having done a cutout for the exhaust pipes I have decided that a metal plate would help tidy up the hole in the grp.

I was wondering what is the best material to use ie aluminium V steel and what sort of thickness should I be aiming for.

I have read elsewhere on the forum that there should be approx 30mm space between the GRP and the pipes but how close can I go to the pipes with the metal plate ?

i was thinking of doing something similar...
i was going to use aluminium cause its nice and light, the sheet ive gots about 4mm thick...as for how close you can go, im not sure but id stay at least 20mm away

I have done mine in 1.5 mm alloy. The distance allowed as clearance depends on how flexible your engine mounts are. I have only about 8mm all round mine and they don't touch, but my mounts are quite hard, and the V6 cossy in very smooth running. HTH Ray

4mm is a bit excessive. 1.5 is more normal.

adrian

I've only got about 10mm clearance at the closest point.
And I'm pleased to say my bright yellow fibo has not discoloured.

In fact 2 years on and I've still got my SVA trim on and that's not burnt away either!

The plate only needs to be thin to hide the edge
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Use thin ali - it's only for visual effect. To make a neater edge and not have to have trim on it, you could make a pattern out of plywood with a hole the same size as the hole in the panel, cut the ali with the correct outer size but the inner hole too small, then bash the inner edge over the wood former to 90 degrees so you get a radiused edge.Here is one I prepared earlier

It is only for show so no need for 4 mm!!

Hre is mine, think it is 2 mm stainless but even that is an overkill (I didn't fit it). Think of the weight saving if I replaced it by 0.5 mm!!

Gap is no more than 20 mm.
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some nice cutouts there

I never thought about leaving space to allow for engine vibration so need to take that into consideration

time to go back to the garage to work on some templates