Chin Spoiler / Scoop Project

DrFishbone

SCCoA Member
Ever since I saw the MP chin spoiler and heard their good report, I've wanted to make one of my own - but different. :D Being I've had hot-weather cooling issues (for several reasons), I thought I'd better make something to get some more air up into the area behind the bumper. Project is still in the works, and I'm not 100% sure that it will work better or as good as the MP chin spoiler...but at least I try. :p:cool:

I've been thinking about making the pitch of the scoop adjustable, but not sure how wobbly it will be. I'm also a little concerned about getting it caught on speed bumps, etc. So any ideas are welcome.

Here some pictures of the cardboard version of the setup. Final version will be of black racing plastic. Let me know what you think.
 

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The stock chin spoiler does two things...

• Directs air up to the radiator under pressure when the car is at speed.
• Creates a negative pressure zone behind the radiator & around the bottom of the engine to help generate flow down/across both, again when the car is at speed.

These two processes support each other.

While your mockup certainly creates positive flow at the front of the radiator, it looks to not be able to generate the related negative pressure zone behind the radiator and alongside the engine.

Ford tested and perfected what you see. Anything that enhances that probably wouldn't hurt, but anything that defeats it will.
 
You should retain that rubber flap the went from the lower core support to the k member brace. That helps prevent air from under the car from disturbing the air exiting the radiator.
 
You should retain that rubber flap the went from the lower core support to the k member brace. That helps prevent air from under the car from disturbing the air exiting the radiator.

I made something awhile back to replace this, since mine was long gone. It's not pictured however.

KMT - thanks for the thoughts. I didn't think too much about negative pressure behind the radiator. Without having a wind tunnel though, it'll be hard to tell what's actually happening. I'm not sure that saying Ford "perfected" the setup is accurate, but they found a balance that worked (between function and ...size/cost/etc.) In any event, I'm just looking for something better...maybe some datalogging is in order. :cool:

Wonder if I can find some barometric-type air pressure sensors to put in front of and behind the radiator too...that'd be nice.
 
I'm wondering about where the air flow will be exiting the engine bay/core support area now. I'm not sure about stock, but blocking off the area between the core support and the K-member, plus the scoop...seems like it would force the majority of the air past the engine and out at the firewall. Any thoughts?
 
Two cents...

I do a lot of fiberblass fabrication and wanted to offer a suggestion to test your setup prior to your final setup. I use generally use a professional grade resin for projects but low cost resin can be had at most hardware stores for about ten bucks. Mix it up, paint it on the cardboard and just wait til it cures. You would be surprised how strong it will be. In fact several completed projects I have done had their start in cardboard.
 
I need to take some pictures, but what I've done to improve cooling and A/C performance is a bit simpler. I block off the gap between the bottom of the radiator and the bumper cover with a piece of flexible sheet vinyl. It keeps its shape and channels the air up and into the A/C condenser + radiator. Thats air that would normally flow out between the gap. It gives me 10 degrees of additional cooling when driving down the road. :cool:
 
I do a lot of fiberblass fabrication and wanted to offer a suggestion to test your setup prior to your final setup. I use generally use a professional grade resin for projects but low cost resin can be had at most hardware stores for about ten bucks. Mix it up, paint it on the cardboard and just wait til it cures. You would be surprised how strong it will be. In fact several completed projects I have done had their start in cardboard.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I wanted this to be flexible in hopes to absorb any impact from speed bumps, steep driveways, etc. Being that my car is lowered and I already would scrape fairly easily, I figured that I didn't have a choice! :eek:

Maybe if it works out, I'll sell the cardboard and someone else can do it. :cool:
 
Well here's Fishbone's Air scoop/dam/whatever v2.0!!

v1.1 wasn't secured well enough for 70mph + 115°F or higher pavement temperature + no solid connections up front. The air was able to overpower some little tabs I made and flip it under the car....so it got a little distorted :eek: Since then, I made the two center post that are riveted and push-pinned to the bumper and also drilled some holes for push-pins on each end.

Quite honestly, it looks a little ugly now. :( V1.1 looked pretty sweet, but all the distortion the road inflicted upon it, plus the little "posts" I decided to make, made the thing pretty wavy.

I may try to straighten it out if I feel like it's actually working. Both v1.1 & v2.0 keep the coolant temp right on 180°F on the way to work yesterday and today (both trips with mild romping - which used to be enough for temperatures to rise). v1.1 seemed to be doing similiarly well yesterday in the near 100°F ambient heat, before it went crazy and I had to take it off. By the way, yesterday on the 30minute trip home WITHOUT the lower scoop/chin thing, the temperature crept up to around 190°F and stayed there...which was still a little better than before (thanks to the inner ducting I presume).

We'll see how it works today. Shouldn't be going anywhere at least. :rolleyes:

I'll get some better, more complete pictures once I wash the car. :p
 

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I'm wondering about where the air flow will be exiting the engine bay/core support area now. I'm not sure about stock, but blocking off the area between the core support and the K-member, plus the scoop...seems like it would force the majority of the air past the engine and out at the firewall. Any thoughts?

Some if not a majority of the air should exit the engine compartment from that gap between the core support and the k member.
 
How about some pics of it with your car on the ground. It looks like it'll definitely scoop up some air but the size of it looks like it would scrap the ground easily, especially on a lowered car.:eek::eek:

Paint it flat black so that it doesn't stick out and blends in to the shadows underneath the car, just my 2 cents.
 
How about some pics of it with your car on the ground. It looks like it'll definitely scoop up some air but the size of it looks like it would scrap the ground easily, especially on a lowered car.:eek::eek:

Paint it flat black so that it doesn't stick out and blends in to the shadows underneath the car, just my 2 cents.

It looks way to low to me. Seems like it would be scooping up everything from cats and road kill to a lot of water should it be raining. I would think something half that deep would still work well

Ken
 
It looks way to low to me. Seems like it would be scooping up everything from cats and road kill to a lot of water should it be raining. I would think something half that deep would still work well

Ken

LOL...well it did yesterday!

I'll get some pictures of the car on the ground. It's only as low as the factory "air dam". Doesn't look near as big from a few feet away either.
 
Decided to run outside and snap some shots right now. Looks alot better under natural light...I can only imagine what a car wash would do!

You can see the little factory thing behind it in the first shot.
 

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Some if not a majority of the air should exit the engine compartment from that gap between the core support and the k member.

That's what I thought initially, but I'm not so sure anymore. With the pieces and the ability to datalog, I'm hoping a difference can be found...either way is fine with me!

I'm quite sure the semi-ugly scoop helps alot. The K-member / core support block "plate" surely must be doing something....whether helping or hurting, I don't know yet. From the factory, however, half of the gap between the core support and K-member is blocked anyway. I'll get some pictures later, but the piece I made has a removable section to make it somewhat match the stock setup. Maybe I'll try all three ways one of the nice hot days.
 
So far, after removing the piece blocking the gap between the K-member and core support seems to have helped the cooling a little bit.

Yesterday it was 90°F and sunny - the car stayed on 180°F for about 20min of interstate driving...only when I got downtown did the temperature rise up to 190°F (fan turn-on temp). A few degrees higher ambient (unknown pavement temp) and the temperature will rise about 4-6°F on the same trip.

Since the time installing the scoop, I've scraped it a couple of times on elevated parking entrances and hit a group of 3 construction cones at abou 30mph (autocrossing) and the design has held up perfectly. If something gets hung on the front, then I used break-away type fasteners (those plastic push-in type) to avoid getting the bumper torn up. All the parts all movement of the scoop to nothing gets messed up if I scrape a little here or there.

I think I'll straighten it out a little bit (take the wavy-ness out) and maybe trim it back 1/2"-1" and keep it how it is. I don't know how well the MP chin spoiler does, but with my radiator & IC combo, this looks like it does a really good job at keeping the car cool - especially ACT's :cool: I posted a datalog of a quick run I took at an un-named location in another thread I started in the tuning forum "QH & BE Up and Running". It is angled in such a way (especially when moving at higher speeds) that it will scoop air up and should also create a low pressure zone underneath the core support (this is speculation), similiar to the factory spoiler.

If anyone likes this setup, I'd be glad to share my templates and maybe build one for you. Can't make any promises on fitment...I can almost guarantee that you would need to trim/shape it a little on your specific car.
 
So anyway, this ugly thing tore off shortly before last years's Shootout when I was trying to trim the grass growing in the middle of a long country driveway with it. :rolleyes: Anyway, I never put it back on and decided to eventually make something smaller, simpler, and cooler/nicer looking. Finally got around to that today....

No testing yet...except the 100mph test. It passed that one. :cool:
 

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