I have had to do this on many of the after market ones.
front air dam
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 11,470
Likes: 763
I bought several from parts vendors via fleabay. they were repro parts, and I was pretty impressed with the quality and fit. seems I paid around $50 a couple years ago. they were the Z51 configuration air dams. here's a link to my purchase -
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FRONT-SPOILER-CORVETTE-C4-84-85-86-87-88-89-90-Z-51-COMPLETE-LOWER-AIR-DAM-NEW-/140738492997?hash=item20c4aafa45
they indicate they have sold 114 assemblies, mine being one...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FRONT-SPOILER-CORVETTE-C4-84-85-86-87-88-89-90-Z-51-COMPLETE-LOWER-AIR-DAM-NEW-/140738492997?hash=item20c4aafa45
they indicate they have sold 114 assemblies, mine being one...
Last edited by Joe C; May 7, 2015 at 06:51 AM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 162
Likes: 1
From: Lower Burrell Pa.
Had to elongate the holes on the 2 curved pieces. Curves were not correct. I had the original one on for ncrs flight judging (got top flight) and changed this after. My car is a 90 Z-51 and I ordered the replacement for it particularly. This replacement isn't what I expected. It should be easy to manufactured to spec. My car is all original and has never been damaged. Only 10,600 miles on it. I saved the old one and will put it back on should I go to a regional flight judging. In the meantime I'll let this "new one" take all of the abuse. FYI, I found out, at the flight judging, that an original air filter for a 90 is quite valuable. The original ac delco filter has gray rubber on the outside edges.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 1,020
Likes: 51
From: Connecticut
Had to elongate the holes on the 2 curved pieces. Curves were not correct. I had the original one on for ncrs flight judging (got top flight) and changed this after. My car is a 90 Z-51 and I ordered the replacement for it particularly. This replacement isn't what I expected. It should be easy to manufactured to spec. My car is all original and has never been damaged. Only 10,600 miles on it. I saved the old one and will put it back on should I go to a regional flight judging. In the meantime I'll let this "new one" take all of the abuse. FYI, I found out, at the flight judging, that an original air filter for a 90 is quite valuable. The original ac delco filter has gray rubber on the outside edges.
Race Director
Joined: Feb 2002
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From: Compound in the Grove, Ga.
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Racer
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 384
Likes: 62
From: Chicago Illinois
Bought NOS Pieces
I just replaced these on my newly acquired 1989 convertible and after reading a bunch of posts and watching a few videos on people who bought aftermarket pieces that did not fit decent or at all I decided to source either lightly used original dams or NOS. I was fortunate to find 2 NOS sections and the last piece from a low mileage barn find that looked brand new after a quick wipe down.
One of the issues I discovered that people were finding out was the aftermarket pieces were thicker and the original GM mounting hardware was not long enough to reattach the new pieces. The forum member who has posted numerous videos on YouTube under My Corvette Life installed a set and he had to go to the hardware store to purchase longer bolts.
I ended up paying $40 shipped for the center piece (NOS), $30 shipped for the LH dam (NOS) and $24 shipped for the RH dam (low mile barn find). Total was under $100 and well worth it IMHO.
Hope this helps someone out there.
Ted
One of the issues I discovered that people were finding out was the aftermarket pieces were thicker and the original GM mounting hardware was not long enough to reattach the new pieces. The forum member who has posted numerous videos on YouTube under My Corvette Life installed a set and he had to go to the hardware store to purchase longer bolts.
I ended up paying $40 shipped for the center piece (NOS), $30 shipped for the LH dam (NOS) and $24 shipped for the RH dam (low mile barn find). Total was under $100 and well worth it IMHO.
Hope this helps someone out there.
Ted
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 25,375
Likes: 2,734
It's perhaps NOTFAIR Comparing an experience in 2022 to those that posted in this original thread from 2015. Perhaps the vendors that had an issue have corrected the issue and changed their 'source'. There's for sure likely a 'good, better & better yet' experience. Ask the vendor straight away if there's known issues and if a return with 'shipping' on them if your not made happy. Elongating holes and tweaking within reason I believe should be expected.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 384
Likes: 62
From: Chicago Illinois
It's perhaps NOTFAIR Comparing an experience in 2022 to those that posted in this original thread from 2015. Perhaps the vendors that had an issue have corrected the issue and changed their 'source'. There's for sure likely a 'good, better & better yet' experience. Ask the vendor straight away if there's known issues and if a return with 'shipping' on them if your not made happy. Elongating holes and tweaking within reason I believe should be expected.
According to the author behind My Corvette Life, this video demonstrating how to replace your front air dams was posted a year ago:
Just saying. Elongating holes I understand, totally incorrect molds with curves that don't line up to the bumper I don't. As for the aftermarket air dams the My Corvette Life author purchased and installed, he is pretty particular about reusing and/or sourcing the correct hardware and parts in his other videos, so I'm sure he wasn't too happy to have to run to the hardware store and purchased new bolts and nuts that were not factory correct.
Ted
