I figured I would remove the fog-lights, remove the wolf bra, and remove that sorry piece of plastic (why is that thing there?!?!) blocking my radiator so I can get RID of my Air-dam.

Can anyone tell me WHY this would be a bad idea? of course, I will add a mesh screen to keep birds from damaging my precious OEM radiator.

 

i'd think it'd weaken the nose if i'm understanding right. if your going to cut the middle peice out that usually says camaro or has a bowtie on it, i think the lower peice would flop around at flex alot at highway speeds, which could crack your paint or worse yet the bumper cover. The front of your car isn't hurting flow through the radiator as much as you'd think, actually it might help handling. When air hits the air damn it flows in or over your car, alot more over than in. the air deflector on the bottom of the lower radiator support grabs air that would normally flow under your car and create lift, and flows it over your radiator and engine compartment. If you increase flow through the front, it's going to be less aerodynamic and it probally won't squat down from negative pressure under the car at normal highway speeds. But then again, i'm in hs, not a physics professor.

 

i wasnt talking about removing the NOSE of the car... sorry if it sounded like that!

theres this piece of black plastic right in front of my radiator... it just kinda SITS there... lemme see if i have a pic...

 

that plastic piece kinda surronds the latching mechanism for the hood. it makes a great tray when working on the engine and also healps direct the fresh air towards the radiator more than over it. i wouldnt bother doing anything to the grill because even with the fogs it doesnt hurt the airflow much. i say leave it alone and it will look good. take everything out and it will look undone.

 

On my car, the hood sits ontop of that--how will moving air reach it? The nose isn't designed with enough openings to allow enough flow to keep the engine cool.

 

Since our cars where designed as a bottom breather you'll need to do some duct work. I think you can make it work (since the rad is vertical unlike say a corvett). Some ideals: close off open areas like: the bottom (were air come up now), keep the upper and side shrouds , extend the side ones to stop air bleeding out. You could even mount some small hoses off the side shrouds to bleed a small amount of the high pressure air for brake cooling or the some can be done on the top shroud for your intake. You can fab up some simple brackets from metal stock to regain support lost from the mods needed.
Just some ideals.
Good luck.

 

I think ill try some stuff. I think my air-dam is broken, anyways.

On the highway the car gets hotter and hotter. if its cold out (60-70*F) it doesnt heat up. but usually, it does. gets to about 220*. with the wolf bra it gets even hotter.

but around town, heavy summer traffic, it stays cool. 170-180* easy. stock radiator, too.

its just on the highway i have the problem. that screams "AIR DAM" to me, even though I have one, it doesnt seem to work.

 

yeah you need to do something to get that air flow to keep your engine cool and happy

 

running lean will make it run hotter

 

so is that a single plane or a dual plane intake

 

hmm. the actually intake is a single plane, but its so small it could be mistaken for stock....



if it wasnt for that big hunk of metal sitting on top of it forcing the air in.

 

You'll have to remove that "plastic thing" it helps move the air off the ground level using low pressure. Also theres is that honeycomb stuff behind the middle of the nose, the metal bumper needs to be open'd up (plasma cutter/recipicating saw), keeping the horizontal parts intact (mount a oil cooler maybe there). Ideally from the grill opening to the radiator there is no way for the air to escape but thru the rad, thats the duct work issue. It's nice to control the heated air outlet too, but not needed for this application, goes out the bottom around your block, exhaust, oil pan which helps cooling.
Keep the air dam but cut till it dosen't touch (could be as small as 2" hanging down) it will help cause more low pressure behind the rad and pull more through a non sealed cowl induction hood.

 

i did this... i removed the plastic grill and ran some sheetmetal ducts and baffles to rederect the air into the plastic ducts. Works ok when its warm out. Its good enough to keep the temps below 200* but in the end i wouldnt cut all the supports out of the nose of the car just for the extra aiur flow. If you do that even a minor accident could have catastrophic consequences for your car. That plastic support and stamped sheetmetal beam cushon and support the nose in the event of a minor accident.

 

oh, opps nvm... Thought you where going to pull apart the bumper. That plastic piece will be important if you run a cowl induction hood. All the air will be diverted into the engine area and away from the radiator becasue of the low pressure in the engine compartment.

 

crap what? I have a cowl hood... could that be why my dam air dam isnt working right?

 

Not having that plastic ductwork in the front in addition to that plastic cover could cause problems with a cowl because it will generate a region of low pressure in the engine compartment that could possibly draw a large ammount of air over the top of the radiator instead of through it. Ive found that the radiator posses alot of resistance to air passing through it so thats why gm has allt hat duct work and the air dam so that air is forcefully directed into the radiator. Your other option would be to close off the top area between the radiator support and the hood so that all the air would have to flow through the radiator and teh cow would actually help draw air in to cool the car.

 

If you don't use your A/C remove the condenser from in front of the radiator. It helps to cool the car big time when you're moving.

 

Are you running a transmission cooler?

What about a manual fan switch for the highway?

 

What kind of theromstat are you running? I put a 140 in mind and the car stays at 140-150.

 

Here I got some pics... maybe it will help you understand my situation!

I've noted this Airdam is higher than my other car's... could that be a factor? car too high?

 

and yes i am running a tranny cooler... it IS in front of the radiator...

but I've removed it and the car still got too hot on the highway!

there is no thermostate right now, there WAS a 160 but it didnt help...

the fans are controlled by a little black box... they come on at about 165* and go off at 160. works great on the street!

 

here you can see the tranny cooler and all the SPACE from the spot where the radiator sits to the front.

 

How about a Aftermarket Aluminum radiator??

Do a search and you will find a picture of what your air dam should look like....

 

Also have you checked your lower radiator hose, it could be collapsing....

 

yeah i will probably go to an aluminum griffin. when i get the 383 going, i will invest in that area.

 

from the pics it looks like your air dam is pushed in some.. maybe find away to push the bottom toward the front of the car to get more air up..

 

Yeah that air dam is toast. Not doin you any good as far as directing air to the front of the raidiator. no way to pull it forward and have it stay as it looks to be broke down the center and also seems to have been crushed and left the way for awhile. get another airdam from the wrecking yard and you'll be amazed at the difference it'll make

 

this is what i would do. take the blower off and you car can run colder, then mail it to me and i will sacrifice the hot running motor just for you.. becouse we wouldent just let the blower sit around and collect dust right :hail:

 

Ya, that was my first impression when I saw the pic, the air dam is bent, instead of scooping air to your radiator, it's deflecting it under the car. I imagine at high speed that really lightens your front end. The bottom few inches is what catches the air and shoves it up in front of the radiator. Replace that bad boy and your cooling should be much improved, and your nose will suck lower to the ground at speed.

 

okie let me help answer some questions you guys are disscusing,


1. if you do all the removing you guys are talking about the air wont make it still to the radiator. the big metal re-bar is kinda in the way.

2. if you do say..oh get "genius" and remove mr. re-bar you would A. have crushed nose and paint after a few highway trips. b. if you do this and take it from me,,,,and have a wreck you wont have a car anymore.....period. you get "in touch" with the motor reall quick!!


the airdam is for a reason for goodness sakes. when you go down the highway it blocks air up into the rad. and whan you in town it has no effect to speak of . this is where a good electric fan is nice......and no you cant run without a fan....i know that was the next question!!!!