Camaroguy19

If im missing my air dam and my engine only runs hot once its beeen driving for about 20 mins if i install a new dam will that solve the problem?

3rdgenmaro

iTrader: (9)

cant say if it will solve it or not. But it can only help. Way too many other things to consider. But an air dam would benefit the system.

camaronewbie

Air dam serves to cool at higher speeds where the fan becomes useless - if it's overheating in stop & go city driving, you have another issue.

Happy Fun Me

You need the air dam either way, so might as well put one on and see how it does.

I H8 WWD

iTrader: (5)

Just bought a new one from Hawks. I agree with the above, that it is needed either way for highway speeds and can help some at lower speeds. If it's getting hot at high speeds, probably the cause of no air dam. If it's hot only when you idle or sit still, then its probably something else.

Getting new SS bolts, nylon nuts and washers for the new Air Dam. It's all coming together now.

Camaroguy19

yea only over heats at high speeds that must be it

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

Do you have good coolant // antifreeze? If you have electric fan(s), is it (they) working?

I put 1 on this evening. Didn't have 1 when I bought the Camaro!! Before I found TGO, I never would have known there should be 1!!
It definitely wouldn't hurt anything to put 1 on.

I don't have any previous temp reading--gauge never worked, so I have nothing to compare. However, after reading about people putting 1 on, it seems to be a big help!!! Tomorrow, a temp gauge will be installed!!

58mark

iTrader: (3)

my car doesn't have an air dam, and it runs great at highway speeds.. I wonder why?

I understand pontiacs are more likely to have this problem, but I hear conflicting reports on the usefulness of them on camaros

JamesC

iTrader: (5)

If a damn is missing throw one on--it's there for a reason.

JamesC

Camaroguy19

i have a fan and working radiator and plenty of coolant its got to be the dam

I H8 WWD

iTrader: (5)

I was having a back and forth with myself about this.

I removed my fog lights, my condenser, and plan to customize my front grill so I can remove the center section for straight ram air for the radiator. With this being done I believe I may be able to remove the air dam or shorten it to keep from scraping when I lower the car 2" front and back without problems.

This is something I will be testing and tuning myself once the car is going and I can see what my idle and high speed temps average out to.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

i'm also wondering if maybe the lack of problems has anything to do with the fact that I have a stock v6. maybe the v8's run a little hotter

tyrvidar

I lost my air dam on the highway one day, I must have caught the front end up on something... ripped right off, runs a little warmer than i'd like. 5.7 tpi, guess I'll hit the yards for one or make my own.

Any guides to a do it yourself dam?

Mark in Maine

Yah, my 'vert came without an air deflector down there. I bought one from someone on here in classifieds, spent a few minutes under the car with bolts, washers and a ratchet last weekend, and my overheating problem is gone - it solved the problem on my car, anyway.

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

See if this helps--

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/cool...their-own.html

post # 19 shows pics. Read the entire thread for some info!!

58mark

iTrader: (3)

update to amend my previous comments

AS the temp climbed here in Texas so did my temp guage. Last week I was running on the highway at 240, not that far far away from the redline. I bit the bullet and drove out to a guy's house that had an air dam he would sell me.

Right away my temps dropped 100 degrees.. On the highway, 97 degrees outside, with AC going, I ran 140 degrees for 6 hours worth of driving on the highway yesterday.

It's amazing that little $15 piece of plastic could do so much. Incredible...

the solitaire

DIY airdam

Get a steel profile, like the one in the picture (should be $3 or 4), a few screws and shims and hardfoam

Give the profile a slightly flatter angle, then fit the hardfoam



angle



[img]https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y96/the_solitaire/MCR_0042.jpg[img]

airdam under the car



I made the airdam 4" tall because I have some clearance issues driving onto my parkinglot. When using the same angle, you could make the airdam 5" tall for better cooling and still have the same clearance as the car with stock airdam.

I tried fibreglass to no great succes. Too fragile, breas off under speed.

Driving with and without airdam does indeed make an approximate 100 degree difference, also at lower speeds, as long as you do not manually switch on your e-fan

PS: I´m working on the rust you see on the picture. Just cleaned and painted most of the undercarriage with a wirebrush (8 hours of work) last week.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

i like that hard foam idea... incase you hit something it wouldn't bash in your radiator frame.

I'm wondering if it's storng enough to hold up long term to driving at 80MPH. I would hate to see it snap off and you be without one on a long trip

the solitaire

It didn´t mind 100 mph either. I live 6 miles away from an autobahn entrance. Will be able to try 130 mph as well, to see if the dam holds. So far I do not see a reason why it shouldn´t.

I guess it will flex a bit under high speeds, but so far it cools just fine.

It is possible to bend the dam a bit when applying enough pressure, and if hit at high speed a part will break off, but will not damage anything or be as dangerous as a broken off metal dam.

With the material available at every DIY store I already prepared 3 complete replacement dams for in total $15 (had to buy a bigger sheet of hardfoam anyways to cut this one from)

I had a look for the specs on the hardfoam stuff and it appears to not mind temperatures up to 160° or short time temperature rises of up to 210°

oh, another nice feature of the hard foam is that if you hit a rock only a part will break, or the airdam is cracked. It will not break at the mounting points right away. If I find out that it flexes too much I´l get a stronger sheet of the same material. I´m currently using 3mm strong foam. 4mm should already be significantly stronger in case of doubt.

TorqueWolf

You might want to consider larger washers and a slight bend on your design. even a small crease in the middle with a 10 degree V shape makes a flat peice tremensously more rigid and stronger. Try the washers you are useing but you may have to give the foam a larger area to clamp to or it may wind up tearing at the bolts after prolonged buffeting.

the solitaire

That (the washers) is something I did consider.
I did not have larger washers at hand at the time I built the piece, and it seems to hold up fine with these small washers.

If the foam does break around the washers (and it will because this foam is known to age after a while) I will replace the whole foam piece and use larger washers indeed. At the time this is mainly an experiment, wish to see how things work out this way.

The 10° bend is something I did consider, but the dam is not welded in the centre. It actually is just taped up in the centre, made up of 2x 9" x 4" pieces of foam.

86Stevo

i no this is an old thread but today i made my own and what i actually did its a cheap way and seems pretty dam sturdy also i got 2 cookie sheets (non stick to keep the bugs off haha)

cut the centers out so i have the flat peace of the sheet

folded it up and beat the edges with a rubber mallet and had a lip at the top to screw it into my radiator support

you cant see it from the front and it still made a huge differance

i went from running 220 to 195 the hottest mostly stays around 185 190 now and its on the short side also

oh yea cost me 14$ because i got non stick! ha plus i sprayed them black also cant notice they are there

camarosrock1989

iTrader: (1)

I know this is a old thread, I am looking to buy a airdam, Does anyone have one for sale? Please pm me if you do. Thanks

the solitaire

this is cool to see. I made the first version of my cheap-*** DIY airdam over a year ago. It lasted the full year, including the low winter temperatures, the car did not overheat, and I replaced it with a bigger one about 2 months ago.

It also held up to speeds above 130 mph, and for longer periods of time.

I need to make a decent backing plate for the bigger airdam, which will be no problem now I have access to welding equipment.

I had one of the bigger dams disintegrate on me when I hit a speedbump. Lost about 2/3rds of the material. The remainder was enough to get me home cool, but I had to manually switch on the fan.

As to where to get a new airdam, again, try Hawks thirdgen.

If you are looking for a used one, try a boneyard. I think there will be some other 80's vehicles with airdams, but the boltholes will not line up. If you find one with some additional material to drill into, you might be able to pick one up for $10 or $15.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

here's one brand new
http://www.moderndaymuscle.com/inc/sdetail/163/793