UPDATE: Fully boxed-in now! Did some cooling mods to the Faleen today

This is topic UPDATE: Fully boxed-in now! Did some cooling mods to the Faleen today in forum Road Racing, Auto X & Drifting at Northern California Ford Owners .

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Posted by SydeWaySix (Member # 3596) on :

So today I found some time to do a little work on the car (finally!). I've been meaning to do something to cool off my engine a bit more during trackdays and after reasearching on SVTperformace.com and corral.net I came up with what I finished today...boxed in the radiator and a bigger air dam.

I went to Lowes and bought 3.5" wide garden trim (recommended to me by guys on svtperformance) and cut it just a tad bit longer than the stock air dam. I then attached it to the existing air dam. It sits pretty low so I hope it doesnt get too beat up on the street!

I also boxed in the sides of my radiator. I used foam as someone said to use on corral.net. It looks pretty secure after just squeezing it between the radiator and the front bumper. I wrapped it in black duct tape so it wouldn't look too bad from the outside. This step was actually easier than I thought and is supposedly going to help draw air into the radiator MUCH better. I still kept the stock rubber/plastic pieces that somewhat "box in" the radiator, but there are LOTS of gaps with these stock pieces so my foam pieces should do the trick.

I'm hoping both of these mods will help me at my next trackday in September!

I have one last question for anyone that may know... should I block off the bottom of the left and right sides of the bumper? If I recall correctly, the stock bumper has a piece of plastic that attaches to it on each end of the bumper that blocks air from going up the sides [Confused]

Here is my attempt at boxing in the sides of my radiator.

TOP VIEW OF DRIVER SIDE:

TOP VIEW OF PASSENGER SIDE:

BOTTOM VIEW OF DRIVER SIDE:

BOTTOM VIEW OF PASSENGER SIDE:

HERE IS THE 3.5" AIR DAM (with my faux sponsor IMPRM [Big Grin]

...it's my buddy's company [Cool]

)

[ August 31, 2011, 04:23 AM: Message edited by: SydeWaySix ]

Posted by WestSVT (Member # 9249) on :

haha my neighbor owns that company.
loooks pretty badass with the sticker down there.

Posted by SteveL (Member # 1241) on :

Of course try it the way you have it set up now.

You will get more air through the radiator by closing up the bottom but you may not need it. If you do close the bottom, either remove the existing air dam or move it forward to just under the leading edge of the bumper.

Another trick which you might not want to do on a street car is to make a gap at the back edge of the hood (where it meets the cowl) by putting washers between the hood and the hood hinges.

Posted by SydeWaySix (Member # 3596) on :

quote:
Originally posted by SteveL:
Of course try it the way you have it set up now.

You will get more air through the radiator by closing up the bottom but you may not need it. If you do close the bottom, either remove the existing air dam or move it forward to just under the leading edge of the bumper.

Another trick which you might not want to do on a street car is to make a gap at the back edge of the hood (where it meets the cowl) by putting washers between the hood and the hood hinges.

Thanks for the input Steve. I was unsure whether I needed the bottom boxed in but you aren't the first person to tell me I should. When I researched the "bigger air dam" mod I came to the assumption that it would be suffice to have just the deeper air dam, even without the sides boxed in. Then I posted pics and people started telling me that I need to box in the bottom now too [Big Grin]

I guess I'll have to tackle this project even more this coming weekend. If I can find thin aluminum sheets for cheap (Lowe's had it but it was WAAAY too expensive for just a small piece) I may just redo my sides using aluminum as well.

Now, when I box in the bottome what would the air dam do if I left it in place. A few guys on svtperformance.com said to leave it, but would it really benefit me?

Posted by 50 Deep (Member # 6216) on :

Looks good Ian. I saw a few guys that have done this before. It seems like these mods start small. Next thing you know you will be cutting louvers in your hood and attaching a front splitter

Posted by SydeWaySix (Member # 3596) on :

quote:
Originally posted by 50 Deep:
Looks good Ian. I saw a few guys that have done this before. It seems like these mods start small. Next thing you know you will be cutting louvers in your hood and attaching a front splitter

Thanks T! You're absolutely righ bro...I've been highly considering the GT500 hood vent/louver (as you may have seen on svtp and corral) but cant decide if I really want to chop up my hood yet [Big Grin]

Posted by SteveL (Member # 1241) on :

Air flows from a high pressure area to a low pressure area. To get more air through the radiator, increase the pressure on the front side or decrease the pressure on the back side or both.

Boxing in the front of the radiator builds more pressure on the front side by eliminating where the air can escape. If the bottom on the radiator is not boxed in, the air dam on the lower edge of the radiator support helps scoop air from going under the car to build pressure behind the bumper but immediately in front of the radiator. You box in the bottom, you want to move that scoop to where you want to build pressure and that would then be in front of the bumper.

I would be concerned if the radiator bottom was boxed in and leaving the air dam where it is now. It would build pressure just under the bottom enclosure and create lift. Best case it tries to push up on the bottom of the radiator box to work it loose. Worse case it causes the front end of the car to lift at high speeds and slightly reduce down force on the front tires.

[ August 30, 2011, 12:41 PM: Message edited by: SteveL ]

Posted by Blind (Member # 3052) on :

are you seeing engine temps running high at the track?

I've never seen over 200* even out at WSIR on a 110* day in my `97...and I had my a/c running at the time

Posted by SydeWaySix (Member # 3596) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Blind:
are you seeing engine temps running high at the track?

I've never seen over 200* even out at WSIR on a 110* day in my `97...and I had my a/c running at the time

Well, the last time I was out at Infineon my stock temp gauge went pretty high...I dont have any "real" gauges in the car car so I was strictly relying on my stock cluster [Embarrassed]

I know it's not accurate but it was climbing towards the red (first time this ever happened) so i figured I'd take the initiative to make some improvements now before it happens again.

Posted by SydeWaySix (Member # 3596) on :

quote:
Originally posted by SteveL:
Air flows from a high pressure area to a low pressure area. To get more air through the radiator, increase the pressure on the front side or decrease the pressure on the back side or both.

Boxing in the front of the radiator builds more pressure on the front side by eliminating where the air can escape. If the bottom on the radiator is not boxed in, the air dam on the lower edge of the radiator support helps scoop air from going under the car to build pressure behind the bumper but immediately in front of the radiator. You box in the bottom, you want to move that scoop to where you want to build pressure and that would then be in front of the bumper.

I would be concerned if the radiator bottom was boxed in and leaving the air dam where it is now. It would build pressure just under the bottom enclosure and create lift. Best case it tries to push up on the bottom of the radiator box to work it loose. Worse case it causes the front end of the car to lift at high speeds and slightly reduce down force on the front tires.

Thanks for explaining that [patriot]

I think I'm going to box in the bottom this weekend and run it like that. I may try to make some kind of air dam on the bottom of my front bumper, but if it's really not necessary I might just leave it as is.

Posted by Blind (Member # 3052) on :

quote:
Originally posted by SydeWaySix:

quote:
Originally posted by Blind:
are you seeing engine temps running high at the track?

I've never seen over 200* even out at WSIR on a 110* day in my `97...and I had my a/c running at the time
Well, the last time I was out at Infineon my stock temp gauge went pretty high...I dont have any "real" gauges in the car car so I was strictly relying on my stock cluster I know it's not accurate but it was climbing towards the red (first time this ever happened) so i figured I'd take the initiative to make some improvements now before it happens again.

if you have an sct you can datalog off the stock sensors and get real #'s

Posted by SydeWaySix (Member # 3596) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Blind:

quote:
Originally posted by SydeWaySix:

quote:
Originally posted by Blind:
are you seeing engine temps running high at the track?

I've never seen over 200* even out at WSIR on a 110* day in my `97...and I had my a/c running at the time
Well, the last time I was out at Infineon my stock temp gauge went pretty high...I dont have any "real" gauges in the car car so I was strictly relying on my stock cluster I know it's not accurate but it was climbing towards the red (first time this ever happened) so i figured I'd take the initiative to make some improvements now before it happens again.
if you have an sct you can datalog off the stock sensors and get real #'s

Unfortunately I dont have an SCT [Frown]

Posted by SydeWaySix (Member # 3596) on :

Thanks to everyone from various forums that commented on my boxed-in sides and deeper air dam, I went ahead and tackled the next step: boxing in the bottom of the radiator.

I bought some thin aluminum, a pop rivet gun, and some rivets and went to town! I basically boxed in the bottom the width of the radiatorand sealed off any gaps with some high strength Gorilla duct tape. It's not nearly as "pretty" as some of the fab work I've seen on other cars but I think it'll do the job.

I retained the foam sides of the box that I previously made but somewhat recovered them in the lower bumper opening for better "boxing" and so It'd look a little better LOL!

Now I have to figure out if I "need" an air dam still...whether it be in the stock location (I can re-install the air dam I made) or on the bottom of the bumper, somewhat like the Mach 1 lip.

Here are some pics...It was dark when I finished up so the pics didnt come out as clear as I would've liked, but here you go:

Bottom of the box:

Driver side - inside the lower bumper opening:

Passenger side - inside the lower bumper opening:

Driver side - underneath the car

Passenger side: underneath the car

Posted by SydeWaySix (Member # 3596) on :

I have been getting mixed thoughts regarding whether I need an air dam still and where it should be mounted.

From reading some old threads on corner-carvers, I learned that since the Mustang is a "bottom breather," sealing off the bottom of the radiator counter-acts the car's breathing...the air no longer travels up in front of the radiator (since it's now sealed) using the stock air dam.

I've also read that sealing the bottom allows the air to flow better through the front of the lower bumper opening, thus making it now a "front breather."

Now, my questions are:

1. will I need an airdam still?

2. Should the air dam be mounted to the radiator support (stock location)? I understand that this will reduce the air behind the radiator BUT from my understanding, it will not help draw air into the bumper's lower opening.

3. Should the air dam be mounted along the edge of the front bumper (somewhat like the Mach 1 chin spoiler)? My understanding of this method is to draw more air into the bumper's lower opening, since it is now a "front breather," but it will not reduce the air behind the radiator, making it less effective.

Does anyone have any input on this? I'd like to finish up this project with the last bit if it is necessary. Thanks!!!

Posted by SteveL (Member # 1241) on :

You probably will get mixed responses on this topic.

If it was my car, I would try running the boxed in radiator with no air dam. I want the air to flow quickly going under the car to create a low pressure region. It will help pull air through the radiator and help cool the headers as well. It won't help downforce but we're not doing 140+ mph either.

I'll try to get some pictures of my setup : front splitter, boxed radiator, no air dam. I'm heading to Thunderhill next week and need to prep the car.

[ September 01, 2011, 10:33 PM: Message edited by: SteveL ]

Posted by SteveL (Member # 1241) on :

Here's an interesting article on some real world testing of just this topic.

Part 1 covers the importance of having a pressure differential across the radiator.

Part 2 covers the addition of a front spoiler (mixed results, depended on the design of the bottom enclosure).

Part 3 covers the addition of hood vents.

Posted by SydeWaySix (Member # 3596) on :

quote:
Originally posted by SteveL:
Here's an interesting article on some real world testing of just this topic.

Part 1 covers the importance of having a pressure differential across the radiator.

Part 2 covers the addition of a front spoiler (mixed results, depended on the design of the bottom enclosure).

Part 3 covers the addition of hood vents.

This is GREAT info! Thanks for the articles Steve! After reading through and comparing it to my setup, I think I will run my boxed radiator with the air dam at the stock location (under the radiator support). This was also a recommendation given to me by another guy on svtperformance who did the "yarn test" on his 04 cobra.

Seems that the boxed in radiator will increase airflow through the front of the radiator and the air dam on the radiator support will reduce the pressure behind the radiator, allowing hot air to escape easier. Essentially this should be the trick to keeping my engine cool.

I have also been tossing around the idea of installing a GT500 hood vent right behind the rear of the radiator, which should give me even better cooling. That mod 'may' be coming soon if I can grow the balls to hack into my stock cobra hood [Big Grin]

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