94/95 front air dam - options?

Pablo94SC

Pablo94SC

Registered User
I'm redoing the front air dam on my '94 since I kept scraping the aluminum one I fabbed up going in/out of sharp angled driveways. :rolleyes: The Dalkemeister mentioned to me that someone installed a Saturn front air dam with good results but I can't find it after numerous searches here. Anyone got a link?

Anyone do anything different with good results and possibly have some pictures? I found a lot of good posts for the early models, especially the Grand Am air dam (which apparently doesn't work well on the 94/95), but nothing late model specific.

Thanks!
 
Gm

I am using a front air dam from a 99 Pontiac Grand-Am for my 95 SC which has been lowered 1 1/2 inches also. Bought for about 11 Dollars on Rock Auto or something. Works very well and is flexible enough to handle driveways and the occasional curb. Mine has been on for about 2 years now and is still hanging tough. looks nice and curves a little to help with air inlet to the Radiator and Condenser.

Smitty
 
About how tall is the 99 Pontiac air dam? Or better yet, is there a pic somewhere of your car with it? I think the stock late model sc is only a couple inches.

Thanks
Bob
 
Quik95SC said:
I am using a front air dam from a 99 Pontiac Grand-Am for my 95 SC which has been lowered 1 1/2 inches also. Bought for about 11 Dollars on Rock Auto or something. Works very well and is flexible enough to handle driveways and the occasional curb. Mine has been on for about 2 years now and is still hanging tough. looks nice and curves a little to help with air inlet to the Radiator and Condenser.

Smitty
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How far back did you mount it? Better yet, think you can pop under there and take a couple pics from different angles and post them up? My old spoiler was mounted right behind the lip of the chin diffuser. I'm wondering if mounting it farther back would be a better option, as well as angled forward like this / to maybe help catch more air.


The Ranger front air damn doesn't look like it'd be a good option for our cars. The trailing edges would most likely make the spoiler too rigid for those occasions when scraping is impossible to avoid. I don't want to rip my diffuser off of the bumper cover!
 
MartianBob said:
About how tall is the 99 Pontiac air dam? Or better yet, is there a pic somewhere of your car with it? I think the stock late model sc is only a couple inches.

Thanks
Bob
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I have the GM piece here (p/n 22635885) ready to go on my car. It's almost exactly 3" high.

Dave
 
Pablo94SC said:
How far back did you mount it? Better yet, think you can pop under there and take a couple pics from different angles and post them up? My old spoiler was mounted right behind the lip of the chin diffuser. I'm wondering if mounting it farther back would be a better option, as well as angled forward like this / to maybe help catch more air.
Click to expand...

It is not designed to catch air. It forces air around it creating a low pressure area behind it, helping to pull air through the radiator and down under the car. At least that is the purpose of the stock one.
 
Mike, based on your information would you say mounting it farther forward or aft would provide better results?
 
Thanks Mike. I'll pop under there and see where a good mounting point would be. Any thoughts on mounting one fore to push air into the opening and one aft for creating the low pressure area? I've seen similar setups before and with your info, it makes sense now why they did it.
 
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I would assume placement consideration should take into account if you still have the stock "rubber matting" that shields the area below and just to the rear of the radiator from the area directly to the rear of the radiator itself. The "rubber mat" is attached to the subframe crossbar for the K Member if memory serves.
 
The mat that Duffy mentioned can be seen in this image, along with the chin spoiler...you can see where the trailing edge of the mat goes up and over the sway bar, top right of the photo.

Both pieces work together, along with side panels on the radiator. I would work to make sure all these are in place, along with an unblocked flow thru the radiator core and not get creative with adding more, etc.

attachment.php
 
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KMT,

What panels are you specifically talking about? The 94/95 models only had a panel in front of the radiator support on the PS. I have since added the header panel and DS one from an early model (extra PS used below), but in the process had to remove my washer fluid reservoir (it blocked the IC anyway). Now the trick is to find a suitable replacement and mounting location. :confused:

The condensor had two side panels. The DS one works well, but the PS one sits at an angle that tapers towards the radiator and blocks a small vertical strip about 3/4" from the outside edge. If I adjust it to sit on the outside edge of the radiator, the panel would rip from its mounts on the condensor. :rolleyes:

The remaining air gaps around the radiator and my dbl IC were sealed off as best as possible using automotive grade weatherstrip and sections of the left over PS panel. The only gap I couldn't seal well was the PS of the radiator where the A/C lines run past. Still, it's much better than factory and when I put my box fan in front of the car, I can now feel air blowing through the cores.

As for the rubber mat, mine disappeared long ago. I made a temporary replacement yesterday out of 40 mil shower pan liner that goes over the subframe crossbar that Duffy mentioned. Actually, mine is wrapped under but who's counting. I couldn't get the outer edges to mate properly to the factory locations on the outside of the k-member so it's a little narrower than stock. We'll see how well it works I guess. I'm still trying to figure out how to best make an underskirt for the engine bay. I'd rather take down a stiff panel than deal with that flappy mat.

I picked up a Grand Am air deflector late this afternoon. I have it mounted at the lip of the diffuser currently since I already had the holes drilled from my last deflector. If I'm seeing good temp readings with the A/C on and 90*+ weather, I'll leave it. If not, I'll mount it further back and see what happens. And I'm still trying to determine why Ford cut two square holes in the bottom of the diffuser under the folg lamp openings. Anyone know?

And in case anyone wondered why I'm doing all of this, I have a Griffin super capicty radiator (w/o trans cooler), 180 t-stat, water wetter, tune set to kick on the fan earlier and I turn on my pusher fan manually below 45mph when my A/C is on, yet I've been getting 200*+ temp readings lately cruising around town... 220-230* with the A/C on. While those are generally safe temperatures to operate at under normal conditions, this is an SC after all and I'd feel a lot more comfortable with the temps below 200*.
 
Thanks for the picture. it appears that Ford did some wind tunnel work to improve breathing for the radiator without the same frontal area as in the older t-birds. On the older ones all we have is the air dam and then a wrap around the radiator to keep air moving through it.

considering the work that the Ford engineers do on things like that, I can't imagine finding a better way on your own without a lot of trial and error.
 
There is still an air dam on the later models too. Shown in the picture provided to the left side.

KMT,

Are you sure the rubber mat is around the sway bar? As I remember there are studs on the K Member crossbar that are used to anchor the rear edge of the mat.
 
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Since mine is a little low, and the stock one did not devert enough through the coolers, I made one up that works fine. The trans and engine both stay below 185, even in 95+ temps. This is with a Mark 8 fan and huge trans cooler.


chin4.jpg
 
Bruce,

That looks pretty much identical to the Magnum Powers chin spoiler/air dam that I recently installed on my 91 SC. I need a custom version of the same thing for my 93 SC, that locates the air dam closer to the front of the car, because my 4" thick intercooler core is sitting directly on top of those holes that air is supposed to go through.

I thought about relocating the intercooler a few inches higher to allow some air to go under the intercooler for increased flow to the radiator, but that would be much more difficult than making an air dam and cutting more holes in the bumper cover. Here are a few pics of what I'm talking about

http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showpost.php?p=758829&postcount=47

David
 
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Duffy Floyd said:
Are you sure the rubber mat is around the sway bar? As I remember there are studs on the K Member crossbar that are used to anchor the rear edge of the mat.
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Yep, you're right, Duffy. Crossbar, not swaybar (which is much further back), sorry for the confusion.
 
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