1996 chevy homemade air dam/valence

[bigT5]

i will be starting school again this next week and was wondering about makeing a new air dam valence thing to go under my bumper this is what i was thinking

just get some metal strap and use the bender we have in the shop to flatten the top part for bolts or rivetes whichever. then for the side bend parts maybe curve them a little to fit around the bumper curve and weld it to the big long part. last use the plasma cutter to cut holes for the tow hooks and to put drive lights in and weld a bracket on the inside of the dam for the lights and powder coat it black or do they have chrome powder coat does anyone know?
what do you think of this idea?
how well do you think it will hold up/possibly get in the way in the mountains?
will it work like the factory valence or create a lot of drag?
any other thoughts would be great too thanks

[bigT5]

o and what guage metal would work best thanks

[Moppie]

Is this the airdamn to push air up into the radiator?


If so, you can make it out of anything easy to work with and able to hold it's shape.

[bigT5]

well im not real sure what it does it attaches just under the bumper the stock ones are black and plastic would this work or would i need to make the metal the right shape??

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by bigT5

well im not real sure what it does it attaches just under the bumper the stock ones are black and plastic would this work or would i need to make the metal the right shape??

You need to find out what it does before you start messing with it.

It could be just a splash guard, to stop water being splashed into the engine, it could help direct air flow over the radiator or another cooler, or it be purely cosmetic.

Can you can take a photo of the piece your taking about?

[bigT5]

well actually my truck doesnt have one it did once upon a time but it fell off ill see if i can find a pic on the enternet though

[bigT5]

[bigT5]

my stock one i had that fell off looked alot like this one the black plastic thing just below the bumper

[bigT5]

[bigT5]

the one i would want to make would look something like this

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by bigT5

my stock one i had that fell off looked alot like this one the black plastic thing just below the bumper

That looks like it's 95% cosmetic, with a small effect on airflow around the front of the truck.

That means you can go nuts with your design and use what ever material you want

[bigT5]

haha sweet sounds good