Ok, I have bought one of the aluminum tunel plates,( brand not important). I installed it last night. I have LG headers, I removed the exhaust to get the old plate out, pretty easy. Cleaned and sprayed corrosion inhibitor in the tunnel, blasted and painted all the bolts. Ok, Got ready to install the new plate,after checking the distance between the 02 sensors and the old plate, there was no way the thicker aluminum plate was going to fit without hitting the sensor (LG headers, remember). I took the plate to the shop and milled a section 1/2 the thickness of the plate, approx 8 inches long, and 3 inches wide, kind of a recess where the sensors will be. To install, I removed the two bolts holding the headers to the bellhousing, pryed them down with a piece of hickory and placed a 3/8 thick nut between the bracket and mount(watch the 02 sensors) and that allowed just enough room to slide the plate in,, it was VERY tight, but it can be done. I placed duct tape over the plate to keep from scratching it..installed the plainted bolts and all is well....If I have not done the milling , there is no way the sensors would have cleared the plate. If you have LG headers, and have installed the aluminum plate, did it clear? does it touch?? If it dont, I cannot see how you could ever replace a sensor. My suggestion is to buy the stainless version if you are thinking about one...they are thinner. This is only with LG headers, as far as I know...I guess I wanted to tell those that need to install one, that they can do it without dropping the headers, but you have to pry them down...

 

Wow thanks for the info. I have LG long tubes and just bought a stainless steel plate. It is good to know I made the right choice.

 

it will be a very tight fit, but it can be done, pry carefully, would help to have a buddy lending a hand...

 

For what it's worth, I just bought and installed the 1/4 aluminum LAPD plate and it fit just fine.

I did have to loosen the passenger header to get it in there but once tightened back up, there were no fitment problems.

This is on an 02 vert.

 

No problems with the LAPD plate and my LG's.

 

I installed my abs of steel (stainless) and I have LGs also... No issues with clearance here....

 

good feedback guy, My one 02 sensor seem to be in a more upright position (pass side) than the other, there was no way it would clear the plate,,,you can actuall look from teh rear (without exhaust in place) as see the sensor actually is in the recess I milled out....honest... Must be an issue with mgf. tolerances,,,anyway, just wanted to let people know what I found out....of course, I would get a car that stuff just wont bolt on....

 

There have been several with similar situations . Not all headers installed alike but few in between. Great feedback.

 

Yup, this had good feed back, I was really surprised to see that a lot had no problems....great for them...a 1/8 of and inch can make a big difference

 

I know from the position my O2 sensors are with the stock tunnel plate (I have LGM's) that there is no way I would have clearance with the alum. plate and may have probs. with the stainless one! If I install this plate I know there will be further machining to make it work for me.

 

When were you LG's built? I seem to remember there was an issue with the O2 angle on some of the earlier units that was later corrected.

 

ill tell ya right now, my dynatech headers will not clear even the OEM plate so i would have to do alot of mods to get my plate to work

Dave

 

I'll chime in here.. This is not the first thread I've seen of this nature.. All I can say is

I find it really amazing that there is only 1/8 clearance between the 02 sensors and *any* plate. I do realize that the stock plate is recessed, where as the aftermarket plates sit lower than the additional thickness would indicate.

But my point remains.. IMHO I think LG (and whomever) is playing with these clearances a bit too much, and there should certainly be an additional 1/8 inch if required.

 

wow, at first I thought i had a fluke,, now I feel lucky I got the plate to clear....Its not the plate mfg fault, but I feel a header issue, maybe more consideration needs to be taken for room....I knwo space is a premium...

 

Put the Aluminum plate on with Kooks headers and off road X-pipe.
No problems at all.

Plate does make a difference in stabilty of the car when hitting some fast curves.

 

It also needs to be mentioned that the clearance can vary from vehicle to vehicle. A slight twist of the exhaust piping while bolting in place can produce a variance.

 

As for the bulid date??? But I bought them and was on the waiting list for awhile in March of this year. I am sure it is because of the angle of the O2 bosses and no other reason. The passenger side took me FOREVER to get on and kept wanting to cross thread because I could not get a good enough angle on the sensor due to the wire touching the tunnel before it was threaded into the boss. It was to the point that I was going to loosen the manifold to get it down some for the clearance.

 

as the LG header have th ebungs welded in the collectors, you have no choice when installing them,,no movement....I suppose you could put a few washers betwen the mounting tabs and the front mount to give a little more room...