nose height from ground ~ best intake location

[j12piprius]

I ordered the hdpe plastic linked by The Donkey CRX and cut a 14x90" piece to use for the nose. The plastic is not strong enough to stay out on it's own, so I've screwed 8 pvc T extensions to the bottom of the bumper, to keep the plastic out at a slant back nose angle. A view from the side looks like this /\ with the / being the nose, the \ being the bumper, and the bottom breathing part the space in between them.

The distance from the bumper to the plastic is 4" in the middle, tapering to 0 at the sides, with 7" between each of the Ts, leaving about 100 sq inches of bottom breathing area between the bumper and the nose. I should have photos by the end of the week. In the meantime, please let me know what you think.

Should the 100 sq in bottom area (4x the area that is usually in the front) provide enough cooling for the radiator, without drilling a hole in the front of the plastic? Will the bottom open space /\ create a significant drag? Thanks

[2000mc]

I think we're going to need those pics, drawing or re explained
Does your car have an air dam at the bottom of the radiator from the factory?
I'm running a full grill block, factory air dam, partially blocked by an air dam at the edge of the bumper. I sized the gap under the bumper by driving on a very hot day watching my SG, increasing the width of the gap until I stayed at the tstat's regulating temp at highway speeds.
Personally I think making a front pan, and small grill opening is probably better than my current setup

[j12piprius]

Here's a drawing. There is no air dam.
A = the plastic wrap around nose;
B = the bumper
C = air flow from front of car to radiator



A is 6 inches above the ground, and B is 8 inches above the ground. There are 4 inches of space between the bumper bottom and the nose, which tapers to 0 inches at the sides (in front of the wheels), resulting in 100 square inches of space along the bottom length between the nose and the bumper. This is plenty of space, but there is no direct force to the radiator from in front of the car.

1) Should the large opening be plenty to provide good airflow to the radiator?
2) Should I close off the sides of the opening, so it's just open right in front below of the radiator?
3) Might the 4" wide opening create drag, even though it is perpendicular to the airflow?

[Cobb]

Not what I had a mental photo of, but its still interesting....

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by johnlvs2run

Here's a drawing. There is no air dam.
A = the plastic wrap around nose;
B = the bumper
C = air flow from front of car to radiator



A is 6 inches above the ground, and B is 8 inches above the ground. There are 4 inches of space between the bumper bottom and the nose, which tapers to 0 inches at the sides (in front of the wheels), resulting in 100 square inches of space along the bottom length between the nose and the bumper. This is plenty of space, but there is no direct force to the radiator from in front of the car.

1) Should the large opening be plenty to provide good airflow to the radiator?
2) Should I close off the sides of the opening, so it's just open right in front below of the radiator?
3) Might the 4" wide opening create drag, even though it is perpendicular to the airflow?

It would be good to locate a Pontiac Trans Am Firebird or Corvette to inspect their system
*There needs to be a deep air dam directly below the inlet at 'B'.
*The 'belly' of the nose leading to the inlet opening should be even with the top of the air dam.There must be a section of 'belly' from your stagnation point leading towards the inlet.You can't just have the angled panel.It will cause complete flow separation with no re-attachment anywhere near the inlet.'A' will need to be a small nose section to allow the flow to get setup for the inlet.
*Flow 'C' will travel below your new nose,curve gently upwards along a large radius'd duct wall,contained within side walls.
*The opening leads to an airtight duct leading up to the radiator core,aided by the new air dam below.

[Superfuelgero]

Originally Posted by aerohead

It would be good to locate a Pontiac Trans Am Firebird or Corvette to inspect their system
*There needs to be a deep air dam directly below the inlet at 'B'.
*The 'belly' of the nose leading to the inlet opening should be even with the top of the air dam.There must be a section of 'belly' from your stagnation point leading towards the inlet.You can't just have the angled panel.It will cause complete flow separation with no re-attachment anywhere near the inlet.'A' will need to be a small nose section to allow the flow to get setup for the inlet.
*Flow 'C' will travel below your new nose,curve gently upwards along a large radius'd duct wall,contained within side walls.
*The opening leads to an airtight duct leading up to the radiator core,aided by the new air dam below.

Aero is right, the trans ams, fieros all had an air dam there. I have an opening similar to you, it won't do anything. Need some high pressure to encourage it to go through the radiator. You can reduce this by increasing the low (much like the trans am).

[j12piprius]

If I understand correctly, the flow at C will just go straight back, not up,
not provide cooling to the radiator, and neither will the opening cause any drag.

I was hoping to avoid a hole in the plastic, but that looks to be the easier route.

[The donkey CRX]

John, Just wanted to let you know what I did before I added adjustable shutters and a belly pan to my red VX.

The VX has a grill opening that is 5 " X 24". When I added the 14" air dam that covered the grill opening I drilled 4 - 4 inch holes in the air dam directly in front of the grill opening. 2 in front of the radiator and 2 in front of the A/C condenser. In the winter I covered the 2 holes in front of the A/C condenser with Gorilla duct tape and only left the 2 - 4" holes in front of the radiator.

I never had any issues with radiator cooling or A/C with this arrangement during the 18 months it was on the car.

It is my opinion that you will need some type of cooling holes directly in front of the radiator and A/C condenser for them to operate properly in all weather conditions.

Hope this info helps.

[ecomodded]

- Espresso art -

We all of heard or seen a louver type design , I would suggest making yours in that fashion , with the adjustments made with spacers.

[j12piprius]

The donkey CRX, thanks for sharing your ideas. How did you drill the holes?

I'm planning to cut a 4" diameter hole with a square in the middle, and am adding
adjustable shutters to the list. I don't use a/c, so am not putting any holes on that side.