96 Outer Air Dam Screws

[Pat M.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

Thanks George. Are you sure the center metal brace goes on top? It seems like it would give far better support below the plastic. Can others confirm this as well?

And what about the outer retainers? Do they go below the plastic dams on the outside, or are they inside the bumper surround?

[Pat F.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

Photo of center support peice. Guys, this is the way that I attached them. Hopefully it was the correct way. Agreed, no plastic in the screws or nuts. Note, some up, some down. I redid the center brace and replaced the air dams for flight judging. No deducts.

[George C.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

Pat, Black retainers go on outside of left and right deflectors "outside bottom"(spoilers). Charlie will show you.>George

[Pat M.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

Pat, Black retainers go on outside of left and fight deflectors(spoilers). Charlie will show you.>George

OK, but is there a second metal retainer with nylon nuts inside the car's bumper? If not, what holds the nylon nuts that accept the screws?

[George C.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

Pat, No nylon nuts. 10MM self tapping up into front bumper cover. If you have nylon nuts somebody, dealer or somebody did a cobb job to attach your left and right deflectors.>George

[George C.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

Pat, Thought I had a closer pic of front spoiler on my 95. You can see the silver metal section on top of my center spoiler. Correct. Save the Wave.>George

Wish I still had my 95 to show you. It was close to a perfect Corvette. LOL. No scrape or damage ever to spoilers, perfect. I'd pick the car up myself before I'd let the front spoilers get damaged. Picture shows how the center metal is put on. I checked a heck of alot of Corvettes to make sure. I'm that kind of nut. Just trying to help you guys out. Anyone that knows me will tell you I believe in only 100% correct Corvettes. LOL. I'm off to the nut house now. Tell me who's got three full correct spoilers, centers and left & right sides & original bag sitting in a dark basement, also demanded Chevrolet Parts send me only the Best ones they had back in 2000. Those spoilers are not some Chevrolet Part vendor import copies. Save the Wave.>George

[Pat M.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

Pat, No nylon nuts. 10MM self tapping up into front bumper cover. If you have nylon nuts somebody, dealer or somebody did a cobb job to attach your left and right deflectors.>George

My car has the retainers on the inside of the bumper, with nylon nuts which the screws screw into. I have no retainer on the outside at all.

If your statement above is correct here's what I find odd. First, look at your instruction sheet, it sure seems to show a retainer-like item inside the bumper, which I would think would be something for the screws to screw into.

The retainers also have square-like indentions around the holes, which the nylon nuts just happen to fit perfectly in.

Also, I took off one outer dam and found holes in the body the screws go through. These are no Bubba holes; they sure appear to be factory, with no evidence of later drilling. And the thing is, the holes are larger than the correct screws, so how could this car use any truly "self tapping" screws?

Another thing: the inside retainers seem attached to the car. When I took the screws out I thought if the retainer was erroneously placed there it would simply come right out but it doesn't.

What all this means I don't know. But it sure seems like my car came like this from the factory, and I don't want to mistakenly "fix" it. If this was a Bubba job from my dealer they did a heck of a professional job of it. Thanks for your comments and maybe one day I'll figure this out.

[Terry M.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

You guys might want to factor in build dates. There could be a first design, second design thing going on here. This is just a thought from someone who knows nothing about C4s.

[Pat M.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

You guys might want to factor in build dates. There could be a first design, second design thing going on here. This is just a thought from someone who knows nothing about C4s.

I thought of that too, Terry, especially because both George and Charlie not only have different build dates but different years - theirs are 95s, whereas mine is a May built 96.

My original thinking was I simply lacked the outer retainers, but now I don't know what to think. I'm gonna ask Jim Trekell to check his 96 out more closely.

[Pat M.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

I think the inner retainers with the nylon nuts I have are exactly as they should be. Check out this little nugget I just found in the service manual. As shown in the far right illustration is the inner retainer with nyon "anchor" nuts. And it is attached to the car - riveted in fact.

I don't know if any other year has 'em, but 96s apparently do.

So I guess my original assumption was correct - I simply lack the additional, outer retainers. I don't know if I was supposed to have them, but the 96 service manual does show them.

[Pat F.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

George, would you please email me at fulassoc@comcast.net on another matter concerning the hood closing tag.

Thanks

[Peter M.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

You guys might want to factor in build dates. There could be a first design, second design thing going on here. This is just a thought from someone who knows nothing about C4s.

This is the answer.

The early C4s (1984 - 1990) were the original design that included a front air deflector BAR which was painted to match the body color. The left and right air deflectors were installed with 10mm bolts (4 each) facing up and were held in place with attaching nuts on the inside just below the horns. The L & R deflectors have aluminum retainers on BOTH the inside and the ourside. The center air deflector had five bolts facing down and had the aluminum retained on the bottom only. See attached

[Pat M.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

This is the answer.

The early C4s (1984 - 1990) were the original design that included a front air deflector BAR which was painted to match the body color. The left and right air deflectors were installed with 10mm bolts (4 each) facing up and were held in place with attaching nuts on the inside just below the horns. The L & R deflectors have aluminum retainers on BOTH the inside and the ourside. The center air deflector had five bolts facing down and had the aluminum retained on the bottom only. See attached

Hi Peter. I see there is a difference but George's was a 1995. Was there a difference between 95s and 96s?

Also, are you saying that only the early design had the center dam metal retainer on the bottom, or all C4s? George and Charlie think the center retainer on their 95s goes on top of the plastic.

[Peter M.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

I think the inner retainers with the nylon nuts I have are exactly as they should be. Check out this little nugget I just found in the service manual. As shown in the far right illustration is the inner retainer with nyon "anchor" nuts. And it is attached to the car - riveted in fact.

I don't know if any other year has 'em, but 96s apparently do.

So I guess my original assumption was correct - I simply lack the additional, outer retainers. I don't know if I was supposed to have them, but the 96 service manual does show them.

Pat - I believe that you are right. The left and right air deflectors for the 84-91 AND 91-96 were installed with the bolts facing up and were held in place with attaching nuts (early model) on the inside just below the horns. The later models used self tapping machine screws. On ALL C4s, the L & R deflectors have aluminum retainers on BOTH the inside and the ourside. The center air deflector bolts are installed facing down and had the aluminum retained on the bottom only. The center retainer was to be installed UNDER the plactic spoiler, NOT on top of it.

[Peter M.]

Re: 96 Outer Air Dam Screws

Are you saying that only the early design had the center dam metal retainer on the bottom, or all C4s? George and Charlie think the center retainer on their 95s goes on top of the plastic.

No, I am not saying that only the early C4s had the center retainer on the bottom.

The center air dam aluminum retainer goes on the bottom UNDER the plastic spoiler on ALL C4 CORVETTES. It's purpose is to help prevent the metal bolts & nuts from pulling through the relatively soft plastic spoiler if and when the driver bumps a parking curb or scrapes the front end on an angled driveway. What's more, the retainer is formed in a U-shaped channel and does not even fit properly if it is incorrectly installed on the top of the plastic spoiler. It serves no purpose on the top.