Great news guys, my car was running hot today and I looked under the car to see if my air dam (which I just installed two weeks ago) is still there, NOPE!!!!!! Man i am mad!!! I dont want to order another one just to have it brake off again, plus I am sicking of driving all slow of driveways and all these speedbumps in my apartments just to have it scrape anyways, its not worth the frustration and its stressful So, I am going to ponder here until I can think of a solution, oh , and can any of u stock guys tell me how high your bottom of your fender(where the air dam is) is from the ground, im thinkin maybe my stock suspension is worn or sumthin I dunno. Ive already herd of the scrape guard and I dont think thats going to help, it will just make the air dam even lower!!!! I even shaved off about 1/2 inch off the dam air dam!!!!!! Can any of you please give me wutever suggestions you have for preventing it from falling off Or a design of your own that you came up with??? Thanks.

 

Do you have ground effects that do not have any grilles??? I have a firebird and the front ends are a bit different. However, a camaro should have less problems of overheating. 305's also are known as the great overheaters, but there is a solution to that.

I believe that if the air was directed towards the radiator than it would be much better. The air dam is the best thing to do to cool our cars, but like you said its a bitch to drive. So I will give you my plan that I havent done yet, but am still planning to do.

Make as many grilles as possible. This will require you to modify your front end and its a touchy job, doable nonetheless.
Just go under your car and see where there can be made some grilles to throw air into the radiator, than either cutt that part off or drill holes into it. Than make sure you cover the bottom of the car so that the air does not escape and goes straight to the radiator. Now you can install a smalled dam and have it point to the radiator as well. This should do the magic, however the air damn is designed so that our cars run cooler and any mods, to the car, if not done right, might be devastating to our cooling system.

Good luck and tell me what you think of my idea.

 

Well I dont understand the grill thing, do you mean cut holes in the nose of the car, and the air dam points to the radiator as it is

 

The air dam doesn't work by deflecting air into the radiator, it creates a low pressure area underneath the car behind the radiator that draws air through it and down.

 

Im not really sure how you could rips the air dam off in two weeks. Ive had my car for 5 years and probably hit the air dam half a million times. The design of our car makes it almost a necessity due to the very small grill area on our car.

 

I see, I was not sure about the whole preassure thing. I just thought that the dam is there to deflect air up to the radiator rather than air going under the car. Do air dams face straight down or do the bend forward just a bit??
Still, I think that making as many grilles as possible on your front bumper will help the cooling down. What do you guys think?

 

I'm wondering too how you managed to rip the thing off? My car is lowered 2 inches and has the updated 3-piece design air dam (which sits lower than the original) and while I do scrape it quite a bit, I haven't come close to tearing it off.

What could have happened to yours is that the screws came loose and fell out. I have had that happen on mine and lost a screw or two that way.

I now periodically check mine for loose hardware. I'm also using the TDS designed "skid guard" (I have the prototype) on my car and it does a good job helping to save the air dam.

The guard takes all the abuse when the air dam scrapes and also keeps it from snagging on driveways.

 

You might think about looking into a fan mod. Lots of them out there that change the way they kick on and off. This site has lots of info on that, so you don't have to look to far. 305's stock setup for fan operation bites, try that. I would also advise you to replace the air dam, it is there for a reason, and they already told you why. Hope you get a handle on your heat problem...later

 

There's got to be an alternative. Or something else along with the air damn (pun). I just dont see why making grilles wont work?!?!

 

My fan is always on!!!!

 

hey how much do those be- cool radiators cost???? Will they still lower the operating temps by 20 degrees without the air dam??????

 

From what I have been hearing the fan might be a hindirance to the airflow at high speeds. I am not sure if thats totaly ture, but common sence tells me that the fan (stock at least) could not spin that fast to manage the air at high speeds. Thats why we need that air damn (pun). Also, I would advise for some grilles. Since you have a camaro you should already have some. Adding the air dam to the car will make your car run cool. Its the way they are designed.
On my firebird for instance there is a beam going along the middle of my bumper so there is very little space for the air to travel even if I had the grilles. So the air damn is the only solution. I am acutally in process of getting some grilles made on my bumper. I already made one on the uper part of the bumper where our symbols would go. I drilled an insane amount of holes pointing towards the radiator, and it did help a bit, still that air damn is very much needed. I hate it, but it looks like you will have to sacrifice some money for that sucker. Good luck man.

 

The Be-Cool is just like any other radiator.........you MUST HAVE AN AIR DAM.

 

Ok, damn it. I got my airdam and it does help cooling quite a bit.
However, I dont like how low it is. Also, there's got to be a way to do something instead of the airdamn. Anything... I would entertain any idea you guys have, as well as some of mine.
I also know that the airdam is necessary, but this thread asks for alternatives, and although farfetched imagenary request is .... imaginarry I would hope that there is a solution to it..
What do you guys think.

 

i drove my 305 5 speed in MANHATTEN and Brooklyn NY for almost 3 years...A/C blowing full blast all summer and NEVER went over 220....and there is no 40 mph to make use of the air damn in NYC...its all stop and go...kinda tough on the ole' clutch though

 

Sounds great f-crazy, glad you don't have an over heating issue, but how is that going to help him with his problem?

 

From what I am seeing the air dam comes in play much earlier than 40mph. It helps the car warm up slower as well. Now its great to hear that a 305 out there is acutally not overheating, but if my car ran 220 I would be pissed. I want it to run 180 and it will. 220 is OK, but it will wear the engine much faster.

Now, I am still waiting for your responses on how to make the car run cooler without the air damn!?!? If possible that is, and is grille design something to think about??

 

For the record, my 1987 IROC TPI 305 operates @ around 160*
as a rule, here is why. Dual stock fans, one wired always on with ignition,second fan kicks on @ 160*. All other cooling system components are standard GM replacement parts and are in
good operational condition, NOTE my air dam is inplace. So the third gen Camaro can and will operate in the 160 range if thats what you want. If you want 180* then change stat and temp sensor.If you want to remove your air dam because you don't like it, go for it, but I can't help you after that. I see no reason personally to remove that dam so good luck with your project.

 

Well, I can understand how trying to find alternatives for cooling would be a good interest to follow because it seems alot of our cars run too warm. But it's mostly because of the worn out parts. Like Bobsroc said, replacing with standard components and adding a few tricks like wiring up one of the fans to the ignition will help you run in cooler temps, if that's what you desire.But, either ways the opinion flys, go for it, and good luck.

 

Has anyone tried mounting a sucker fan from the front of the radiator??? This could replace the air dam??
What do you think.
Also, putting a chain on your airdam will help it stay on your car even if it gets ripped.

 

Any fan in front of the radiator should be a pusher. It wouldn't be a good replacement for an airdam because at high speed air will still flow under the car instead of through the radiator.

 

Thats what I ment, It should push the air through the radiator rather than sucking it away. Anyway, if you got a fast CFM fan wouldnt it be enought to suck the air from the bottom of the car.

Please understand that I know how much the air dam is important, I am just trying to see if there is any other ways of going around it. So please dont dog me for my suggestions, I am just trying to help.

On that note if you can possibly rate the air dam on how much airflow it produces, than could you compare it to CFM, and if so how much, and is there a fan that can roughly match that?
A pretty big q?

 

Hey if i put in a 180 thermo, do i have to change the temp sensor???????????

 

No

 

Gr89RS wrote:
Hey if i put in a 180 thermo, do i have to change the temp sensor???????????

If you are trying to cool the motor down from stock temp of 220* then I would say yes you should, do you have to, NO. With just a 180* stat, your coolant will start to flow sooner, but your fan will not operate any differently, why bother. If you only replace the stat with no fan mods, I would think you will not notice much of an improvement at all. Just changing the fan setup without replacing the thermostat is basically the same, no change in operating temps. To drop operating temps to 180* it is a two step deal.

 

You don't HAVE to, but it's a good idea.

 

Hey will the 180 thermo make a difference if my (single ) fan is set to always be on?????????

 

Gr89RS wrote:
Hey will the 180 thermo make a difference if my (single ) fan is set to always be on?????????

You should notice a decrease, due to lower thermostat and fan operation.

 

It will decrease, but will rise if you dont have the airdamn!!
Its crazy I replaced everything in my cooling system went with a bosh high flow pump and the car would ride 30min. on about 180 w/out the airdam. However it would rise when I start driving it over 30mph. So to make the long story short, unless you have the air dam nothing will help.

I was tinking about getting a camaro front for my bird, and lowering the fog lights down so makes the car look lowerd. This would have a small grilles on the bottom enough to get the air to the airdam which I will probably have to trim down since it hit everything.
What do you think about that??

 

yes it is true, you need an air dam to help air flow while driving, that why GM but them under the car. Yes they are a PITA, but I like my car operating in the 170* range. Not sure what you mean by customizing the front end, I have no opinion. Last post from me on this topic.

 

The only thing I could see experimenting with is a scoop under the nose of the car. Basically, create a large air duct that scoops air and forces it thru the radiator. Similar to what Trans Am and GT style race cars use.

 

Hey, bretD do you have any pictures of that. Or any sketches, cuz I was thinking about something like that, were instead of the very bottom bumper(or even lower) you can mount like a big scoop that will direct air right into the radiator, and it should be covered with shrouds so that the air does not escape anywhere. I heard that shrouding the radiator around the fan helps cooling quite a bit sinc the air is forced into the right direction and not all over the place.




P.S. I just want to thank BretD for always helping out. He helped me out quite a bit with cooling q's I had. A good person.
Good luck

 

No pics, but I suppose I could sketch something up in Illustrator when I get a chance. On paper it sounds like it could work.

 

Yeah i already ordered a new air dam and have the thermo in my trunk, i wasnt planning on installing it until i got the air dam anyway, but thanks.

 

Well, I will try to do some work on my front bumper, and if I mess it up I wll just replace it, however I do want to figure out a way to efficient cooling.
TIP: If you want to keep your air dam on, make sure you put all the screws in and have them at least have washers. If any of them are loose go up one size and force them inthere. Its a good idea, since mine was only held by two (strong ) bolts and it sustained a lot of pretty brutal hits. So, now imagine if you had all six of them, no way that it would fall.

Good luck.

 

Okay this thought is a little out there. Why not make your air dam adjustable? Going around town hitting driveways and such, raise it up. Hit the highway and lower it down. It could be mechanical with a pull or electric with a motor of some sort. I just came up with this idea and haven't thought it though completely, so don't shoot me.

 

You guys and your "oh,my air dam hit" stuff cracks me up. I have gotten soooo used to that sound that I don't even notice it anymore, I do notice it when I don't hear it though. Seriously, that air dam is probably more important than the fans are. It should point basically straight down, not toward the radiator. I am still wondering how you tore yours off so fast, This one (newer 3-piece type) has been on for a long time now with no problems. I have a couple extra in the crawl space just in case, but these things are pretty damned stout. If you notice in the pic, there is only about 1.5 or 2 inches of snow on the ground and my air dam acted as a plow when I stepped on the brakes.

 

It is funny to get all emotional about hitting a plastic piece and scraping it on the street. I hit it many times pretty hard, and nothing really happened. However, on my 79 I would hit the end of my exaust sometimes and it sounds the same as the airdam on my 89. So it took me a while to get used to it. I go under and check it once in a while, see how its doing, but its firm on there.
However, it would be really nice if there would be a way for us not to worry about bumps. It might be possible.
Yo GTA-SPD hows your car on snow?? Does it drive good, and does the air dam make any problems with snow???

 

I got this idea about a year ago and never went trhough with it. While driving to FL my IROC started overheating on the highway very badly so I pulled into a rest sto and did some brain storming. Heres what I did and it got me FL with out an overheating issue. I took a piece of curved plastic and tied it under th car like a Giant air scoop to redirect air from under the car directly into the radiator. Not that did fall off bit it was held on by bubble gun and shoe string. Since then I have been trying to find the time to design a similar thing that I can make out of Aluminum or a lightweight steel it would stick down about 1-1.5 inches from the bottom of the ground effects on the nose and run the full length of the nose and force feed all the air through the radiator of the car. that along with the stock openings in the front end should do it for keeping her cool. What do you think about that Idea? worth the effort??

 

i had pretty much the same idea as you had, AnotherfastIROC, but i never got around to it. on the other hand, i just recently jury rigged a ford crown vic shroud and electric fan to fit on the radiator, and i havent had any trouble sense. we just hooked it up to a switch that we ran into the dash so i have full manual control over it, which is pretty handy. actually, the car now runs right above the thermostat, and and the temp rarely moves. just so you know, the fan is a single fourteen inch, and i spent about twenty bucks at a junkyard. (which is a drastic improvement over spending 200+ for twin fans)

 

How's my car on snow??? That picture is taken across the one-way, one-lane street from my house. It took me 20 minutes to get it out of the snow/mud over there and another 45 minutes to get it up the driveway and back in the garage. If that wasn't enough of a sign not to drive it in the snow, I decided one day last winter to drive it to work (actually to the park-n-ride 9 miles from my house). Well the weather guy said that we had a 10% chance for precipitation by 6:00 pm so I thought I would be fine to drive it that one last day before putting it away for the winter. Well at about Noon it started snowing like nobody's buisness and by the time the bus dropped me off at my car there was about 4 inches on it. The roads were mostly clear, just a little snowpack, and a bit slick, but I've driven in far far worse. I got on the road and found, much to my suprise, that I could only go about 15 MPH, and that was the ragged freaking edge of control. That 9 miles took me 45 minutes to make, white knuckled the whole way. By the time I got to my house, I was so tense I could barely stand up. The driveway was again a bitch, but by then I was just happy to have made it. That was the LAST snowflake that my car will ever see, until I sell it. If you have a V8, a posi and Ultra-Performance tires, you may want to find yourself a little beater car for those snow days.

 

is this next one a good idea..

before the air dam is a piece of plastic that covers up the area between the radiator and nose or some small area like that. What about putting some aluminum kinda like a air dam to force air up into the radiator when driving?

 

84 Camaro Z-28 305HO - air dam all torn up, need to order one - who has good source/fair price on new one?? THX, bob y

 

Here's the info from www.gmpartsdirect.com:
GM PART # 12395557
CATEGORY: Radiator Air Deflector/Baffle
PACK QTY: 1
GM LIST: $33.45
OUR PRICE: $19.74

And here's some pics of the TDS skid guard. The guard takes the abuse and prevents the air deflector from snagging when going up and down driveways. You can also see my custom brackets for added support in the second pick.

 

checked with Lon, the air dam guard is still in preproduction stage, not available yet......

 

Lon used my car for prototyping, so I guess I currently have the only guard right now. He may be fine tuning the design before he sells them.

 

i had one made out of alluminum

 

That sounds scarey. Heaven help you if you hit something low...

The front end of my car is held together with zip ties since its taken so many hits in the 170K miles it has travelled. The zip ties are good because when I take another big hit, they just give and break away. I replace them every other week or so.

 

yeah my fan does not kick on anymore unless I make it and without the air dam I would be sol its one of the most important parts of the cooling system, only time my car overheats with the fan not working is in heavy traffic or at a drivin so I run the ac to turn the fan on for now till I either replace the temp sensor or add a fan switch or both I ran just a switch in the 86 trans am because the temp sensor kept breaking so i just ran a manual switch that I had to not forget to turn on, but im always looking at my guages so ive always been ok.

 

I custom made my own 6 years ago on my '86. The old one was bent back, so I just left it there, and bolted and glued some padding stuff I found at the hardware store to the front of the exsisting dam.
Now it scrapes of a little at a time. I spray painted it black.

I used that stuff that a Grand-Ma uses as she bends down in the garden to put her knee on the ground, but she don't want to hurt her arthritic knee. It's like knee-pad material. They sell it it's about 1'' thick, and 6x12'' long. You have to get a real thick material, most of it is too soft.

Anyhow It works great for me. I was on my sixth dam, and It was getting really a drag. Wow!, even a little crack in the middle of the Air-Dam, and the car would overheat.

The Air-Dam's get busted of when a driver pulls into a parking space, and hits the curb, or sidewalk. I don't never let nobody
drive my car on account of this alone.