Front "Wing" good for 15 - 20 F COOLER

-
guzzimike

guzzimike

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2009
Messages
1,353
Reaction score
8
OK, I have a Big Block 383 in my daily driver 1968 Dart and sometimes the engine runs a little warm in our SoCal summers.. so I thought a way to get more cooling Air Flow funneled to the radiator would be to fit a "wing" below the huge obstruction to air flow that is the front bumper..


BUT, prior to ordering a "Chin Fairing" type Front Wing online, I figured I'd fab one here at home to see how it flies...


And all things being equal, after a few days of driving around town, I find a Water Temperaure drop of between 15 -20 Degrees F...!

My Water Temp gauge would normally read between 200 - 215F on an average run, now it's an average 180 - 185F... and this is after I was both "hammering" the engine and doing my average Stop-N-Go traffic around city streets...

On some of the longer straights, Including a 5 Mile / 70 MPH Freeway run, the temp would drop to 175F.. 8)


BTW, I call it a "wing" because I made it in the approximate shape of a Balsa Wood Glider wing, like this one

2603148_f260.jpg




I made the "wing" for my Dart out of tin sheet material found at ACE Hardware. It is fastened to the Radiator Mounting with Four self-threading screws.



Here are a couple of pics :


photo004.jpg


photo008.jpg



Keep in mind that this is a "Function over Form" type wingnuttery, so while it ain't pretty, it works good...:-D


---
 
74Burntorange said:
nice, are you thinking of making and selling?
Click to expand...


Nope.

Just passing on info for whoever wants to try one..


If it helps a fellow MOPAR driver keep his ride running cooler, that's my reward and I'm happy for that..8)



Another pic, this one a close-up of the "wing" Angle in respect to the Radiator:

photo007.jpg



--
 
I have always called them a chin spoiler.....but to each his own lol
 
I think id like to try one and lower my temps. It likes to run hot some times
 
DusterDude72 said:
I have always called them a chin spoiler.....but to each his own lol
Click to expand...

Agreed, but since I sorta copied something that looks like that glider's wing, I figured that " wing" was more "appropriate" than Spoiler or Scoop..... :-D


--
 
adding some simple ducts and scoops on the brakes and engine bay will pay dividends
 
guzzimike said:
OK, I have a Big Block 383 in my daily driver 1968 Dart and sometimes the engine runs a little warm in our SoCal summers.. so I thought a way to get more cooling Air Flow funneled to the radiator would be to fit a "wing" below the huge obstruction to air flow that is the front bumper..

---
Click to expand...

Cool Crenshaw Dodge license plate frame. 8)

The wing/fairing/spoiler will help when the car in moving. But stopped idling in real stop and go gridlock, it might still get hot. Might want to consider running straight distilled water with water pump/anti rust additive. That will drop you 5-10 degrees. Around here we don't need anti freeze.

Read this test: http://www.turbomagazine.com/features/0703_turp_cooling_system_additives/test_results.html

If you need to know where to find Justice Brothers additive, PM me.
 
autoxcuda said:
Cool Crenshaw Dodge license plate frame. 8)

The wing/fairing/spoiler will help when the car in moving. But stopped idling in real stop and go gridlock, it might still get hot. Might want to consider running straight distilled water with water pump/anti rust additive. That will drop you 5-10 degrees. Around here we don't need anti freeze.

Read this test: http://www.turbomagazine.com/features/0703_turp_cooling_system_additives/test_results.html

If you need to know where to find Justice Brothers additive, PM me.
Click to expand...

Thank you...


I'm running Water and Water Wetter in my Rad... 8)
 
Nice work. Sounds like you need to beef up your coolling system then you would not need the wing.
 
guzzimike said:
Nope.

Just passing on info for whoever wants to try one..


If it helps a fellow MOPAR driver keep his ride running cooler, that's my reward and I'm happy for that..8)



Another pic, this one a close-up of the "wing" Angle in respect to the Radiator:

photo007.jpg



--
Click to expand...


If you don't do it someone is going to get rich off your idea.
 
Burntorange70 said:
Nice work. Sounds like you need to beef up your coolling system then you would not need the wing.
Click to expand...

Well, the Radiator is a Brass/Copper NOS, originaly made for a 1973 Jeep Grand Wagoneer running a 400 CI engine. It has Dual Flex-A-Lites fans that had been mounted and cooling a 440 in a '71 Challenger.

My Dart's engine is a 383 that's been bored .060 over, with a few power adders.. 8)

It runs OK temps without the "wing", and has done so since we built it in 2005, but it just runs cooler average temps with it.


--
 
Purple Haze said:
If you don't do it someone is going to get rich off your idea.
Click to expand...


Hi -I didn't invent this..I just kinda "Wing-Nutted" the concept in my garage for about $20.00 and an hour's worth of my time...8)

I did it originally because I did not want to spend $150.00 on something sold on the Internet that I was not sure would work, other than in the "Looks" department..

I just posted it here, simply because it works for me and I thought that someone may like it and can build & apply something similar to their car.

Here's another Shot..

photo010.jpg




I don't want to make money off it or go through any of the issues if the "wing" does not fly as well for others as it does for me...:-D


There are other Spoilers out there, made to look much better than the one I conjured up..such as this one sold by "Spoilers by Randy":

spoilerss%20016.jpg


Dodge%20GTS%20Front%20(1).JPG



--
 
If ya spend all the time and money to get a car restored, why wouldn't ya do it right???
The 68 dart ( 1 bad 68 ) in the picture with the chin spoiler looks pretty lame with the paint job behind the grill making it look like it is not done!
 
mopar340dave said:
If ya spend all the time and money to get a car restored, why wouldn't ya do it right???
The 68 dart ( 1 bad 68 ) in the picture with the chin spoiler looks pretty lame with the paint job behind the grill making it look like it is not done!
Click to expand...

The paint behind the grille probably is correct. Most of these car have a radiator core support that is the same color as the body. The blacked out core support is an optional treatment.

guzzimike, that`s a nice modification for the money. I`ve seen the "Spoilers by Randy" and thought about buying one. I might try fabricating one myself now that I`ve seen yours. :thumbup:
 
Longgone said:
The paint behind the grille probably is correct. Most of these car have a radiator core support that is the same color as the body. The blacked out core support is an optional treatment.
Click to expand...


You sure about that? We have been over this several times. It was standard but not always done very well.
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
You sure about that? We have been over this several times. It was standard but not always done very well.
Click to expand...

No, I`m not certain of anything when it comes to what Chrysler did. It does seem the treatment became more of a standard around `70 but nothing is consistent through model, make, or plant. I`ve personally had 14 Mopars and all but two were body color. These range from 67-73 A, B, and E models. :scratch:

We could start another thread and see what happens.............
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
You sure about that? We have been over this several times. It was standard but not always done very well.
Click to expand...

I`ve been told that light colored cars received a cursory painting as standard treatment and dark colored cars got nothing unless it was requested. I can`t find anything on it, I think I`ll start another thread.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top