CoolingDiscuss all of the aspects of cooling that you can think of! Radiators, transmissions, electric fans, etc.
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you might try going to a dirt trak supply place & getting the sheet plastic they use. I riviting it on. It worked for a capri I had. The stuff is fairly cheap too.
i was thinking about doing this because the stock ones always seem to curl under the car as opposed to scoop the air. not sure how much that affects its use though.
I made mine out of 1/8 abs plastic and I fabed up some brackets and bolted it into the stock location. I made it hang a little lower and I put a little more pitch on it for more of a scoop effect. I have hit curbs and dips and all kinds of things and it has yet to move it much or damage it not even the oppossum I hit the other night damaged it.
Something hinged and spring loaded would be nice, so it could scrape/bump stuff and spring back without breaking. Although I can't imagine a way to do it that wouldn't look horrible.
__________________ North Texas Third Gen Association 1988 GTA 5.0/M5/3.45 LSD, T-Tops, Digital Dash, Leather - Current Ride 1983 Firebird S/E - Stripped 1995 Chevy 1500 5.7 Ext. Cab - Daily Driver
Great idea Ward! If you could do that it would end all of our air dam problems. Also ive looked at our local yard and they're all shot/missing. The ABS plastic and steel mount idea sounds good, anyone got a pic of theres?
Although I haven't done it yet I was going to go to a sheet metal place and get them to a curve a piece of 18 gauge sheet metal then screw it in place somehow. What do you guys think of that idea? It should be cheap.
Mine rolled back and the supporting bolts were broke off. I made a new one and put it over the old and bolted them together with 1/4 inch bolts. I went to the junk yard with some wrenches and a hacksaw and found a Chevy S10 pickup with the rubber air dam on the front bumper. I used the saw to cut the length I needed, and the bolts are on the outside so it's easy to remove. It also has small braces on the backside that are molded in. Cost, about $2 since I had the bolts on hand.
I will grab pics tommorow I was just adding some support to add some more angle to it. And its a air dam if it works it works and it don't matter if its ugly. Though with my design I could swap the brakets with small barn door hinges and two strong carb return springs. I have just finished my cooling system upgrade and the air dam, ls1 radiator, stock cooling fan with fan shroud, and performance 180 stat with vent hole is keeping the car REAL COOL.
Good idea putting more pitch on air dam. I would like to bring mine up an inch, and do the same thing. I can't go anywhere w/o dragging the dang thing somewhere. I keep my fans running constantly in the summer probably because the stock air dam isn't doing a great job.
Could you post a pic of the air dam you fabbed? My camaro doesn't even have one I have a few sheets of stainless steel and aluminum lying around, and a bender. I think I'll make one myself if it doesn't look "too" difficult. Thanks
I think abs would be a better choice than stainless or aluminum. I hit the road quite often with my factory dam. That's why they made them out of plastic, so they flex.
The metal air dam might be heavy duty, but where it attaches may take a beating. I'd stick to plastic. either shape one from another type of vehicle, or get a third gen one. Thats mho
LOL i already cut my head on it when i was putting the bumper cover on.
It's really thin i'd say 1/8" total, it has a fiber type backing on it. If i hit anything i'm pretty sure it (airdam) would bend/pull out of the two bolts hoding it on. It really forces the air up though!
Good idea to not have too much holding it on. That would be the answer if making out of steel. Anybody with a third gen knows those radiator/ engine compartments don't breath well. That's why I used a HO duel snorkle air cleaner with ducts instead of a chromie.
If you made it out of metal, you would want it to "crumble" instead of destroying your radiator, or damaging fuel lines or brake lines. I Still say plastic is the optimum way to go. As I said before I bottom out on mine regularly.
I like the hinged and spring loaded idea... But, as it was mentioned, it might be difficult to make without looking like crap, especially with plastic. But, I have a few ideas, I doubt I'll have anything to show for it for quite a while though. There are other things on the car I should do first...
-1989 Camaro with a 305 TPI, soon to be 6.0L LSx. -1985 Camaro with a 350 TPI, probably gonna stay that way. At least until I'm done with the other one...
take a stock one, cut it at the corner "L" (where it points down)
take and put a bevel on the edge of each side so it leans like the aluminum one posted above, use west systems g-flex epoxy http://www.westsystem.com/ss/gflex/ trust me this stuff is stronger than the dang plastic you are bonding it and its made to flex to so it dont snap when you drag. i have used this g-flex before and its well worth every penny and its not to expensive to ball park of $20 depending on where you buy it, but DO get the G-Flex Epoxy Repair Kit, the kit make its easy as can be to work with
now i haven't done this to mine, mine seem to run cool just fine the way it is (im sure that all aluminum rad helps to ) but i feel that this idea would work, and BTW you can sand and paint g-flex
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Maybe you could make an angled one out of abs? I am getting interested in doing this. Having the dam completely vertical seems inefficient.
Yeah, vertical works, but like you say angled is much better. Only problem I see with it is if you do happen to scrape an angled dam while moving forward, there is the possibility that it will snag on/jam into the ground and just break... Perhaps a rolled lip on the front edge could minimize that issue. Although, that is more easily implemented on some kind of metal than plastic... You could always do a metal lip on a plastic dam...
Probably way more complicated than it needs to be, but hey if it works and works well, then who cares.
Going on the 'finding one in a salvage yard cheap' - i grabbed one from a gutted out '93 Buick Regal coupe that works great, so let me vouch for that one. Only needed to drill two holes to fit. And it fits better than one i grabbed from a Cavalier the same year as my Camaro. Best of all, they were both free due to multiple other purchases i made!
You know i was having a little bit of high temp on my water temp. Just looking at this I am pretty sure Mine is gone and didn't realize it made that much of a difference on cooling. I will be making mine to. and the hinge spring load is a nice idea just need more of a smaller angle b/c think if you hit a dip and you have a 45 degree angle it won't retract. Just a thought of theory.
Does anyone in here realize how the air dam helps the cooling system? It's not meant to "scoop" the air up in front of the radiator, It's designed to create a low pressure zone behind the radiator, essentially "sucking" the air through it.
__________________ '85 Camaro Z28 TPI 305/700r4 (for sale $2000)
I don't think, it's designed to create a low pressure area because that would be very unefficient with air getting in from the sides, the wheel wells and openings next to the battery and the other side. its' designed to force air up through the radiator. If you want a low pressure area to suck air through the radiator, build an extractor hood...that's how they work, fast flowing air, detaching from the boundary layer by the big gaping hole and creating a low pressure zone, pulling air through the rad.
What that flap does is create a high pressure area so that air coming in from the front does not leak down under the radiator and reduces flow through the radiator
Looks like a bang up job! The only thing I am thinking, is when you bottom out on the air dam, how will it affect your car. I frequently hit my air dam when I go into a driveway, or drive over a speed bump. The plastic factory dam flexes, and springs back.
Looks like a bang up job! The only thing I am thinking, is when you bottom out on the air dam, how will it affect your car. I frequently hit my air dam when I go into a driveway, or drive over a speed bump. The plastic factory dam flexes, and springs back.
when you bottom out with a metal one, the dam will bend/crumple and not bend back. Neither of the two shown here would be sturdy enough that they would damage the car if they were hit.
I have a few sheets of stainless steel and aluminum lying around, and a bender. I think I'll make one myself if it doesn't look "too" difficult. Thanks 
Thats one way to go I guess...
