Yorgee Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 After seeing Big Daves' pictures of my car on the street, I never realized how weak my front air dam was. It's all bent from the wind and it looks nasty. So I bought a long piece of aluminum and decided to fabricate some brackets to support the air dam from getting all distorted. Thanks again for taking the great pics Dave, I would have never known my air dam was all messed up if it wasn't for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_82_ZXT Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Thats a unique approach to it! I'm going to cut some aluminum sheet and rivet it onto the bottom lip, then do a similar piece on the top part to start sealing of the air and directing it to my IC. Mario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 I havent had any issues like that.. weird. Mario I ran a piece of metal just like you mentioned!! did it last week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfly Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 I have an aluminum piece very similar to that on mine but it is only one and in the center. With mine I put a bend in the aluminum so that if I hit something fairly solid (like a concrete curb) it will bend the aluminum rather than ripping a hole in my air dam. In my opinion certian things should have a weak point made into them, think of it as a crumple zone for your air dam. Dragonfly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e_racer1999 Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 I have an aluminum piece very similar to that on mine but it is only one and in the center. With mine I put a bend in the aluminum so that if I hit something fairly solid (like a concrete curb) it will bend the aluminum rather than ripping a hole in my air dam. In my opinion certian things should have a weak point made into them, think of it as a crumple zone for your air dam. Dragonfly very good points!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David K Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Thats more metal than i have under my fiberglass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgee Posted May 30, 2007 Author Share Posted May 30, 2007 I hit something fairly solid (like a concrete curb) it will bend the aluminum rather than ripping a hole in my air dam. In my opinion certian things should have a weak point made into them, think of it as a crumple zone for your air dam. Dragonfly Good point Dragonfly. The way I angled the brackets, it's not completely horizontal, it's at an angle. If I were to hit a curb, which I've done before and hope to not do again, I'm sure the way I have it set up, the aluminum would be the one bending down with the air dam and there for make it very hard to puncture a hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZR8ED Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 I agree with making sure it is not too solid. I laid a thin strip of aluminum to the backside of the air dam, and attached thin aluminum L brackets and attached this belly pan. It is attached in I think 7 points, is easily removable, and the airdam doesn't fold under. It will give If I ever hit something hard enough. I also gained better aero downforce. You also get a side bonus of better cooling through the rad. Sustained speeds in excess of 120mph for 15 min, and the temps stayed dead on normal. The downforce allowed me to stick my arm out the window at 135mph and give a thumbs up as I accerated past a Ferrari 308 gts...but I degress that is another story from my past. The car was rock solid in handling. Back to the here and now of this topic. IF your going to do this mod to your air dam to keep it from folding under the car, why not go the extra effort and do a pan? The alumium, screws and pop rivits were under 75$ http://album.hybridz.org/data/500/bellypan.JPG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgee Posted May 30, 2007 Author Share Posted May 30, 2007 That's exactly what I was thinking about doing Zr8ed, but the guy at the metal shop told me that a piece of aluminum was going to run me around 200 bucks?!? So I just decided to try something a little less expensive. He was probably thinking I wanted a thicker gauge sheet but like you said, you only need a pretty thin one enough to hold the air dam forward once it's secure. It would have to be around 5 feet wide and by the looks of your picture maybe 2 1/2 feet to read the cross member right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedgato Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 I had an aluminum piece on my old '72 that closed the air dam underneath all the way to the crossmember. I had it stick out about 1/4 inch on the side of the air dam and gradually increase out to about an inch in the front. I had it riveted to the front of the air dam with a strip of aluminum inside to "sandwich" the urethane to help it structurally. It is painted black to match the air dam, might be hard to see................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 I have a metal yard/fabrication shop near me that has bins full of scrap aluminum and stainless they sell for $2 a pound. I'll bet I can recreate ZR8ED's pan for $25 Got me thinking now..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 240hoke has a very similar setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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