[Hotwire]

Anyone know of designs or any manufacturer producing air dams for 1st gen a-bodies?

Never really liked the way the nose of the car is so high compared to the body, looking for something to even out the look that hopefully would be functional too. Considering trying to fab something up myself but was checking to see if anything was available vs reinventing the wheel.

Can feel the nose lift on the higher end of the speedo, want to cut some of the air getting under the car.

 

[senna]

The only one I know of.

64-65 Chevelle | spoilersbyrandy

www.spoilersbyrandy.com

Sent from my SM-T720 using Tapatalk

 

[SFD]

Looks great as she sits. 👍

 

[cage2592]

As mentioned above. Spoilers By Randy

Will be long but my thoughts and experiences and how far you're willing to go.

Obviously different front end but I had the same issue with my 70. I drive a lot of interstate (50mi round trip) to and from work a few times a week. First I did the 1968 Camaro chin spoiler thing as I had one laying around from the resto on my wifes 68 Camaro. I won't discuss speed particulars as the online speed police would throw a tantrum. My front float was significant in a full weighted Chevelle. I liked the Camaro one for downforce and cooling. The latter because the 68 Camaro chin spoiler center is behind the bumper about 3" not meeting the full shape under the front bumper. So it grabs air from under the bumper in the center and throws it up into the radiator. The ends of the spoiler meet up with the bumper. To keep the air from rolling past the top of the radiator creating more lift, I installed a RAD support cover. Now I get max air through the radiator.

I'm working on one now out of aluminum that is exactly what I want with several horizontal slits along where it meets the bottom bumper for airflow but provides good downforce and is a little wider but not to the end of the bumper.

I haven't seen one of Randy's in person but they look nice. If you make your own you'll need supports in the back to prevent warping or folding back at high speeds.

Other things to consider is my car is lowered as much as possible with Viking coil-overs, aftermarket steering gearbox and pump, and my toe and camber are adjusted for high speed stability. Just this has gotten me easy to where I want to be. Don't forget proper rated tires.

After that the other options in no order that I have NOT done : Close off some of the area behind the grill as much as possible. Install an eng. comp. belly pan or a half one from behind the rear of the control arms beyond the firewall (closing out the bottom firewall slant that moves hot air out of the eng. comp. to under car). Cut and fab the top of the rad support and lean the radiator back. Install hood vents in the rear 1/3 of your hood. Of course some of these will create issues of eng. comp. heat but can be overcome with now fitting a larger radiator and hood vents for flow. Also you will need a carb hat with plumbing (I'm doing this now as well) or other means to induce cool flowing air into the top of the carb as high speed air will be flowing over the carb and not into.

Mike

 

[Hotwire]

The only one I know of.

64-65 Chevelle | spoilersbyrandy

www.spoilersbyrandy.com

Sent from my SM-T720 using Tapatalk

Thank you, had seen those in a quick google search. I like that style on f-bodies, but on a 64 it doesn't work. Almost like the car's fly is open or something..

Looks great as she sits. 👍

I agree. Whatever I do/try will be reversible back to stock, just want to play around and see if I can make the car better and possibly improve it's looks/handling.

As mentioned above. Spoilers By Randy

Will be long but my thoughts and experiences and how far you're willing to go.

Obviously different front end but I had the same issue with my 70. I drive a lot of interstate (50mi round trip) to and from work a few times a week. First I did the 1968 Camaro chin spoiler thing as I had one laying around from the resto on my wifes 68 Camaro. I won't discuss speed particulars as the online speed police would throw a tantrum. My front float was significant in a full weighted Chevelle. I liked the Camaro one for downforce and cooling. The latter because the 68 Camaro chin spoiler center is behind the bumper about 3" not meeting the full shape under the front bumper. So it grabs air from under the bumper in the center and throws it up into the radiator. The ends of the spoiler meet up with the bumper. To keep the air from rolling past the top of the radiator creating more lift, I installed a RAD support cover. Now I get max air through the radiator.

I'm working on one now out of aluminum that is exactly what I want with several horizontal slits along where it meets the bottom bumper for airflow but provides good downforce and is a little wider but not to the end of the bumper.

I haven't seen one of Randy's in person but they look nice. If you make your own you'll need supports in the back to prevent warping or folding back at high speeds.

Other things to consider is my car is lowered as much as possible with Viking coil-overs, aftermarket steering gearbox and pump, and my toe and camber are adjusted for high speed stability. Just this has gotten me easy to where I want to be. Don't forget proper rated tires.

After that the other options in no order that I have NOT done : Close off some of the area behind the grill as much as possible. Install an eng. comp. belly pan or a half one from behind the rear of the control arms beyond the firewall (closing out the bottom firewall slant that moves hot air out of the eng. comp. to under car). Cut and fab the top of the rad support and lean the radiator back. Install hood vents in the rear 1/3 of your hood. Of course some of these will create issues of eng. comp. heat but can be overcome with now fitting a larger radiator and hood vents for flow. Also you will need a carb hat with plumbing (I'm doing this now as well) or other means to induce cool flowing air into the top of the carb as high speed air will be flowing over the carb and not into.

Mike

Thanks Mike, appreciate the time you took to put that together. I too have a 70mph bypass I take to work but not as long a drive as you.

My car is lowered, tubular front/rear suspension/adjustable, 8 degrees of caster, 0.5 negative camber, 1/16" toe in, tall upper and lower ball joints to correct geometry/bump steer, quick ratio steering box out of S10 (ZQ8 rpo code), 2000 Z28 brakes, W rated tires, 1 5/16" sway bar, etc..

Doubt I'll ever go full aero, just looking for something I can do over the winter to possibly help the car become more efficient going through the air.

 

[cage2592]

Yes Sir. Sounds like you're already set as well as can be.

PM Sent.

Mike

 

[senna]

Thank you, had seen those in a quick google search. I like that style on f-bodies, but on a 64 it doesn't work. Almost like the car's fly is open or something..



I agree, never been sold on his design for the 66/67 either. But I I did just look again and he has a "Pro Touring" design now for the 66/67, better but still not great.
My idea was to get some template paper and mock one up, probably get frustrated and buy Randy's Pro Touring design.

I'm not a big fan of some of the ones that ( I think ) are way over the top.

 

[cage2592]

Senna, I agree. Those larger ones are on the serious side. You're gonna have to go pretty deep down the aero hole to make use of them on a 55yr old flat nosed brick. Proper suspension setups and a small spoiler will get you as fast as you want to go in these cars.

Mike

 

[Hotwire]

I feel ya Senna, probably headed down the same rabbit hole.

Daughter just did move out and I have a stupid amount of cardboard boxes at my disposal, just need to get my butt in the garage and put work in.

I really like this guy's thinking, take something available and mod it to fit your needs, pretty much what I've done with every piece on this car so far..

Home made splitter project begins!

So this is my attempt at a home made splitter / spoiler. I purchased a plastic lower air dam from a late 90's GM application. I then won on Ebay a front splitter used from a NASCAR application. The Splitter https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/04/fu9tvb-1.jpg The air dam was...

www.pro-touring.com

Might head to the pull a part this weekend with tools and a tape measure. 😁

 

[cage2592]

Jeff, they have a few good ones over on that site. There's also one from a older (Gen?) Mustang that turned out very nice as well.

Mike

 

[Hotwire]

Trust me, I've been looking/googling.

 

[67_LS1]

Man oh man, good to see someone else trying to figure this out. I’ll share what I’ve seen and tried and then when you perfect it, I’ll copy you.😁
The first pick is Ken Blocks 66. The spoiler is from a early 90’s Tahoe and mounted upside down. It has external supports and looks cool but a little to much for the street IMO.
Because the spoiler was dirt cheap to buy I thought I’d try it and see if I could make it less racy looking.
The next pick is the spoiler clamped in place below the bumper of my 66. I also mounted it upside down but even without the external braces it was to aggressive a look for me. I’m looking to hide some of the suspension and make the front look lower, not road race.
So then I held it right side up and thought, hmm, maybe this would work. This is the 3rd pic.
But because the original top, (the bottom on Ken’s car) is longer then the bottom (the top on Ken’s car) it was too long for the Chevelle bumper.
So I cut the spoiler in half and took a piece out of the center to get the length to match the bumper. I put it back together with an aluminum strip front and back. See pic 4.
Then to try to get the shape a little closer to the Chevelle bumper, I build a wooden jig to fit the bottom of the bumper and used a heat cup to try to reshape the corners a little. See pic 5.

 

[67_LS1]

I still thought it was a little too aggressive looking but I thought maybe I just need to move it back off the bumper some. Maybe a little less “proud”.
So started to mock up a “skin” under the bumper going back to the frame. This is out of cardboard but I thought if I could get a solid pan in the there I could narrow up the spoiler a little more, move it back a few inches behind the bumper and make it look less like an add-on. This as far as I got. It all got set aside in favor of things that really needed to be addressed.
I’ll get back to it someday hopefully.

 

[Rich-L79]

The Spoilers by Randy spoilers would look a whole lot better if they were wider and ended more out by the ends of the bumpers.

 

[67_LS1]

The Spoilers by Randy spoilers would look a whole lot better if they were wider and ended more out by the ends of the bumpers.

Agreed. There has to be a happy medium between Randys, which are in some cases almost invisible and the air dam on Ken Blocks car.

 

[Hotwire]

Agreed. There has to be a happy medium between Randys, which are in some cases almost invisible and the air dam on Ken Blocks car.

Man you were on a roll with yours! Like how you sectioned the corners and used the wood blocking to help shape it. I've been working on honey do list lately, hopefully will be back on this soon.

 

[cage2592]

Dang. You guys are gonna make me step-up up my game as well. 67_LS1, If maximizing aero, what are you gonna do with the bumper holes? Vent them somewhere or close them off? Like the under plate as well. Any other plans to fully use the spoier?

Mike

 

[67_LS1]

Dang. You guys are gonna make me step-up up my game as well. 67_LS1, If maximizing aero, what are you gonna do with the bumper holes? Vent them somewhere or close them off? Like the under plate as well. Any other plans to fully use the spoier?

Mike

I’m not sure I’m “maximizing” the aero. These cars are kinda bricks anyway.
I guess every little bit helps but mainly I want to minimize the visibility of the undercarriage. The cardboard template may become a panel but if so only to have a surface to mount the air dam too back a little from the leading edge of the bumper.
In an update since I did all this a few months ago, I pulled out of the parking lot at my shop and my front sway bar SCRAPPED ON THE GROUND! You can see the scrap in the upper left of this pic just below the Hotchkis sticker.
Which at the time told me a front air dam would not be long for this world on my car.
I’m finishing up a couple projects now; enlarging the driveshaft tunnel front to rear and adding tall upper ball joints. Once I’m done with these, I’ll start playing around with the air dam project again.

 

[67_LS1]

I finally finished my air dam some flat mounting plates that go behind the bumper and to the lower edge of the front fender. This allowed me to mount the air dam back farther on the sides and all the way forward in the center.

I painted them black before putting them in.

I was wondering if it would look better black or white to match the car so I painted it with peeling paint. I can get it off pretty easy. What do you think, black to disappear or white like a valance?

 

[Jeff65SS]

Any finished pictures you can share?