[DeTomaso] GT5 Air Dam - scraping damage and rock ships

Tue May 15 16:58:06 EDT 2007

Charles:

My car is in Edmonton at the moment, having the 
air dam repainted, so I can't get to it to 
measure it for at least two weeks. In the 
meantime, I here are some magazine stats on the GT5.

    * The December 1984 issue of Motor Trend 
magazine as well as the August 1984 edition of 
Car and Driver Magazine both gave the minimum ground clearance as 4.7 inches.
    * Road & Track in their June 1984 edition 
gave the ground clearance as 3.4 inches, with a 
front overhang of 38.7 inches (don't ask me where they measured from).
- Peter

At 13:27 15/05/2007, Charles McCall wrote:
>Now Iñ'm curious... When you get a chance, could you measure ground
>clearance and I'll do the same? I'm travelling right now so my results will
>have to wait until the weekend.
>
>I'll attach a sheet, which the list will strip for all but Peter, of the
>dimensions of a GT5-S as measured by AUTOCAR, a British mag. They say 5
>inches of clearance, but I'm not sure if that is the undercarriage or the
>spoiler.
>
>-----Mensaje original-----
>De: Peter Havlik [mailto:phavlik at pris.ca]
>Enviado el: Tuesday, 15 May, 2007 9:39 PM
>Para: Charles McCall; detomaso at realbig.com
>Asunto: RE: [DeTomaso] GT5 Air Dam - scraping damage and rock ships
>
>Hi Charles:
>
>I believe the GT5-S air dam is, in fact, significantly higher and further
>back than on the GT5. Mine is not only low, but it protrudes forward,
>compounding the problem of approach angles.
>
>Despite my formative years having been gleefully spent wrecking a series of
>cars by emulating the Dukes of Hazard, all the damage I have caused to my
>Pantera air dam has taken place trying to enter steep driveways or gas
>station approaches. The wonky parking lot at the PI Hotel at Monterey last
>August didn't help, either.
>
>- Peter
>
>At 12:08 15/05/2007, Charles McCall wrote:
> >Curious Peter... The GT5-S air dam is steel, which is perhaps less
> >forgiving than fiberglass. Or perhaps not - it is perhaps a little more
> >flexible and therefore doesn't break, but in any case I have only
> >touched once or twice in my years of ownership. You haven't been
> >watching too much "Dukes of Hazard", have you=?=??? :-)
> >
> >That being said, I *have* banged up the rocker panel right in front of
> >the rear wheel from a very closed curve in the mountains with elevation
> >change where it touched at speed. Kind of scary. But I haven't touched
> >the front air dam.
> >
> >I'll have to measure clearance when I get a chance and see if it is the
> >same as yours. I'd imagine so.
> >
> >Oh, and I screw up my parking brake about every other year, since that
> >is the low point of the car going over speed bumps...
> >
> >-----Mensaje original-----
> >De: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com]
> >En nombre de Peter Havlik Enviado el: Tuesday, 15 May, 2007 9:03 PM
> >Para: Tomas Gunnarsson; MikeLDrew at aol.com; detomaso at realbig.com
> >Asunto: Re: [DeTomaso] GT5 Air Dam - scraping damage and rock ships
> >
> >Thanks, Thomas. Yes, I had thought of using curb feelers, but they
> >would inevitably be visible and look incongruous on a sports car. I
> >associate them more with Grandpa's '59 Buick.
> >
> >Good thought, though.
> >
> >- Peter
> >
> >At 11:21 15/05/2007, Tomas Gunnarsson wrote:
> > >Peter,
> > >
> > >Have you considered getting some curb indicators like the ones you
> > >see on old classics? You could probably either mount them behind the
> > >dam so that they protrude the correct amount forward/down or modify
> > >them to suit your needs.
> > >
> > >http://www.mooneyesusa.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=755&o
> > >sC
> > >sid=019383a018ac2e10913fa81db56cf9f0
> > >
> > >Tomas
> > >
> > >----- Original Message -----
> > >From: "Peter Havlik" <phavlik at pris.ca>
> > >To: <MikeLDrew at aol.com>; <detomaso at realbig.com>
> > >Sent: den 15 maj 2007 19:36
> > >Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] GT5 Air Dam - scraping damage and rock ships
> > >
> > >
> > > > Mike:
> > > >
> > > > I take your point, but I'm still wondering if there is not
> > > > something I can do that will give me an audible warning just
> > > > before I start to scrape. I'm not intending to make the air dam
> > > > stronger, because I agree it should have as much flex as possible.
> > > >
> > > > The rubber (or Teflon or aluminum or whatever other sacrificial
> > > > material) strip will start to scrape first and, because I'm
> > > > usually going slow when approaching gas station entrances or steep
> > > > driveways, I should have more than enough time to stop before the
> > > > fiberglass hits or starts to bend much. That's my theory, anyway.
> > > >
> > > > Also, I have to wonder just how cheap a GT5 air dam is to replace.
> > > > First of all, from the look of it, not all aftermarket air dams
> > > > are the same as the factory ones (and the factory ones are
> > > > prohibitively expensive - if you can find one). Second of all, one
> > > > still has to pay for installing and painting the new air dam,
> > > > which is not cheap either. And, at the rate I'm going, this will be an
>annual event!
> > > >
> > > > I just can't believe that no one out there is having the same
> > > > problem as I am, and that there isn't some kind of a solution. We
> > > > have enough engineers, fabricators and general geniuses on this
> > > > list that I'm convinced the answer is out there somewhere!
> > > >
> > > > - Peter
> > > >
> > > > At 10:06 15/05/2007, MikeLDrew at aol.com wrote:
> > > >
> > > > >In a message dated 5/14/07 13:11:58, phavlik at pris.ca writes:
> > > > >
> > > > ><< Second, I would like to modify the underside of the air dam so
> > > > >that some sacrificial material starts scraping first before the
> > > > >brittle fiberglass contacts the pavement. Has anyone done this,
> > > > >or know of some other solution to the problem? I just want to
> > > > >hear a warning scrape before I damage the fiberglass. >>
> > > > >
> > > > > >>>Well, keep this in mind--fiberglass is cheap, and by
> > > > > >>>definition,
> > > > >sacrificial, whereas what it is attached to is expensive.  Mad
> > > > >Dog made the mistake of reinforcing his air dam to make it very
> > > > >strong; when he
> > > subsequently whacked
> > > > >it, it transmitted the force to the car and bent his front
> > > fenders!!!!  So be
> > > > >careful of what you ask for....
> > > > >
> > > > >I suppose you could put some sort of rubber strip etc. at the
> > > bottom of the
> > > > >air dam, but it won't change anything.  You will just hit the
> > > > >rubber strip first, then still hit the fiberglass under the same
> >circumstances.
> > > > >
> > > > >The real solution, of course, is to (DUH!) stop crashing into
> > > things!  Plan
> > > > >ahead, approach driveways with caution, and if the approach to a
> > > > >given gas station looks too steep, it probably is--just go
> > > > >around, or go
> > > to a different
> > > > >station.
> > > > >
> > > > >I am in the process of fitting a GTS mini air dam to the front
> > > of my car.  It
> > > > >will have substantially greater clearance than you GT5 air dam
> > > > >has, of course, but it will require circumspection nonetheless
> > > > >since my car is fairly low.
> > > > >I have deliberately mounted it in a manner that will let it snap
> > > off, rather
> > > > >than warp the car, in the event of impact.  Fiberglass is
> > > > >cheap--metalwork isn't!
> > > > >
> > > > >Mike<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> See
> > > what's free at
> > > > >http://www.aol.com.</HTML>
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