When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
The picture above is exactly how my car looks. That is stock, and shows that the radiator is primarily sealed from the bottom. However, behind the air dam there is a low pressure area (as Dave stated) that allows some amount of breathing. I am still ditching that air dam.
I haven't. I got sidetracked fixing a head gasket leak on my suburban but didn't forget about it. I grabbed this pic off a google search.
The piece I circled. Those three bolts you see ripped out on me and whatever air that went in through the front opening went right back out the bottom. I cut a thin strip of aluminum to sandwich the felt material and keep it from ripping out again.
Is just purchasing this simple C6Z piece all that is required to make a C6 base a front feeder? Will that really reduce lift in conjunction with the WCH?
Is just purchasing this simple C6Z piece all that is required to make a C6 base a front feeder? Will that really reduce lift in conjunction with the WCH?
thanks.
No idea. We are discussing C6 Z06 aero lift in this thread. I think due to the mounting location of the radiator in the base C6 that it needs to feed from the front and bottom for proper cooling. Probably not worth the trade-off for a little bit of downforce.
Rest in peace "space shuttle" (it was totaled two months ago going 20 MPH when a friend ran it into a concrete wall).
I'm glad we have different friends! One a more serious note, sorry to hear about that loss. Was your car the one you found the 205 speed limit was still programmed in and it probably still had more in it?
No idea. We are discussing C6 Z06 aero lift in this thread. I think due to the mounting location of the radiator in the base C6 that it needs to feed from the front and bottom for proper cooling. Probably not worth the trade-off for a little bit of downforce.
Does the base mount differently then the Z06 radiator? My base is now a from only feeder. I just opened the grill up more and sealed up the ducting better. It keeps the radiator MUCH cleaner.
Does the base mount differently then the Z06 radiator? My base is now a from only feeder. I just opened the grill up more and sealed up the ducting better. It keeps the radiator MUCH cleaner.
There is no underbelly pan on the Z06, just #11, the "Air Duct" that blocks air from the bottom of the car in front of the radiator only. An underbelly pan not only seals in front of the radiator but about another 24" back to the cradle and all the area out to the front of each wheel.
Thanks for that clarity. I'm going to order that part and try to retrofit it on to my base.
After that I'm buying a large ABS plastic and building a large flat bottom. I hope that for about $100 total investment and probably 6 hours of time, itmight result in a better performing car.
I don't anticipate having any cooling issues at all as I only track in cool weather and I have a WCH as well. I also am nice to the car, I don't find that running it that extra bit hard really results in faster lap times.
There is no underbelly pan on the Z06, just #11, the "Air Duct" that blocks air from the bottom of the car in front of the radiator only. An underbelly pan not only seals in front of the radiator but about another 24" back to the cradle and all the area out to the front of each wheel.
Well I'm more confused than ever. I went and bought part #11, climbed under my base '08, and it already has the exact same part installed on it from the factory, and it's still a bottom feeder with a big hole in the front clip.
Maybe that close off panel in the photo is part of the OEM Z06 front clip? I dunno but it's not part #11.
I did built a prototype cardboard flat panel to smooth out underneath my car. Well 'build' is a bit of an exaggeration, I spent 5 minutes cutting a piece of cardboard to the shape I desired to test fitment then went and ordered a piece of ABS plastic off Amazon to make the final version. I suspect I will buy, build, and install a flat bottom piece for my base for about $30 total and less than 2 hours total input. It's stupid easy.
Closing up the bottom feed portion of the front clip looks to be more complicated due to it's shape and unless I can source the OEM Z06 part, which I can't even find on the microfiche, and it mostly just bolts on, I'll probably skip on that portion of the project. Any suggestions for this portion of the project?
Well I'm more confused than ever. I went and bought part #11, climbed under my base '08, and it already has the exact same part installed on it from the factory, and it's still a bottom feeder with a big hole in the front clip.
Maybe that close off panel in the photo is part of the OEM Z06 front clip? I dunno but it's not part #11.
I did built a prototype cardboard flat panel to smooth out underneath my car. Well 'build' is a bit of an exaggeration, I spent 5 minutes cutting a piece of cardboard to the shape I desired to test fitment then went and ordered a piece of ABS plastic off Amazon to make the final version. I suspect I will buy, build, and install a flat bottom piece for my base for about $30 total and less than 2 hours total input. It's stupid easy.
Closing up the bottom feed portion of the front clip looks to be more complicated due to it's shape and unless I can source the OEM Z06 part, which I can't even find on the microfiche, and it mostly just bolts on, I'll probably skip on that portion of the project. Any suggestions for this portion of the project?
Thanks
Sorry if I pointed you to the wrong part, I don't have a Z06 on a lift to investigate. If you are building the underbelly pan you are making the car a front breather anyway so the part is unneeded as you said. Get the ABS and close it off completely!
My Z51 with the Z06 bottom feeder block off piece of plastic, and a flat bottom that I made from a piece of ABS that I purchased off of Amazon.( still considering the best way to attach it.)
Okay, all mounted up now. Ended up pulling it back off put then placing double-sided tape on the backside in certain places because it had a little bit of a rattle when I would whack it with my hand.. I would have went further back but this was the largest piece of ABS plastic I could find. It was also critical to me that the piece did not have to be removed for alignment or other basic service.
I'm going to go back and lower the front edge about .5". That will make it completely parallel to the ground. I couldn't know for certain until I lowered the front end and drove the car to settle the suspension.
Looks good! Do you have any plans for making one for the rear of the car? I looked around under there and the rear bumper cover is shaped like a parachute fed from the muffler area.
As a quick fix for this weekend's 1/2 mile race in Ocala FL I removed the two inner tail lights and if the expanded aluminum that I ordered comes in tomorrow I will make two pieces to vent the "parachute" rear bumper cover. LOL
Looks good! Do you have any plans for making one for the rear of the car? I looked around under there and the rear bumper cover is shaped like a parachute fed from the muffler area.
it had not occurred to me. It's probably more complicated to do the rear cause you have heat from mufflers and what not.
More aero overall is good, but specifically the thinking was to improve front end traction which can be a shortcoming of the Corvette.
Okay, the final photo of the mostly completed project. It's currently 100% parallel with the ground but I think I'm going to drop the front end of the car just a tad bit.
FYI, the 3 square notches don't need to be there and are remnants of when I had it mounted a bit higher. I'm not too worried, it's not like it's going to change anything.
Really, someone should produce these as kits.
I did several hundred miles in the Corvette today and I swear I got about 1.8 miles per gallon better than I have ever done before on this setup. I feel like I got a little 5- 10% fuel economy Improvement out of this aero mod.
12-24-2016, 09:32 PM
