Last week I installed fog lights in my grill air intakes, just like the OEM's. I quickly noticed my "around town" water temp was 10 to 15 deg higher than before. After reading some of the "Cooling" threads, I decided that I needed to install an air dam. Mine was gone since I bought the car. I decided against just buying a replacement as the experience of others suggested that they break off frequently. I decided to make one myself and here is how I did it.

For structure to mount my air dam, I purchased a piece of 2x2x1/8 x 36" long aluminum angle and 1-1/2x1/8 x 36" long aluminum flat bar from my local hardware store. I drilled one leg of the angle to match the (6x) mounting holes under the radiator core support. I also had to notch out the center section to clear a raised bump in the core support. This was accomplished by hack sawing two lines at the correct width and then drilling a row of small holes between the ends of those cuts. A little wiggling with pliers and the tab broke off to produce the clearance notch in the aluminum angle.

The flat bar is used as a full length clamping strap for the air dam sheet. This prevents wrinkles or puckers in the air dam. The flat bar and other leg of the angle are match drilled for (5x) 1/4-20 x 1" long through bolts.

For the air dam, I used a 1/4" sheet of outdoor rubber 6" x 36" in size. This is available online at McMaster Carr Supply, p/n 8990K56 for $27.58 or you can use any flexible material you want to try. I trimmed a radius into each lower corner for a "finished" look. I decided that I wanted 3" of dam below the aluminum structure. With the 6" wide rubber sheet, I can drop this another 1-1/2" if I need more cooling. I used the flat bar as a template and I located it 3" up from the bottom to drill the (5x) 1/4" holes thru the rubber. Bolted everything up and it turned out great. It took me 2-1/2 hours from start to finish with only a hack saw and a cordless drill.

 

Nice!

 

That Looks Pretty Good.

 

Its to short-

 

I made one from a strip of rubber conveyer belting,it's more scoop than dam but it keeps cool and bends over when you bump it.

 

looks like a cool cheapish idea i need one as well nice idea

 

It looks great and would be perfect for a DD. I would not want it any lower and the way its scooped I'm sure helps. What is it made of/from ?

 

Looks really good.. like it came from the factory.. Stone

 

Thanks, re-read my 1st post to see how it is made.

 

Daaaaa,
I'm not as dumb as I sounded asking how it was made. I just looked at the photos and then scrolled down missing the hole thing.Its been a crazy day .
Again nice job.

 

It doesn't get hot enough in washington for him to need a fullsize airdam.

 

Yea, yesterday after I got done with installing the air dam, I took it out for a test drive and it was barely 65 deg. Later it got into the low 80's. I can still lower it an additional 1-1/2". I wanted to keep the ground clearance as high as possible, with improved cooling, so I'll work my way lower if I need to.

 

You did a great job rockstar, I plan to start my project tomorrow. I hope it comes out as good as yours.. Stone

 

Thanks, Stone. Good luck with your project!