Sam, Doc has told many many times to drop the nose on my Swinger by at least 2" because of the blunt body style. It does help by at least 1.5 mpg.

After installing a small prototype air dam I noticed the front end become much more stable on the freeway especially in bad winds. So I increased it's size from 6" deep to 8" and added another 18" to it's length. I have made several prototypes in different sizes. On the freeway it does help mileage, below 50 I don't think it makes a difference however, it helps with cooling and the electric fans rarely engage. I took it off for a week and forgot how badly the blunt nose can get tossed around. I am in the process of making another one out of 3/8" plywood before I make the final one out of the snowplow blade material. It is the the hard plastic bolted on the lower edge of the blade. Great material for making air dams......

It makes about as much improvement in mileage as tossing the fan blade and going to electric fans which is 1.5 mpg. Definitely a good upgrade to consider along with dropping the nose.

Click on the red link to view shots of the first air dam.

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

Dam you Sam, now I’m looking at every chunk of iron rolling down the road analyzing or rather speculating on a manufacture’s aero methods; that includes those stinking retina destroying Prius…. Gadzooks man, it's as bad as getting a song stuck in one's pumpkin.

Laaah, la, la, la, la, laaah. la, la, la...

Ain't workin.


I feel another unplanned winter project coming on.

Bill

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Bill, That was too advanced for the public at the time. Kind of like the early 50's Studebakers. Thanks for posting.

Sam

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Ted, I am glad you are into this. I am eager to see your findings. Yes Bill, it is like an ear worm. When I was trying to decide what color to paint the wheels I was looking at every shade of red on a car on the road. It got real annoying as it went on long after I had painted them black. I am almost over that one, but I still turn my head to look at a red car more than it deserves. .

Ted, The stabilizing effect is indeed a big part of the appeal of an airdam. For it to work its best it must be incorporated with a bottom pan which extends under the car with a flat surface. This decreases the air pressure under the car as it speeds up the air under that flat bottom surface, thus creating the lower pressure, which pulls the car down.

I am now trying to figure out how to put a lower pan under the rear of the car which has raised ridges in it to speed up, and straighten out the flow as it exits. I suppose I could put a row of those vortex fixtures under there, but somehow or other that does not seem as creative as I want to be. Look at the rear of all the SUV's you get behind and you will see these ridges curve up from under the car on the lower rear panel.

Actually I still have to finish the bottom pan on the front, but I am still studying, and trying to figure out how I wish to do this. Check out the link Ed provided and look up the Prius front lower pan. There is excellent research provided with good construction ideas.

In one article, I guy with a Ford Ranger went from 30 MPG highway to something like 47 at its best, fooling mostly with aerodynamics. Some of what he did got a little ugly, but the ideas were interesting. Also, it is hard to ignore the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which says the act of observing changes the conditions and thus the results. Once the Ranger owner started paying attention to mileage, his driving habits changed as well.
, thus effecting the mileage as well. It hard to separate the subjective from the objective. I know when I first got my BMW I went out of my way to watch the mileage readout on the dash, and got better mileage than I get now that I no longer watch the readout much.
Sam

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Its' Not a street Car but Here's my $.02

I still have more ideas on Wheel openings, and Belly Pans - Just need time to fab em alll up



















Also See how I did this in the Ruster Thread:
http://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36132


HAppy MPG'ing..


Greg

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http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

There you go. Now your talking.
Sam

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Greg that looks like an "Aluminized Brick"

But a very fast one!!

I am enjoying everyones comments and ideas, I just don't think I am willing to do any of them to my car.

Rick

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Greg you will need to change the name if you cut out all the rust.

Seriously, my reading says raise that air dam an inch or two and put a flat bottom on it that extends back well behind the radiator core, about to where the wheel cut outs are. The air flowing under and along the flat surface creates low pressure which pulls the car down at speed, and seriously enhances stability.

The big challenge is getting the air around the front, which is very flat, and back together in the back, which is also very flat. Look up Kamm-back. I think that is how it is spelled. I would add a spoiler of that type to the rear.

As far as the front is concerned, why not make the front curved in the up and down direction as Will has. This seems to be the ticket with a slab front car. Don't take me wrong here, I think your craftsmanship is super. Just another thing to try after you have gotten the numbers on this one.

Sam

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I just read where you say you are planning a belly pan. Sorry I missed that. I know time get tight during marching season of a new band year.

Sam

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