after reading much of the cooling threads I am convinced I should replace the missing spoiler (air dam/air deflector?) on front of my 89 bird... the heating up at highway speeds appears to be the consequence of this missing off my car...my question(s) : is the Air dam the same thing as an Air Deflector? and if so where is the best place to get one? I noticed bolt holes under the front of my car and figured the orig one prolly got torn off by a curb or something way back whenever...Am I correct in my guess that if I can find one it should bolt right on? tia to all the good folks here at the msg boards...I have learned a lot in the short time I've been here

yes it will bolt right in. i got mine from pick'n'pull because last month i noticed i didnt have one either, so try pick n pull if you have one close and you can make a post in the "parts wanted" section. Also "parts for sale" section people part cars so it should not take you that long to get one. Last resort you could go to GM

http://www.moderndaymuscle.com/exterior4?b=1

JamesC

thanks a bunch guys...I looked under my car again after seeing some pics on hawks and a couple other sites...I see there is the one piece air deflector and the three piece...I know an 86 bird I used to have way back when had the one piece on it I remember now...what is the diff in the one and three piece units?

seems like the one piece would be the easiest and best looking (imho) if the holes would line up...I'm not sure if I may be missing any hardware or brackets to bolt it on my car...no telling what happened to the orig and if there are parts missing now...

there are three holes on the dr side and three on the pass side of the front clip...just looking at it seems like it may be missing something...seems like it would be too far fwd to direct the air to the rad properly if bolted into those particular holes?

please excuse my limited knowledge...I've had sev 1st and second gen camaros but this is only my second firebird...the first I only had a short time and never needed any repairs or adjustments in the short time I had it...this one I've only had a few weeks and just getting to know it


thanks again guys any help is always appreciated...

The air dam does not direct air into the radiator. It creates a low pressure area (like a vacuum) just behind the radiator. This low pressure area creates a suction effect, since there's high air pressure i front of the radiator, the air rushes to fill the low pressure area, thus kinda gets sucked through the radiator, and the warm air is sucked out below and away from behind the radiator.

Thus, the air dam mounts almost directly underneath the radiator to create this low pressure area behind the radiator, as the air rushes past. Kinda the same way a suction is formed in river rapids just behind an obstruction (like a big rock), and a paddler in a kayak can get sucked in. Make sense?

I understand...and appreciate the enlightenment...

I'm wondering still if there isn't some kind of plate or bracket that goes with the deflector itself...seems like it would need something more

it would be helpful if I could find a good pic of it all mounted underneath the front clip....

anybody know of a link for that?

thanks

Not 100% sure on the birds, but all the camaros I've seen just have the one piece unit that simply has screws that bolt it to the car - the entire piece is plastic, and no additional parts. Maybe just go cruising through te local shopping centers til you find one, and crawl underneath to see (maybe wait for the owner and get permission).

thanks for that info....if you look at the modern day muscle link supplied by JamesC above,

http://www.moderndaymuscle.com/exterior4?b=1



the first page shows a great example of the deflector...if you go to the second page on that link you see what they are calling "
82-90 Base Model Passenger Front Fender Spoiler Deflector
Price:$47.49 "


I'm pretty sure this is the mounting piece/bracket I need...it says they only have one side tho...talked to the local pontiac dealer (what's left of it) here in St Augustine this morn where I live... everything he pulled up was T/A or GTA with ground effects, definately different...didn't show any base model parts...

I'm hoping I'm correct about these brackets/mounting pieces..seems like that was what was on my 86 way back but memory is fuzzy...

at any rate the ideal scenario would be to find all three pieces at once for reasonable without getting raked over the coals on shipping since my dealer was apparently clueless...

the deflector itself seems readily available from several places but the brackets are another story it seems...

any help on this would be greatly appreciated...

thanks everybody

I believe I paid $90 CDN for mine a few years back at GM, seems a bit pricey for a piece of plastic if you ask me but its crucial.

Would someone post a few pics of the one and three piece air deflectors? I think I have/had the one piece, but I want the better of the two as I'm overheating on the highway as well.

All the pics I'm finding are much too small to see clearly.