cclive

Simple question for those who have done this themselves....can it be done without moving the exhaust pipes out of the way, or is that absolutely necessary?

lockman

necessary but you only have to disconect them from the headers or manifolds whichever you have and drop them down that way. I hooked a ratchet strap to the xpipe and then to the back end and put a little force on there to move them back a little and they dropped right out. then I used a dewalt driver with an extention and a tip to take out all them fastners. went pretty quick and used the same strap to put some back pressure on the pipes to put them back into place took about 30 mins from start to finish.

LeMans05C6

For those of you who have replaced the tunnel plate, what difference have you felt? Less heat in the center console, little stiffer on the turns?

GregC6

all of the above, car feels more "planted" on the road, also feels nicer going over road imperfections/rr tracks

jmudreamvette

Plus I added the phaft bushings at the same time a noticable improvement!

victorf

True experience.
1. When I first install with stock exhaust, was able to install just disconnect x pipe.
2. With LG Pro LT. I had to disconnect headers as well.

My .02 on performance improvement:
1. You just have to look at the flimsy mounting points and the tiny bolts to know that the tunnel plate does not add much to the rigidity of the already stout C6 platform. I made my own 3/8" T6 plate, after installation, I didn't feel any significant improvements. I think that is just bragging right and marketing hype.

2. Major heat source is from engine/clutch/torque tube assembly and it is behind the tunnel plate. You need to insulate the tunnel area to lessen the heat in the cabin area. Tunnel plate is no more than an additional heat shield for the exhaust system, stock plate serve the purpose well enough!

Unless you are making that yourself, I would spent the money on real performance items. But then again, its your money. Have fun!

///DarkSide\\\

LG Plate was one of my first mods

Car absolutely creaks less over speed bumbs etc especially with the top off - so it does work

LeMans05C6

Probably will do some version of this when I install the headers since they will be down there with access anyway. Ill look into more thermal shielding of some kind since after a session of road racing, that center console area gets pretty toasty.

waddisme

HOXXOH

I just had my tunnel plate off today and checked a few things to confirm what you wrote and add another observation

There are 36 4mm (.156) bolts that hold the plate in place. The hole in the plate is .465 dia. The flange thickness for the 4 bolts from each end is .080 and those holes are tapped. The flange thinkness for the remaining bolts is .056 but square nuts have been pressed in place. The plate itself is .130 thick aluminum.

Now keeping in mind the the bolt diameter and the hole diameter, the plate (regardless of it's thickness) has an opportunity to move significantly front to back and side to side. In order to stiffen the whole body, the plate would have to use large bolts and smaller holes. The thickness of the flanges would need to increase to accomodate the bolts and the flanges would need to attach to the frame. The coefficient of thermal expansion for the aluminum plate is much higher than the steel flanges and the composite floor, which is why the holes have so much clearance.

My opinion is that the plate is there to keep the floor from sinking in the center, but primarily to keep the heat away from the brake and fuel lines that are directly above the exhaust. The upper portion of the tunnel is already insulated, so having an insulated plate will protect the brake and fuel lines better and have a small decrease in interior heat too. The only real benefit of a thicker plate is to lower the center of gravity a tiny bit.

timd38

I have a plate I bought Ebay from a company in Vegas that is ceramic coated and it was the best $89.00 I ever spent on the car. Cooler tunnel and the roof doesn't creek anymore.

wallyj

Put one on during my header install. It is not insulated, but I have never had heat issues in the car. I did not notice any change in the car at all. I probably wasted the money. Others report better results, but that is my experience.

Boomer111

Less noise for sure is what I noticed after Tunnel Plate from Elite Eng. But then with this car noise is a common and a recurring problem. Newly installed end links made the most difference.

At the time of the Tunnel Plate install my end links were quite, and I did notice less noise and with no scientific proof the car seemed stiffer laterally.

Not an expensive upgrade when your doing the exhaust system anyway.

victorf

Exactly! Right on Tom!!

Dave S

I installed the Elite Engineering ceramic coated plate on my '05 Vert while I was installing an aftermarket exhaust so really can't say if the plate could be installed without disconnecting or removing the pipes. However, I did notice an improvement in stiffness, especially with the Vert, as well as some reduction of heat in the passenger compartment.

cclive

Thanks for all the info you guys!

Knob Jockey

I don't agree with some of the observations above regarding the effectiveness of the plate in lowering the heat inside the car.

The ceramic coated tunnel plate from Elite Engineering that has their 'Thermal Abs' blanket attached, reduces center console temps significantly.

Easy, cost effective mod IMHO.

HOXXOH

I guess you'd have to do a before and after comparison under the same ambiant temps and driving conditions with a thermometer in the closed console to put a number in place of the word "significantly".

I did the whole car insulation package from exoticvette and didn't do a before and after either. My only observation that's worth a damn is that my right leg doesn't get hot anymore and I can hear my wife too well, but I'm not telling her I can. Chocolate still melts in the console.

timd38

All I know is that my Snickers bars don't melt since I put the plate on.

Boomer111

There is your test..........I like it too.