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front air dam mods for radiator ducting


JIM73240Z

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OK all. I need some opinions.

 

First. I am trying to modify the MSA type 3 air dam for radiator ducting and getting it lower to the ground. As you can see this is a race car and with the motor in i expect it to drop maybey 1" more. Maybe. 350# springs. I have closed off a portion of the bottom so that the opening is 20" wide. the fmic is see in the pics. It will be about 1-2" higher than shown in the pics. I will still have an oil cooler in there somewhere as well as the cold air intake (hopefully). Seeing this should I:

 

A

 

close the bottom part altogether and mod the top.

 

B

 

close the bottom half of the bottom and mod the top

 

C

 

how to mod the top and still allow the hood to open on the hinges and with the ducting. Im not sure on that. Hell, that part may not even be possible with the way the hood swings. What did the rest of you do that did the ducting do?

 

IMG_0001.jpg

 

IMG_0002.jpg

 

IMG_0003.jpg

 

Anything you can come up with, I am all ears.

 

jimbo

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First off. Reinforce the airdam. Bolts along the top will work for mounting but it will rape the fiberglass if you bump something in the garage or whatever. This is what I did.

cimg0080wx2.jpg

 

As far as ducting goes I was thinking about doing like a splash pan thing almost and fabbing some sheet metal, mounting it underneath the inside of the airdam with those brackets and also do the chassis with the brackets. Then something for the sides. The cross member for the radiator mount is a good place to bolt in sheet metal too. I don't think cooling will be a problem though if I'm to be honest...

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Bracing looks good, I did the same thing for my urethane airdam but I bolted it to the original spash pan holes. The type 3 sure looks easy to add on a front "splash pan thing". It has a nice big lip. The urethane airdams have hardly anything to screw in to, same for the top edge.

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It seems that option B would work the best. Close off the bottom half of the lower section then somehow close the sides of the top half. The side top sections would somehow have to be removable so you could open the hood. Unless you get rid of the factory hinges and just use hood pins at all 4 corners.

 

Tom

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The hood opens up away from the car. i am thinking of doing something simialr to preiths car to block off the upper half and fill in the bottom couple of inches of the lower hole. it will have a splitter on it so that will brace the bottom of the air dam.

 

jimbo

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Road course cars that are naturally aspirated seem to cool ok with the bottom blocked off and even with the sides of the top closed in. However, if you are running a turbo and making some decent hp number you will really need to plan and try different ways to seal up the front end. After you add an oil cooler and an intercooler down there, things get real hot very fast, especially in the summer. You will need a good radiator (good = expensive) and some well thought out blocking and directing of the air to keep things cool and provide a good intake supply. I've been playing trial and error with mine for two years and I'm gaining on it but still not there!

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