[DeTomaso] front spoiler

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/4/08 20 16 50, tonydigi at optonline.net writes:


> Hmm.  Is that like the Hall GT5 Air Dam for stock bodied cars?  Got a 
> photo?
> I have Hall's and I just glassed in my rectangular fog light holes.
> 
No, not at all.   It's a tidy yet effective little air dam, which probably 
does a decent job of creating downforce (or more accurately, reducing front-end 
lift), but it's not overly vulnurable to driveway slopes etc. the way a GT5 
air dam is.

Here's a photo of mine:

http://members.aol.com/mikeldrew/MiniAirDamGTS.jpg

These are actually found on very many cars so I'm sure you've seen them many 
times before.

It is designed to be mounted at the very tips (requiring a single hole to be 
drilled into the underside of the front fender on each side), and in the 
center along the length of the bottom grille (my car has a piece of steel welded to 
the front of the valance, that the air dam then screws to).   I found that 
the corners where the air dam curved towards the back of the car were 
dangerously unsupported and would deflect substantially under air loads, and so a few 
weeks ago I fabricated a pair of shelf-like supports using aluminum angle iron, 
which attaches to the front of the car using the existing central screw holes, 
and extends outwards to support the corners from underneath.   It's 
rock-solid now.

(Some people kluge brackets and screw them to the back side of the spoiler, 
but that leaves unsightly screws visible and I wanted to avoid that).

Mike


**************
Planning your summer road trip? Check out AOL Travel 
Guides.
      
(http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/united-states?ncid=aoltrv00030000000016)