I obviously have a base model camaro without ground effects. I thought about just putting on a set from another camaro but we've all seen that. It looks good, but it's stock. I would like to know what everyone thinks of them so far. They are not done, this is just to get a rough idea on what I want. Voice your opinions good or bad, but please be tactful. Should I incorporate vents, lights, make it taller or shorter, etc. Let me know what you think. Thanks a lot

Oh yeah, what about the lenses I made?

 

hey man great work! i like the idea my only suggestion would be to make it angle forward more. much like the stock gfx just because i think it works well. try to match the angle that the nose piece goes out and mimic that on the piece you made. if they turn out good are you going to sell them to anyone who wants to or is this just for you?

 

What material are you using? Looks good so far.

 

hmmmm...welll......hmmm.....no....

looks too damn weird to me but hey its your car as long as you like it thats what matters

 

I originally had them angled out similar to stock but it just looked wierd. It was similar to stock but not similar enough if that makes sense. I agree that stock works very well, but I'm trying something different.
Are they for sale? Everything is for sale for the right price right? Um, I'm not sure I would want to make another one unless I had the car here because of fitment issues. My nose might be out of alignment or your fender or something like that for example. I wouldn't want to sell a part unless I could assure the fitment.
The material is house insulation (the 4x8 sheets of styrofoam) for now just to get the shape until I start glassing it.
Please tell me it doesn't look like an import...please

 

Instead of dropping it straight down, maybe try matching the rake of the nose. I think it would look more natural that way.

Good job

 

It looks really nice leave it like that! It does not look nothing like a import , so your ok. Good work man.

 

In the picture it looks like it is going pretty much straight down but it actually angles in at the bottom a little. I think I might angle it in more to flow better but I'm not sure, that's why I'm here.
Of course I am biased, but it does look better in person. Here's another shot, still doesn't show the angles very well but it's another view anyway.

Thanks a lot everybody, keep em coming
Thanks 90tbi305

 

looks good,dont change anything.be sure to post finished pictures

 

That last shot looks sweet! Very aggressive for an SC!

 

I think it looks awesome keep up the work

 

I LOVE IT! good work mang.

 

Looks pretty good. I like the rib down the middle from a functionality perspective, lots of noses like that tend to flap around in the wind, and cast properly that should prevent that without having to make the bottom lip too heavy.

It would look more cohesive if you narrowed the opening down so it matched the diagonals set out by the original opening, like in the attached picture.

If it was me, I’d also flair the bottom of the sides out a little so the nose doesn’t look as tall (aerodynamically this should keep more of the air from going under the car/hitting the front of the wheels). Again, like in the attached picture (I didn’t spend any time on it, so you can tell that I didn’t get the 2 sides the same, but I got the opening pretty good and took out the seams that you can see between the sheets of foam). The way you’ve got it now it reminds me of the ChooChoo customs aero nose that I always thought was a bad execution of a good idea

Lastly, if I was going to go to the effort, I’d probably incorporate a road race style splitter to the bottom edge (I didn’t try to add this to your pic, since that would have required me spending a few minutes on it).

 

Just as I posted that I had another thought… with that center rib, it would probably look better with a radius, and that would also make it stronger/less prone toward cracking.

 

Thanks a lot 83 Crossfire TA. I love the input and especially the pictures. When I actually get some fiberglass on there, the center cutout will flow a lot better with the original opening, I just left it short so it could be built up later. I definately had planned on radiusing the center support some as well.

Here's my big question for everybody...Does 83 Crossfire TA's rendering make it look too much like stock ground effects with the way it flares out on the sides??
I'm definately not saying I don't like it, I really do. Just don't want it to look like I started with stock.

83 Crossfire TA, I am not exactly sure on what you mean by the road race style splitter. I have somewhat of an idea, but not certain. Could you post a pic of one or just do it to mine if you get a minute. Maybe a pic of the ChooChoo customs nose as well if anyone has one.

 

It looks like a flat plate attached to the bottom of the front spoiler. The idea is to keep the air that the front spoiler blocks from having any chance of getting under the car. I can’t seem to find a good pic of one installed but here is one for a BMW, it just bolts to the bottom of the front spoiler:

(of course, being a BMW part it’s just a flat bit of CF that costs $1900)
Sometimes they’re cast into the front spoiler.

I had another idea that would keep the outside contours of the thing fairly similar to the stockish ones, but would make it look completely different, very custom, very trick, but I have a hard time describing it… sorta leaving out the center section. If I get a few minutes I’ll see if I can paint it into your pic.

WRT to the choo choo customs nose, here’s a choo choo monticarlo ss, very square/up and down:

(that should be clickable)

 

Here, this is something like my other idea for the opening that would allow you to keep the stock profile but give the car a completely different look:

 

Huh… you could always do the import thing (I didn’t have the time or the patience to put some expanded metal into that opening):

 

AHHH!!! I thought I knew what I wanted until 83 Crossfire TA came along. All these ideas!!
I have seen a camaro with the center section of the stock ground effects cut out and it looked very aggressive, but if I did that I would probably just start out with stock ground effects. Part of this project is the project itself, sort of testing myself to see if I could actually make my own ground effects. The last one you posted is also aggressive but might look silly without a giant intercooler mounted in there
Is the race splitter sometimes reffered to as a lip? And another stupid question, how far back should the flat section go under my car? In the pic you posted, it looks like it might go to about the oil pan if it's for one like my friends M3.

Any more ideas? I love the input

 

Gotta have one of these if you go with the import idea!

 

Ugh, your original idea was excellent. Its unique, never been done before, and yet it flows with the lines of the car so well it could have been factory.

Go for it!

 

Problem solved!! RSFreaks post is PERFECT, I am going with that. Almost busted my gut laughing so hard.

Nobody has mentioned incorporating lights or vents or anything else. I already have driving lights behind the grill on either side of my plate (hard to see in the pics but they look sweet peeking out of there at night IMO, then they dissapear in the day). I know there are already a lot of holes in my front end as well. I am thinking no on both ideas but would like input on this as well. I like the vents on the Silverado SS, but again, I feel there are too many "holes" in the front of my car.
If it helps, I am also putting in a different set of headlights to get rid of the 4 sealed beams. I will have two, more flush headlights that will accept the newer style bulbs. The four lights is really what dates these cars to me.


Don't stop now guys. In fact, hurry up before I get started with the fiberglass

Geez I write a lot

 

This ford truck really caught my eye as well. I like the little "flares" that come out from the bottom of the front and then round out to the sides. The only problem I can see is that the trucks sides are a lot shorter than mine.

Just the little flare, not the big vents

 

Well, if you're going to stick an intercooler in it it should be poperly sized and mounted like you have a clue

 

and if it's just a grill with fog lights...

 

You know, I tried putting that on it 2 or 3 different ways, but it's just completely the wrong shape and didn't look right (assuming that you keep the profile of the bottom of the stock fenders. If you wanted to change that completely…).

Anyway, I've spent way too much time with this and have gone off in a completely different direction then you started. If you’re seeing something that you like go for it. If you have something specific, if I can get it to work and find a few minutes to do it I’ll try it, but tell me what you want to start with and where you want to go with it.

I’m really starting to like the way the import style one is looking…

 

Damnit, now I know I’ve lost my mind… I just spent close to a half hour playing with these… This is what I got...

Cleaned up import nose (I always hated the camaro logo and the little cutouts):

 

Clean:

 

did u start witha 85 up nose. try it with a 91 up nose and i think that would look sick. id buy one off of you
jon

 

Dodge Camaro (hey Clint!):

 

Late 90's style:

 

'04 3rd gen camaro (AKA Camaro SSR):

 

Great work! Your concept and workmanship is excellent. And some very cool alternative ideas as well. I was first thinking, that instead of a center support for the lower lip, you could use two, breaking it into thirds to mimic the slots in the nose. But I like the center divider. Also think it looks good with or without the flair. Kind of like it without much flair, looks clean and subtle.

The "import" version kind of reminds me of the '70 Z28, with the gaping shark mouth below the line of the headlights.

Ok, here it is with added vents, and possibly slim line headlights. By the way, your original idea looks great, but it's fun to try and come up with ideas. Also, I tried dropping the plate down lower.

 

Playing with the headlights a bit, could be slimline down low, or the lower portion of headlight opening could be blocked off, to create Trans Am style slits. Anyway, I think Camaro lights look great. I'm just messing around. Come to think of it, I just made a big Geo Storm. Although I was thinking of using different lights, like the slim ones on some older Pontiacs and Olds's.-- even a flush mount light "bar."

Anyways, your ground effects look cool, keep up the good work!

 

Glad you liked it!

As far as mounting the intercooler like I got a clue; I don't!

 

heh Poncho, I don't think I like the headlight covers, but it does remind me of a ferrari daytona spyder.

The extra cutouts on the side sorta hide the funny angle on the sides as well as somewhat hide the middle cutout being too big. Nice idea, you inspired me… one more…

Here’s a Mustang version (looks like the ’03 mustang nose) with a chevy bowtie.

 

Good job, Crossfire. You have a good design sense, and good ideas. That looks pretty clean there. Where would you put the licence plate though? I live in CA, so you have to have one on the front of your car. Looks much cleaner without the plate, and I think some states don't require it. Maybe Missouri doesn't need one. Can't decide if I like bowtie, or no bowtie. A bit meaner without it, but it does add something--Chevy Power! Also, you could still have the central support member, but at the back of the central opening, and paint it black, have a few for that matter. Wouldn't see it, and the lower lip would be supported more.

What I like about the large opening in the new air dam, is that some air is still allowed in to cool the radiator--blocking the front too much would cancel the Third Gen "bottom breathing effect," I would think. I have a Bird, so I don't know, maybe the Maro takes in enough air from the front. What about GFX for the rest of the car? Diffuser for the back end? Exhaust outlets or ZO6 style brake cooling ducts on the sides? We need to get to work here!

 

In MD you’re required to have them also, it is actually a ticketable offence, but _a lot_ of people don’t run them. I usually keep the plate and a mangled bracket under the passenger seat and tell the cop that someone messed it up in a parking lot and I haven’t put it back on, keeps the fixit tickets down. Since fix it tickets don’t cost anything I’d probably just rig the thing to fit in the big opening on the grill (maybe a bracket interchangeable with the bowtie) and put it on whenever I get a fixit ticket to get it looked at, signed and then send it in and pull it off. We’ve also done similar things for magazine stuff, (you know, for some shoots they want you to have a magazine logo plate on the car) with the plate attached to a piece of thin plastic that tucks in (sometimes zip ties from the back). In MD you can also sometimes get away with just leaving the front plate in the windshield, and in some places it just has to be forward facing and visible from a specific distance, so people attach them to the front air dam under the bumper (which is technically legal).

If you INSISTED on putting one on the nose, I’d either put it roughly where you did, or maybe on one side or the other down low…

I tried it both ways and actually thought it looked a little meaner with it. I just tooke the “late 90’s style” one and modified it with the extra openings like you had (made them a little bigger), so it was natural to just leave it. I also thought that removing it and putting the grill pattern trough it actually made it look more busy then it did without it, it sorta gave a focal point to draw your eye to. The other thing was that without it, that nose absolutely SCREAMED Ford (kinda like the dodge one, but that one just looked wrong with a chevy logo on it).

Again, I’d run some sort of muted grill pattern in there, and either used that for support or just ran the support behind it, you’ll never see it.

from what I understand the Camaro gets TOO MUCH air from the front for use at high speeds. I haven’t experimented with it myself since I’ve owned 3 firebirds/TA’s and no camaros.

I’ve actually thought about it, but my ideas were more muted. The reason I though about it is that I need to find a new shell to put my drivetrain/interior in and I’m seriously considering getting a Camaro since it’s lighter and simpler then a firebird.

Here’s a thread that I posted on another board with a link to a web page that I made with ideas

 

Hey Crossfire. Good points. I've got a 91 Bird, with the plate on the front. Think it actually looks better with the plate--a focal point as you said, and looks kind of Vette like. Cool GFX ideas on the other thread. Would write more, but I'm in the middle of moving. Why do you want to swap to another car, rust? I've always liked the Camaros, used to have a hot rodded '73. Was looking for one when I found my Bird, and I now like the Birds as well. Hot Rod magazine listed third gens as "affordable supercars," a couple of months ago. Couldn't agree more. What mag do you work for? I have to clean my oven now...

 

one of ya'll shave the marker lights and see what it looks like.. i remeber someone did it a while back and look good to me.. just my 2 cents.. by the way, good work

 

ok i meant turn signals and here's a link to some pictures of error404's car with shaved turn signals

Edit: might help if i put the link in
shaved turn signals

 

heh, I always liked vettes without them, or with the little insert in the place of the plate holder (depending on the year). The problem is that a plate is really too big to be the accent that any of those need (well, maybe in the big import style opening, mounted down low).

Well, when I bought it it was an Indiana car that was parked half way under a deck, half way under some pine trees for 6 years. Some bits and pieces from the top are messed up, but the really bad part is that the driver’s side rocker is rotted out from the back (has about a 6” long hole in it). Someone also tried jacking the car using a shop jack by the factory jack points at the bottom of the fenders, crushing them and leaving them to rot away.

I bought the car as a parts car for the ’83, but one of my neighbors plowed into the ’83 it 3x in a row (while it was parked in front of the house), so I moved it over to my brother’s house where a 6’ in diameter oak fell on it during Isabel, making the parts car the driver.

At that point I was debating fixing everything that was wrong with it (taking the direct approach with some of the structural stuff with heavy reinforcing plates and a roll bar), when someone hit it while I was sitting in a parking lot exit and basically tore all the structure off in front of the radiator and bent the passenger side frame rail (normally it would be possible to pull straight on a frame machine, but with the rot in the structure further back it would just rip the car apart).

The end result, the thing became somewhat of a test mule for other parts (the drivetrain only had about 70K miles on it) until I got around to swapping the good stuff out of it into something new.

Huh, why do you ask?

 

Well, I didn't know which one you wanted without markers so I made a new one

 

Just like the one he linked to, I think the shaved turn signals make the grill opening look too small.

 

Yea, I don't like it without the front turn signals either. It looks too plain and gives a real feeling of wasted space… OTOH, I hate the markers used on the side fenders and on the rear quarters on the ‘birds. On my ’83 TA I ended up cutting the frames used on the back markers apart, bonding them to the quarter and molding them out completely. Then I took and installed the markers and block sanded them so they exactly matched the contour of the fenders (and got rid of the DOT markings…), polished them up…. If I thought that I could get away with it I’d get rid of them all together and weld the holes shut. I keep debating if I like the smaller side markers that the euro cars use just in front of the doors, that might be an option if I was getting rid of the stock ones.

 

eh it was another idea though.. but it does look to plain and the opening looks small.. but to me some of the other pics look a little "busy" to me...

 

Yep, like the turn signals, although without is interesting. Hey Crossfire, as for what mag you work for, just making conversation.

I don't mind the stock side markers on my Bird, plus they let people know I'm turning. I have a 91 with Weld style mags and cobalt blue paint, wouldn't change a thing on it. Well, I might take off the front plate, if it weren't for annoying rock chips. The old nose cone could use some touching up.

As for the latest photoshop, yeah a little too plain without the turn signals. Other than that, looking good.

 

I’m curious what it was that gave you that impression.

I don’t work for a mag, but would love to…

 

Somebody mentioned a 2nd-gen style (1970-1972) grille, the "gaping shark" mouth. Well, that big hole kind of reminded me of that too, and I personally like how that grille looked, so...

 

And somebody mentioned the license plate, so here's one with that. (Pardon the lamer sp33k, it was the only license plate image I had handy )