Daytonas tend to run hot and really need the air dam to keep them cool.
When I bought my car, it only had half of the air dam and during the
summer of 2003, it got pretty toasty. One day while driving to Best
Buy, I watched the temp increase as I drove. It climbed and climbed,
and then the fan DIDN'T kick on. That resulted in me limping home with
the heat on full blast on a 95 degree day. That kept the temp just
below the top mark on the range. ...and then half way home, the fan
kicked on and all was fine.
This told me a few things. First, I needed to figure out what was up
with the fan. Second, I needed to examine the radiator, replace or
clean it, and flush the whole cooling system. Third, I needed to get
an air dam back on my car. This page obviously focuses on the latter
of these issues.
I saw two options for replacing the air dam. Find an air dam at a junk
yard or on someone else's parts car, or build one from an unknown material
readily available at the hardware store. Since I never take the easy
way out, I chose to build one. To do this, I literally went to Menards
and walked around until I saw something I could make an air dam out of. Overall,
it came out well and cost under $15. Not too bad.
2 pieces of 24 x 6 inch 16 gauge steel from Menards. (2 x 4.99)
1 can flat black Rustoleum. (2.81)
Dish Soap & Water
Tools:
Tape measure, Angle Grinder, Drill w/ Good bit, Permanent Marker, Hammer,
Orbital sander with rough grit paper
Instructions:
Rough up the metal so paint will stick using the orbital sander.
Beat metal into shape with the hammer. This should end up in
somewhat of a "J" shape. This can be done over the edge of a work bench
or on the floor over a piece think pipe. Once the steel starts to bend,
set the flat side on the floor and pound on the curled part until it has
the shape you want. In the end you should have a mild scoop that would
bolt under the car.
Measure ends and mark cutouts around the front motor mount.
Cut out the metal that would otherwise hit the mount using the angle
grinder. Make sure to smooth the edges when you're done.
Measure and drill holes in line with those under the car. Using
a 3/8 - 1/2 bit allows more play so don't have to be perfectly accurate.
The metal comes very oily. Rub it down in dish soap and wash
the oil off.
Paint the new air dam.
Bolt it in place under the car.
Pictures:
Click on a picture to enlarge it to 640x480
Two pieces of 16 guage stainless
steel pounded into shape.
Driver's side closeup.
Passenger's side closeup.
Full installation picure.
Results:
Well, prior to this, my car would heat up during acceleration. I could
sometimes actually watch the needle rise when I floored it. On my test
drive, I saw the opposite effect. The needle actually went down as
the car picked up speed. While cruising 30 - 50 MPH in 85 degree weather
it sits right around the first mark where it should be. (Scale is =
cold mark, mark where range begins, first mark in range, second mark
in range, mark where range ends, hot mark) The temperature falls fairly
to just above or below that mark after sitting at a stoplight. At idle,
it slowly climbs to the second mark in the range before the fan kicks on
and cools it back down to the first mark.
Prior to this, cruise usually varied between the first and second mark in
the range. Often it sat right in the middle. Driving cooled things
off VERY slowly so after a stoplight, it took a long time to cool back down
unless the fan kicked on. (Both situations were with a 180 degree thermostat.)
After Thoughts:
One potential way to increase air flow would be to bend the scoop from the
front of the mounting as opposed to the back. In the stock air dam
and in this one, the scoop comes from the back of the strip of metal bolted
to the car. (Actually the stock one isn't really scooped at all.) Obviously
that will direct air straight up into more metal. If the strip was
bent backwards though with the scoop in front, it would direct air straight
up to the radiator unhindered. I'm assuming the stock air dam was set
back so that rocks and debris aren't deflected up into the radiator which
is why I did this one in the same fashion. (The theory being that after
impact, rocks and debris will fall and air will continue to move upwards
although at a slower rate.) Another thought is to lengthen the scoop
but that will obviously cut into the ground clearance.
