So, those two big holes to nowhere in the front bumper of a C5 Corvette? Time to deal with them.
Now, for some C5 owners, these holes don’t actually lead nowhere. Some aftermarket induction systems draw intake air from within the bumper, but in our case our Breathless Racing intake drew air from the same airstream that fed the …
Not very attractive to the eyes, is it?
Yeah I was expecting an insert that would leave a more factory look...also black is an odd choice of color for a tow hook, don't many rulesets (that require cars to have tow hooks fitted) require tow hooks to be red or yellow?
Yeah, you need to paint those red or yellow
That tow hook looks like its gonna be a real shin splitter! A clean cut gash to the lower leg!
Could this been better done with metal up to the cover and then finished with some soft webbing/seatbelt type material as the actual "hook" that sticks through to the outside? A tow strap?
Here's a couple different set ups on c5rs
GameboyRMH said:Yeah I was expecting an insert that would leave a more factory look...also black is an odd choice of color for a tow hook, don't many rulesets (that require cars to have tow hooks fitted) require tow hooks to be red or yellow?
Yeah, many road race organizations require brightly colored hooks, along with "TOW" and an arow poiinting at it. Most of the TT stuff I run just requires "a mounted tow hook" with no other specifications. If we ever go road racing with the car I promise to powdercoat it red :)
As for location, it's the easiest access to the strongest point with the most longitudinally aligned leverage of anyplace on the front of the car that didn't require major bumper surgery. I woul dhave loved to have stayed with something flexible, but after living with something flexible for a couple years it started to become more trouble than the ability to tuck it into the bumper was worth. Having a fixed hard point is far more convenient for the way our trailer winches are set up.
And it's well inside the limits of the splitter, so if you bonk your knee on it, you should have learned your lesson when you hit your ankle on the splitter.
In reply to JG Pasterjak :
Ah, yes. I now see that it wont stick out farther than the Dewalt work shelf. And, in that picture I now see the old black "floppy" tow hook.
How about a decal to hide that ugly insert, faux carbon fiber or something.
John Welsh said:In reply to JG Pasterjak :
Ah, yes. I now see that it wont stick out farther than the Dewalt work shelf. And, in that picture I now see the old black "floppy" tow hook.
Actually that was a prototype of a much nicer floppy hook that was also abandoned when I realized a rigid hook was going to be the only thing that truly did what I needed it to do. The original floppy hook was just sad.
How badly do you think that hook affects aero? More or less than the covers?
So you closed off the nostrils due to the fact that the added air flow only adds to under hood pressure and lift (and presumably does not add to any cooling effect) - but you are using a vented hood to relieve the high under hood pressure. Also you opened up the area behind the front license plate - what is located behind there that requires the added air flow? Sorry, just seems confusing, but maybe this is all for high speed oval racing.
Appleseed said:Not very attractive to the eyes, is it?
Function over form. At least there is plenty of room on the right side for the word tow and an arrow.
But I agree.
grover said:How badly do you think that hook affects aero? More or less than the covers?
It has like 3/16 inch of frontal area, so not much.
deaconblue said:So you closed off the nostrils due to the fact that the added air flow only adds to under hood pressure and lift (and presumably does not add to any cooling effect) - but you are using a vented hood to relieve the high under hood pressure. Also you opened up the area behind the front license plate - what is located behind there that requires the added air flow? Sorry, just seems confusing, but maybe this is all for high speed oval racing.
Those nostrils don't connect to the area under the hood. They open to the inside of the bumper, then vent downward past the front subframe toward the ground.
The license plate cover is vented directly through the radiator shroud dumping more air onto the rad and oil cooler. It's separate from those nostrils as well.
I thought this was a really nice job of make those nostrils functional for directing air to the radiator.
yes deacon, that is much better
Toebra said:yes deacon, that is much better
That's what I thought too. I am not that talented at fabrication, but I bet a simple 3"x 8" inside dimension (I have fog lamps in mine, without them you would need something wider) brake duct inlet, trimmed to fit and mounted behind the nostrils on each side along with a pair of 3" inlet flanges in the plastic radiator shroud, connected by 3 " black neoprene brake hose would do the trick as well. Might want to also have a screen insert in the nostril to keep out large debris.
I have to pull the bumper cover off my C5 to install the Improved Racing oil cooler kit, so I may order up these part now so as to have handy and try it out.
deaconblue said:I thought this was a really nice job of make those nostrils functional for directing air to the radiator.
Holy hell that car looks beautiful.
In reply to JG Pasterjak :
did you vent the front wheel arches to let air go from the front tires out the lateral hood vents?
z06king said:In reply to JG Pasterjak :
did you vent the front wheel arches to let air go from the front tires out the lateral hood vents?
No but that job has been on my "to-do" white board for months. It's like I'm emotionally blocked from continuing because I can't decide between a bunch of round holes or one big rectangular one.
Don't confuse pretty with functional. Remember that this is first and foremost a race car and JG's been mopping it up with this car so any criticisms should be followed up with lap times.
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