modding a 3rd gen firebird (title change due to free aero)

[oil pan 4]

Anyone besides me considered putting vortex generator just forward of the rear glass?

[Kincurd]

Oh man, this brings back memories. I had a 3rd Gen Camaro for my first car. I wanted to love it, I really did. I put up with a lot of crap to love that car, and it thanked me with a cracked engine (2.8l v6).

[Sven7]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

Anyone besides me considered putting vortex generator just forward of the rear glass?

Why?

[Tango Charlie]

VGs increase drag. They are used to their most potential in aviation. Installed on the upper leading edge of the wings, and on tail surfaces ahead of control surfaces, they "re-energize the boundry layer", and postpone flow separation. This is done to increase control surface effectiveness at slow airspeed (when installed on the tail) and to decrease stall speed (when installed on the wing), NOT to reduce drag. This is seen by the reduction of cruise speed of aircraft equipped with VGs. Attached airflow does not necessarily mean less drag, especially if that attached airflow is at the cost of a bunch of swirling vortices. There ain't no free lunch.
My favorite is the truckers that install the big scoopy VGs on the very back edge of their trailers. What are they trying to get the airflow to stay in contact with? Their virtual boat tail? Ha!

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Kincurd

cracked engine (2.8l v6).

What did it do, crack in half?

That is a small displacement for a V6.

My V6 Vortex is 4.3L, the DexCool coolant it takes is controversial.

[Kincurd]

Originally Posted by kach22i

What did it do, crack in half?

That is a small displacement for a V6.

My V6 Vortex is 4.3L, the DexCool coolant it takes is controversial.

I just took it to the shop one day, and they said it was leaking coolant through a crack in the engine block.

The 2.8L V6 is notorious for being crappy. It did get me 27mpg highway, though.

If it weren't for that engine problem, I'd probably still be in the Camaro today; heck, I bought it for $800. I overcame a few other problems with that car, like replacing the fuel pump, but the timing of the engine crack was bad for me, financially. I was without a car for years and got a motorcycle (76' Honda CB500t that was in the shop too much, but was cheap up-front) before landing in my Corolla.

[Big Dave]

I can offer no improvement to aero design but an Idea I had (I, too sit as tall as a 6'10" basketball player) was to buy a convertible and fab up a coupe top for better head room and aerodynamics. The convertible allows you to change the top without compromising structure as it has a reinforced structure to allow for the structurally worthless rag top.

[oil pan 4]

Ok will focus on getting rear louvers and modding them.

[CyberCod]

Hi, new here, I own a 92 Firebird.

Did you know that there was a Firebird with a 4-cylinder engine?

Just thought I'd point that out as I hadn't seen it mentioned. Supposedly they got decent gas mileage, of course they weren't as fast or as beefy, but thats not the issue at hand.

[oil pan 4]

The 4 cylinder 3rd gens were called "Iron dukes".