MKIV Panzer Plate Install Instructions
This
is the install procedure for installing the Dieselgeek.com MK4 Panzer Plate
Skid Plate Kits. 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 2009 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
One
aluminum Panzer 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
Two
1.5 inch long, #10 Phillips head or hex head sheetmetal screws with
stainless fender washers for the front side skirt holes
Two
big headed black Phillips
screws
for rear plastic side skirt holes
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
Tools Required:
Torx T25 screwdriver
17mm socket and socket wrench (longer handles are better)
12 inch extension bar for socket wrench
17mm combination wrench with box end
Flat-bladed screwdriver
Phillips screwdriver
Torque wrench for accurate rivnut setting
Car jack and heavy jack stands and/or car ramps
Any automotive grease
WD-40 or equivalent lubricant spray
A hack saw is useful for modifying your stock side skirts for skid
plate use.
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. 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 hose leading
into the lower part of the intercooler is removed or the 6mm nut holding the
rear of the intercooler hose is removed. Be careful to save all hardware and
reattach the hose at the end of the install. The OE T25 Torx screws you remove
can be used in place of the Phillips screws we
provide with your Panzer kit.
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 threading one of the supplied black studs into a rivnut using
the shorter threaded end like
this. Fully tighten the stud into the
rivnut by hand only. 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 one of the thick
washers on the stud. Next, grease the exposed
threads of the stud with good grease.
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 one half
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 using only 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
Rivtool 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 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. 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 Rivtool 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 loosely bolt the front mounting posts to the underside of the frame
rails using the supplied 10mm bolts and thick washers. 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 has been mounted.
Once all seven of the rivnuts have been installed, the vertical plastic engine bay side panels or side skirts should be installed. If you bought our "Full Metal Jacket" aluminum side shields you should use this install manual instead.
You may
use your existing plastic side splash guards with the Panzer Plate if the
bottom screw mounting points are still intact. The side skirts are needed keep
water and dirt out of the engine bay, reduce engine
noise and protect the engine drive belts. The required modifications to
allow use of your existing plastic side skirts are easy to do by simply cutting
them with a hack saw
or Dremel tool as described below.
Modification of your original equipment engine bay side panels or side skirts: To modify your existing side skirts, there are a total of five cuts required per side skirt. The first four cuts will remove the yellow shaded area in this picture. Cut A should be the first cut made with a hack saw. It is 2 inches beyond and parallel to the last gusset (marked with D in the picture). Cut B should be the second cut made with a hack saw. To make cut B, simply cut right down the 90 degree crease in the skirt to the point 2 inches beyond the last gusset which is also the end point of cut A. The last two cuts C and D are simply to finish removing the gussets. It is not necessary to cut them very close to the side of the side skirt. The finished product of the first four cuts looks like this. The final cut is simply removing the tail section as shown here. Repeat the five cuts for the other side skirt.
Install the side skirts by sliding the front rounded edge into the slot in the radiator
support
and then pushing their star nuts onto the threaded stud
on the bottom side of the frame rail. You can tighten the star nuts further by
placing a flat bladed screwdriver in one of the star nut's radial slots
and turning the nut clockwise. On turbocharged cars and especially the TDI, it
can be slightly tricky to install the side skirt on the passenger side of the
car with the lower intercooler hose rear mount still attached to the frame rail
(with a 6mm nut). Removing the hose mount does make it a little easier to
install the side skirt but it is not absolutely necessary to do so. Personally,
I have never removed the intercooler hose or mount during a skid plate install.
Your needs may differ and that is fine.
All
Panzer Plates are manufactured with a trapezoidal keystone shaped cutout for draining your oil through
the bottom of the car. This cutout is meant for four cylinder cars only
and is marked as such on the skid plate. Cars with the VR6, 1.8T gas turbo
engine or the 2.0 liter gas engine will still need to remove the skid plate to
remove the oil filter. TDI owners who have elected or will elect to remove the
keystone cutout will not need to remove the skid plate to change the oil
since the filter housing is at the top of the engine bay.
If you
have a four cylinder car and wish to remove the keystone cutout you
will need to obtain a loose
hack saw blade (shown wrapped with paper towels) or an inexpensive $5.00
Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, etc. keyhole saw to remove
the keystone cutout like
this picture shows. Cutting the two connecting webs of
aluminum takes a couple of minutes apiece. The trapezoidal hole left in the
plate will work perfectly to drain the oil without removing the skid plate,
assuming the oil is lukewarm. Just put a 19mm or three quarter inch
box end wrench or socket on the drain plug to loosen the drain plug.
Installing the Plate:
Before
you lift the plate into place, make sure that the remaining five 10mm bolts
with thick washers are placed within reach under the engine bay. Spray the
female threaded hole of both of the front mounting posts with WD-40 or
equivalent spray as they are degreased during the coating process and have very
sticky threads if left dry. Thread a 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, center the plate on your chest and lift the skid plate up
into place and while supporting the center of the skid plate. Loosely thread
two of the 10mm bolts into opposite corners to hold up the skid plate. These
two bolts will hold up the skid plate while you are installing the three remaining
10mm bolts. Next, install the last extra washer supplied with the kit as it
acts a spacer 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 three bolts.
After all of the bolts have been threaded a few turns each to make sure they
are threaded correctly, finish tightening them with a 17mm socket and torque
them to 30 ft.-lbs. The passenger rear of the skid plate will distort slightly
as you tighten the passenger rear bolt. This is o.k.! Next, finish tightening
all four of the mounting post bolts to 30 ft.-lbs using your 12 inch long
extension and 17mm socket. Once all nine of the 10mm skid plate bolts are fully
tightened, attach the side skirts to the skid plate with the two long Phillips
head screws and black T25 Torx screws provided with the kit. The long Phillips
screws are for the front side skirt holes. Use the standard Torx screws for the
rear side skirt holes. After a day or so you can replace the Phillips screws
with Torx screws as the side skirts will be molded to the new skid plate.
