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Transmission/Exhaust Access Panel Rebuild (2000 Response LX)


spinxt

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The access panel in the floor of my 2000 RLX is starting to collapse (closest to the engine cover where there is little support underneath).   A friend of mine rebuilt his with aluminum panels, which was quite involved.   Has anyone out there come up with another alternative that provides adequate support in the floor.   I also don't want to use wood.

Any direction would be greatly appreciated.

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Where did you get the original aluminum honeycomb material?  I called malibu and they said they don't use it anymore and don't have any laying around.

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@spinxt:  You could make one from carbon fiber cloth & epoxy resin wrapped around a core material such as Corecell / Divinicell.  You could also use Marine plywood as a core but you indicated not interested in using wood.  The one I made using that construction method cut the weight in half.  For added strength, I included an additional core rib to increase cross section.  Panel ended up very stiff.  Material sources include:  US Composites, Jamestown Distributors, Noahs Marine.

Since that panel seems to be a chronic issue, as I was developing that part of the project, I thought about adding a brace or simple support that would be central in the panel and basically drop down to the floor. McMaster Carr has nuts welded to a disc and I was thinking of a couple of those with a threaded rod in between to adjust for height thus acting as a support point.  Ended up not needing to do that as the carbon panel is super stiff.

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