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my car was missing the belly pan when i bought it. i think i might have found the number on something like realoem and then just googled it. i might have ended up with it from summit racing. i know i bought a couple pieces from them.
thank you Gents. leaning towards the stock pan. does it cover to the back edge of the oil pan?
I don’t recall it really covering the oil pan, but it’s been a really long time since I swapped to a skid plate. The stock piece is pretty small and made of plastic.
Last edited by deepgrey; Jan 23, 2026 at 05:44 PM.
Reason: Typo
thank you Gents. leaning towards the stock pan. does it cover to the back edge of the oil pan?
Oh - I now assume you're referring to the little plastic splash guard underneath/behind the front air dam/bumper (?)...No it does not cover the rear oil pan.
Thank goodness they are relatively inexpensive and still available New though!
I've seen quite a few strewn around at the salvage yards.
(Some of these non Mini hackers have no Idea what they are).
Personally - If I didn't change my oil so often I would prefer the Skid plate option like deepgrey. For a lowered Mini that little plastic thingy offers little protection.
I always end up removing mine for oil changes, but if you were to add a Fumoto drain valve with a nipple for a hose, you could likely get away with leaving the skid plate on.
I always end up removing mine for oil changes, but if you were to add a Fumoto drain valve with a nipple for a hose, you could likely get away with leaving the skid plate on.
The drain valve would be preferable (for someone like me). But I've had the Cravenspeed adapter in place to accommodate my oil temp gauge.
notwithstanding : I had started fabbing my own custom Skid plate out of a 1/8" thick sheet of Polypropylene before I left Atlanta. Looked very promising. Just one too many things to carry with me in the Mini when I moved. I now lament that I did. The roads out here are precariously crappy.
forgive me - not intending to divert or hijack this thread.
Oh - I now assume you're referring to the little plastic splash guard underneath/behind the front air dam/bumper (?)...No it does not cover the rear oil pan.
Thank goodness they are relatively inexpensive and still available New though!
I've seen quite a few strewn around at the salvage yards.
(Some of these non Mini hackers have no Idea what they are).
Personally - If I didn't change my oil so often I would prefer the Skid plate option like deepgrey. For a lowered Mini that little plastic thingy offers little protection.
yeah, my splash guard, or whatever the official term is if it is not that, disappeared when I had the car towed a few years back. I replaced it with a new one from the dealer. I don’t think I ever take it off when I change the oil, or if I do, I must be doing it on auto pilot!
Stinks that the Gen1 MINI never has a factory true belly pan, thin it has to do with the PS pump and fan design and i guess MINI wanted to leave that more open. Only car that got the tube fan was those automatics.
..
... Only car that got the tube fan was those automatics.
That factory skid plate w/snorkel to the PS fan seems to be rather rare. Ive always wanted one. I'm not sure what they're called - Do they still make them...or is it just another gem item to look out for at the junk yard?
I have seen people do this as a mod. Thing is it still does not protect the underbody near the engine. More of protection of the fan and those shopping bags that can get sucked into the fan and ruin the pump.
Actually, I'm more interested in the fan snorkel as to help prevent rocks, dirt, debris (& plastic grocery bags), from damaging the PS fan. Not only that; Anyone who happens to suffer even the smallest oil leak, I'm sure has seen how much dirt and gunk that thing (fan) collects.
I've been lurking too long, so happy to see NAM is still somewhat lively and would like to thank you for your intensive contributions here which are of high value & keep this joint motoring on so joyously!
I'm kinda bummed that most action has shifted to FB within disparate enclaves because that format seems to encourage low effort schit-posting in the response section and as an archival resource it is woeful to navigate.
Glad to say that I'm 100% recovered to the best it's gonna get, back out there enjoying the twisty bits plus bustin' knucks with wrenching, like finally did the R56 trailing arm conversion but I'm so out-of-shape physically that it nearly killed me LoL
BTW:
when I first clicked this topic I thought it was in reference to the GP undertray --- which is another upcoming project for me as I do have the pair to install and if anyone reading this might have happened to already do this I would be curious to hear of technique for fitting as the stock R53 is missing the fasteners. Sadly I have never had oppo for ever seeing a GP up close in real life so have only viewed reference pics on BaT and it appears that Bertone (or the factory itself?) added holder bolts on the underbody to fasten the trays --- I ordered some flat-head M5x25 screws that I plan on lining up & affixing, but if there's a better/easier method then I'd love to know, thanks.
i started doing top side oil changes after stripping out my drain plug (fixed now). never thought id say this, but i kinda prefer the top side oil change now
RE:
Orranje sumpguard - yes, it uses existing mounting points
RE:
topside excavator - when i first got my R53 i got myself a Mityvac 7400 and used it from my first oilchange onward for a good few times, however i then became wary of the residual amount of old oil that is inevitably left in the pan & changed method to simple traditional plug removal which gives me greater peace of mind.
