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Does anyone have this part? It's sold by Corvette Central. It's called the Big Mouth Air Performance Dam. It is a directional type air intake opening panel that mounts under the front bumper and directs air into the radiator and is supposed to help keep debris out. Sells for $169.95. I'm unable to pull up the picture. Looks good though. Just wondering if it's worth the money.
Wow, it is a lot of money, and probably doesn't give any extra performance, but it does look fairly nice and seems like it would keep debris from being picked up into radiator area causing overheating. I hope someone here actually has one and reviews it.
Last edited by FOURSPEEDVETTE; 12-18-2016 at 10:49 PM.
St. Jude '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-‘19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
The BigMouth was designed by a CF member and the initial sales were a GP here.
Later on, Corvette Central picked up the item for their catalog.
Do a search, there's a few reviews floating in old posts here.
Have a different version of the Big Mouth in my garage. Took it off my '96 this summer and put the stock air dam back on. I was tired of it scraping on it seems everything. Then have to touch up the scrape marks.
I installed a BMAD on my 96 coupe. I read about the supposed performance gains, but you'd probably have to be driving very fast to maximize any gains. I didn't care about the gains, instead I installed mine simply because I thought it looked good. Scraping is not a problem for me, never scraped it once after owning it for a year, since I completely disregarded the installation instructions and modified my BMAD. My BMAD was installed like a hinge, allowing me to manually raise or lower its downward angle approx 10deg, or 1.5". I will try to post pics. I had to completely remove the front bumper to install it my way (since I also did not want any of the stainless steel hardware visible). And I had to drill extra elongated holes in the BMAD in order to allow the BMAD to pivot. Mine is mounted to the 2 front skid bars.
Says the guy that doesn't have one!
I DO have one, and although it offers no performance gains, it did improve my highway engine temperature about 4-5 degrees. It seems to help temperatures the faster you go too. At 100 mph on a road race course I was running about 218*-225* without it. Now I can highway cruise at 208* and doesn't go over 215* no matter how fast. Scoops air farther in front than up off the road, so it doesn't suck junk up off the road like before either. I like mine and it wasn't hard to install. Mounted mine so I can adjust the angle but haven't ever needed to.
St. Jude '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-‘19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
Originally Posted by Klondike
and although it offers no performance gains, it did improve my highway engine temperature about 4-5 degrees. It seems to help temperatures the faster you go too. At 100 mph on a road race course I was running about 218*-225* without it. Now I can highway cruise at 208* and doesn't go over 215* no matter how fast. Scoops air farther in front than up off the road, so it doesn't suck junk up off the road like before either. I like mine and it wasn't hard to install. Mounted mine so I can adjust the angle but haven't ever needed to.
You just summed up PLXR's post.
A piddly 4-5 degree improvement at highway or above speeds.
A DeWitts radiator costs some more money, but well worth the investment at all speeds.
.
Last edited by JrRifleCoach; 12-19-2016 at 08:26 PM.
OK. I decided not to buy the BMAD. Too much money. All I wanted was something to keep debris from entering my radiator area. The first picture is viewing from above and the second picture is viewing from below. I made a screen panel to fit and block debris. You can't see it unless you are on the ground. All of $18.00. I think it looks pretty good! The pattern on the screen is large enough to let lots of air in and still keep out larger debris, leaves etc.
Last edited by FOURSPEEDVETTE; 12-19-2016 at 09:34 PM.
OK. I decided not to buy the BMAD. Too much money. All I wanted was something to keep debris from entering my radiator area. The first picture is viewing from above and the second picture is viewing from below. I made a screen panel to fit and block debris. You can't see it unless you are on the ground. All of $18.00. I think it looks pretty good! The pattern on the screen is large enough to let lots of air in and still keep out larger debris, leaves etc.
That looks like the fresh air intake screen from an AC unit. That would work perfect!
That looks like the fresh air intake screen from an AC unit. That would work perfect!
Its actually roofing gutter guard material. It comes in 36 inch long panels and is just wide enough to cover the entire opening. Very little trimming. I made an aluminum frame and covered the edges with black automotive door edge guard material. Four small screws to hold it in. I will be changing the 4 mounting screws shown to aluminum ones tomorrow.
You just summed up PLXR's post.
A piddly 4-5 degree improvement at highway or above speeds.
A DeWitts radiator costs some more money, but well worth the investment at all speeds.
.
What I should have said was 100mph was as fast as I could go without the temp continuing to rise above 225*. Now, that's as high as it has ever gone with the BMAD no matter how fast I go. With a stock radiator it seems to work better the faster you go. Imagine how well it would work with a DeWitts! The biggest plus is it got the air intake up out of the dirt so it doesn't inhale garbage any more. The mesh over the hole will do that, but it doesn't direct the air up where it needs to go at higher speed like the BMAD does. It may be a cheap fix for a stock radiator but it isn't as useless as some might think.
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20
Tell me what 4°F cooler do at 100+ MPH
I say it again its junk, and I dont have one because i did research on that crap over a decade ago.
On the other hand I researched the DeWitt radiator, and did buy two of them (Ghost & Betty Boop). Now that was a 10-15°F cooler at highway speeds, and mountain drives during the summer.
If the OP wants that big mouth, go to home depot, buy some sheet metal, and bend it with a vice. Paint it black or any color you like.
That big mouth thing is the equivalent of calipers covers.
12-18-2016, 10:59 AM
"Big Mouth Air Intake"
