passenger side aluminum panel first
slip the panel in between
the front mounting post and engine from the front of the car. Engage the rear mounting slot
onto the frame rail stud where the sheetmetal nut was loosely threaded on.
Slide the side panel all of the way toward the rear of the car
on this stud. Notice that there is a doubled over piece of
sheetmetal on the passenger side panel's upper flange. This double thick
tab or "double tab" must be slid into the small gap between the rear
of the mounting post and the frame rail. To do this you must make sure that the
side panel is as far as it can go in the rearward direction so that it can be
pushed up against the frame rail behind the mounting post
(The double tab is red in this picture.). Once you have
done this and the side panel is butted up against the frame rail behind the
mounting post it can be slid forward and the double tab can be slid in between the
mounting post and frame rail. This double tab and the sheetmetal nut at the
rear will hold the side panel up while we prepare to install the skid plate.
Installing the Panzer
Plate:
Before
you lift the plate into place, lightly grease the threads of the five remaining
bolts. Place washers onto these remaining five bolts and make sure they are
within reach under the engine bay. If you have not done so, spray the female threaded hole
of both of the front mounting posts with WD-40 or equivalent spray since they
are degreased during the coating process and have very sticky threads if left dry.
Thread a greased bolt in and out of the mounting posts to make sure the threads
are well lubricated prior to installing the skid plate. To install the plate,
lift the skid plate up into place while supporting the center of the skid
plate. Loosely thread two of the 10mm bolts into opposite corners to hold up
the skid plate. Next, slip the last extra washer between the skid plate and the rear center bolt hole.
After the spacer washer is in place, thread a bolt through this skid plate hole
and into the center rear rivnut. Finish threading the remaining two bolts.
After all of the bolts have been threaded a few turns each to make sure they
are threaded correctly, tighten the bolts about 50% of the way with a 17mm
socket. Next, slide the driver and passenger side panels forward or rearward
until the top of the curved section matches up with the curvature of the skid
plate like this.
There will be a small gap as the panels curve toward the ground to allow for
flexing of the skid plate as it strikes objects in the roadway. Finally, insert
one of the supplied
Dzus 1/4 turn screws through one of the skid plate holes, engage the female
receptacle in the side panel and turn the screw 90 degrees with your stubby or regular length flat head screwdriver.
Please note that you can slide the side panel's Dzus receptacle left
or right in its slot if it is not where it needs to be. Repeat for the other
three Dzus screws on left and right sides of the plate.
Once
the side panels are matched up and fastened to the skid plate, finish
tightening the five 10mm bolts that go through the Panzer plate and torque them
to 30 ft.-lbs. Next, tighten all four of the front mounting post bolts to 30
ft.-lbs using your 12
inch long extension and 17mm socket. Finish the tightening the left and right side sheetmetal
nuts with a short open end 10mm wrench. Do not over tighten them. Lastly, tighten the 10mm headed
bolt on the driver side panel but likewise don't go crazy with it since it
is going into a 6mm aluminum threaded hole. Here is a picture of the
passenger side with the intercooler tube removed only for picture clarity. Here
is a picture of the
driver side on quite a dirty New Beetle!
Congratulations!
Your Panzer Plate and aluminum side panels are
installed! It is a great idea to mark all unions between the side panels and
the upper mounting points to make future reinstallation super easy and fast. To
do this, use a pointed permanent marker to mark the area around the left and
right sheetmetal nuts
and little bolted bracket on the driver side and double tab on the
passenger side.
