stealthroc89

Years ago I was cleaning out my shop and came across a long lost set of 80-81 Z28 fender vents tucked away in the corner and for some reason I had to have them on my iroc. I like how they turned out but, they are far from being done. Soon I'll remove them and re-shape them so they fit better and cut them down a little so they arent as big. Also, they arent from the 79 Berlinetta in the pictures.

duckmanquacker

are those from a firebird or an aftermarket set?

stealthroc89

theyr from an 81 Z28

usacamaro

i like them i would just have put them on the other side so that they follow the lines of the fenders better.

bradley23150

iTrader: (10)

They look like they are off of the camaro right in front of your third gen.

Lol.

stealthroc89

no i got them off another camaro years ago. I knew some1 would point that out. Good eye tho

stealthroc89

I fitted them up both ways and they looked better like that. After I glassed them in the slant in the back wasn't so dramatic. Had to start over when a chick in a nissan failed to see the yeild sign when she was merging onto the highway. She t-boned me at 30mph, right at the back of the fender. I have finished pics, gotta find them tho, I'll upload them when I do

awilson82

Theres a company (up22.com i think) that makes a fender with a vent in it for third gens looks pretty good to me. Ill post pics in a bit.

stealthroc89

Ya Ive seen those, theyr from unlimited products. Thiers have the trans am ducts, but $300 a fender is a little too much 4 me. Especially when I have to replace fenders every other year due to idiots not paying attention. My uncle backed into me after I had hand polished the faded factory paint job, a guy n a 4x4 merged into me and that woman that decided to not use a merge lane to get onto a highway. Insurance only covered sheet metal so I was screwed on getting my hood fixed. Next person to hit me is gonna get KNOCKED OUT!!!

Mathius

FlyinlowRS92 ( I may have his handle slightly wrong, but it's something like this. Blue car) did this about 5 years ago, along with chevy silverado headlights. You're nowhere near the first, and IIRC his were functional.

Mathius

stealthroc89

Never said I was 1st to do it, I had never seen it done before. I didnt do it last week anyways, I did the 1st set of fenders after my uncle backed into my car, so summer of '04. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one to do it though. Which way are his put on?

Mathius

My bad, it's been 7 years for flynlow: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/auto...have-pics.html

Mathius

stealthroc89

Wow that camaro looks good, but the vents look wierd to me when theyr on that way. Is it me or do they look a little off, not to say mine are better (not yet!)

stealthroc89

They arent any more functional than mine, I only said that cause its purely cosmetic, theres no way it can vent air from the back of the fender and if they do it only a little. Its really cool to see the same idea being put to use in a different ways. Plus it gives anyone who might do it a chance to see how it may look before they hack-up thier fenders

Mathius

How do you figure they aren't functional? Unless you welded them in place and blocked the vents, they are still exhausting hot air out of the engine bay. What did you think the purpose of them was? To bring in cool air?

I believe his were functional. I remembering him asking about it when he had them installed. I didn't know the guy that well. He seemed to be a lot more vocal after he had all that work done on his car, almost as if throwing all that money into it gave him more status here or something.

I can admire the work, but he didn't do it himself, so I'm not patting him on the back for opening his wallet. And his vision of his car is not mine. If he's happy with it, that's all that matters, but there are a lot of things I don't like about his car, like the color, the wing, and the rims.

Mathius

stealthroc89

Like I said, if they do they only vent a little. They werent designed for these cars so theres no provision for them to be functional. By functional I mean, have an effect on under hood temperatures, which I guarantee they have no effect. Thank you for your input, whatever that might have been.

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

im thinking that the 81 z28 he took them off of is the one in the background but i could be wrong

stealthroc89

Ironic huh? Its a 79 Berlinetta, no vents and if it did it would have the louvered style (7?-79) not the duct style (80-81). It was early and I didnt feel like moving the roc, but I'm starting to wish I had lol!!

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

i did that mod a long time ago to, not long after flynlow, mine are on the same way as yours i think they look better that way to

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...der-vents.html

stealthroc89

Wow you glued them on? How has that held up over the years? I sank 30 screws into the back of mine to hold them in, but the glue would be good to give it a nice seal and make them a little more ridged. Do you remember what was used, that would help alot!

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

Still look the same as the day I installed them. They have held up great, all I remember is it was a body panel adhesive and it's black

Mathius

Quick definitions (functional)

▸ adjective: designed for or adapted to a function or use ("Functional education selects knowledge that is concrete and usable rather than abstract and theoretical")
▸ adjective: fit or ready for use or service ("The toaster was still functional even after being dropped")
▸ adjective: relating to or based on function especially as opposed to structure ("It is a functional one")
▸ adjective: designed for or capable of a particular function or use ("A style of writing in which every word is functional")
▸ adjective: involving or affecting function rather than physiology ("Functional deafness")
▸ adjective: (of e.g. a machine) performing or capable of performing ("A functional set of brakes")


Whatever YOUR definition is, it isn't in the english language. They have a hole in them, hot air can flow out of them. That's their intended purpose, therefore they are functional.

You want to be rude, then do so. It doesn't change facts.

Mathius

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

they do NOTHING as far as air flow goes, they arent functional in removing hot air. directly behind where the vents go is the frame rail to the car. i had to trim my vents down a lot on the backside to get them to fit. there is no direct hole from the engine bay to these vents.

hence non functional

Mathius

You DO realize these were designed for a 2nd generation firebird and if you want the air to flow out of them you have to do "Fabrication" right? This IS the fabrication board.

The louvers themselves do have holes in them, so therefore they are functional. It's up to you to route them.

I would also question your placement if you installed them in a place where air won't flow and then complain that air won't flow.

Mathius

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

first they are off of the 80-81 camaro not firebird, and they are strictly used on the 3rd gens for looks, to put them on the fender where everyone does there is NO room to make them functional. where else would you put them? even the ones that came stock on the 3rd gen firebirds arent functional they are for looks. i wish i had a pic of them with just the hole in the fender so you could see how much room there isnt. i would question if you have ever seen behind that fender if you think there is this mystery space to make these functional. and as i said before there isnt a direct route in any way from that part of the fender to the engine bay hence once again not functional just for looks. the fender vents on all the f-bodys just like most cars these days do nothing

Mathius

Yes I have seen behind the fender, there's an internal brace that runs from the a-pillar to the front radiator support. It is all spot welded. The easiest way I can think of to make that area open would be to take out the hole saw and cut a few holes into the engine bay and then route some tubing through there and weld it in place like you would ANY exhaust.

Again, this is a custom mod. If you're not going to do the fabrication involved, then don't complain that you're not getting the intended results. You don't just take parts from another vehicle, slap them on with glue, and then expect them to work like the original. You have to find a way to make them work. That's what customizing is all about. Otherwise it's just another appearance mod.

Mathius

stealthroc89

Fender vents are heat extractors so if they don't extract heat are they functional? My definition was right on the money. They were put on with not expectations of being functional and nobodys complaining that they arent. You acknowledge the fact that they arent functional untill you make them so, "You have to find a way to make them work. That's what customizing is all about. Otherwise it's just another appearance mod", totally contradicting your previous arguements. So its settled, they arent functional as they are now, but with more work they can function. Your the rude one my friend, your 1st post accused me of saying I was the 1st to do this although I never claimed to to be. Even after that I was still freindly and you kept pushin.

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

And I'm trying to say there is no reasonable way to make them extract heat, it would be a hack job

Mathius

You're absolutely ridiculous and this is the last time I'm answering you. If you guys had any real kind of fabrication ability you wouldn't be acting like damn know-it-alls and you'd be trying to learn something. The louvers themselves are functional. They're not block off, they have holes through them that heat can pass out of.

See the pretty picture with the open vent holes?


If you want to keep them functional, you have to install them in a functional manner.

If reasonable means easy in your world, fine. A hack job has nothing to do with what you're trying to achieve and everything to do with how you're doing it. It's only a hack job when you throw craftsmanship out the window and make it a hack job. If you properly line up the louvers where you want them, measure what needs to be cut out of the front brace, and then re-enforce the area back with tubing to box in the repair and let air flow through it, it would work just fine, and if you weld all the repairs properly, grind them smooth, and make it look good, it's not a hack.

The only hack in this thread is the guy gluing parts on his car.

THESE LOUVERS WERE NOT INTENDED FOR THIS CAR. That's why this is a custom mod. You can't just bolt these things on and expect them to work because they were never intended for this car.

You guys have way too much pride and not enough common sense. If you shut up and listen and stop trying to defend your asinine position you'd get a lot more results on this board.

I don't ever claim to know everything and if someone knows a better way to do something or knows how to do something I don't, I shut up, and listen and when they're done talking I ask questions. That's called being respectful and intelligent.

You guys just want to keep clinging to the justification that you did your mod the right way. It's clear from the way this thread is going that the OP just wanted to say "here look at me, see what I did!" and never had any intentions of getting any real criticism. Every time someone else tried to post an opinion or some other method he talked right over them. Guess what kids, I'm not impressed enough with you to let you talk over me.

If you just want this to be an appearance mod, fine. But don't b*tch that they're not functional. YOU installed them, you chose to make them non functional.

Mathius

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

you couldve at least put a picture up of the RIGHT vents, either way im pretty sure that neither of us ever said that we were even trying to make them functional, and no s--t they werent intended for this car, they didnt do anything when they were on the 2nd gens either. ill take pics when i get back to my car to show why they wont in any way ever be functional, even though that was never the reason for doing it in the first place and neither of us are b*tching that they werent functional

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

Enough of that..