[eimarshall]

Originally Posted by SCCAForums

Sorry if I missed it, who manufactures this splitter? Or is it a custom one off?

Custom one off. I made it out of 1/2" plywood, a little angle iron and lots of elbow grease. I'll grab some mounting pics tomorrow for those interested.

[eimarshall]

So here is what I did to mount the splitter. I removed all the under trays and cut off the part of the wheel well liner that extends forward.
Then I bent the two mounting points for the undertray that attach to the trans cooler so that they were vertical and bolted on some generic door latches from speedway motors. I installed nutserts into the rear mounting holes for the central under tray and added elevator bolts with jam nuts to set the height.
On the sides, I mounted a second set of splitter rods from the frame that runs from under the headlight out to the corner of the bumper/fender interface.
In the front, I removed the central 50% of the bumper styrofoam/plastic, and drilled a couple holes in the crash bar. Then used a couple more nutserts to mount the front splitter rods.
The splitter itself in just 1/2" plywood. As nice a quality as I could find. The angle iron runs from the outer mounting points, and generally follows the inside profile of the bumper before extending rearwards next to where the latches sit and back to the rear where there are slots that slide onto the elevator bolts. I reinforced the underside of the 4 rearmost mount points with a 3-4" square of 1/8"steel sheet metal.
The air dam is just vigoro garden border plastic cut to size and the riveted to a bunch little aluminum 90degree tabs. I also rounded the bottom of the front edge to help maintain airflow attachment.
To mount it, I tilt the rear up and get the slots onto the elevator bolts. Then lift the front and slide it back so that the middle mount points latch in the door latches. Then I attach the bottoms of each of the splitter rods.

Overall, it gives me a solid 4+ inch lip around the entirety of the front bumper. The back edge extends to the front of the wheel well and even further back in the middle(about 30" from tip to back middle). It has about a 1/2" pitch from front to back and sits about 3.5" off the ground in the front.
The first day out, the front felt really planted in a few of the higher speed corners and braking zones. I did add a knock off ZLE wing to hopefully maintain aero balance(not that there is really enough to make a big difference), But I did also throw DSSVs and a full set of BMR arms and sway bars on the car this winter so I'm sure it wasn't just the aero that helped me knock a full second of my PR on a set of shagged RE71R tires. but it didn't hurt. I also scraped on a lot of stuff so I added a couple more sacrificial splitter pucks to save the plywood.

Issues:
Lateral rigidity: The latches are on an upside down "7" shaped bracket that is pretty solid vertically but can wiggle about an inch in any direction. The splitter rods don't provide much left/right/front/back rigidity, and the elevator bolt slots actually sit about 2/3rds of the way into the slots. I think I can run a reinforcing bar from the elevator bolt positions up to the latches. maybe.
Lateral mounts: I don't like using splitter rods for the lateral mounts behind the bumper. They dont provide any rigidity other than vertical support. but I tried a couple of different ideas and this was the least painful. I'll keep thinking.
Trans cooler: this is technically blocked off from the underside but there is ~2 inches of space between the cooler and the splitter. I haven't had any trans cooling issues and I think it still gets enough ventilation that It'll be ok.
Airdam: The vigoro stuff is crap. it got all ways after i riveted it on. I found some L shaped plastic on Amazon I might try instead. mostly a cosmetic thing.

Future additions:
Side fences: I'm going to make some simple side fences out of carbon. might help the airflow down the side of the car.
Wheel air dam: I might also try to make an air dam or lip that runs up the front edge of the wheel well and kicks the air out laterally away from the tire face, hopefully reducing drag.
Diffusers: In the triangle shaped area made by the angle iron, I want to try to add diffusers that dump into the inner part of the wheel well. Unfortunately that is right where the aux radiators sit and there isn't much room beneath them. I'll save that for V2.
Incorporate the 1LE lip: making the lip a part of the splitter would make the whole thing more rigid and allow me to move the angle iron pieces forward making more space for a diffuser. also a V2.0 idea.

I'd love everyone's thoughts or suggestions. Thanks!

[Baddawg53]

Thanks for taking the time to lay all that out. There isn't much out there now that people can work off of. I'm pretty mechanically inclined but I definitely don't have a lot of engineering ability in me.

Mine is definitely not as easily removable as yours. I removed the tray under the trans cooler only, and the splitter has 4 holes cut in it to allow airflow. It's mounted with 2 supports off the middle of the crash bar, 2 supports inside the fender liners, thought I had pictures of that but I don't, and 4 bolts at the aluminum brace under the engine. The splitter rods are mounted to the braces off the crash bar, but I need to better support them somehow.

[eimarshall]

Looks good. Smart idea on the front brackets. It looks like you have to take the bumper off. Did you make any sort of quick release? I don't have to remove mine, but I thought about going that route. It would eliminate the need for the latches and make it sturdier.

[Baddawg53]

Originally Posted by eimarshall

Looks good. Smart idea on the front brackets. It looks like you have to take the bumper off. Did you make any sort of quick release? I don't have to remove mine, but I thought about going that route. It would eliminate the need for the latches and make it sturdier.

I don't have to take the bumper off to remove it, you can get to the bolts through the trans cooler holes. It's not easily removable but it can be done. It's pretty solid, doesn't move at all.

[Russ.]

For those with a splitter, is it mounted flush against your OEM splitter? I noticed mine slopes upward a bit when mounted like this.
I also have a 1" gap in the middle section between the OEM splitter and the plywood that I need to figure out how best to fill.

[eimarshall]

If you flush it up to the bottom of the 1LE lip, yes it will angle upwards. You should ideally set it so that the splitter has about a 1-2 degree slope with the front being lower. This is pretty easy to do with adjustable splitter rods. AJ hartman explained it well in his Camaro Splitter video: https://youtu.be/lA8eos9JNIE?si=3FgewQyQZ9YMoNEa


I used these to create an air dam and eliminate the gap from the splitter to the lip.

[Russ.]

Thanks eimarshall. I've seen those corner guards but never thought to use them. I'll go grab some. Was for the splitter angle, I'll have to reaccess my attachment method. Ive created some "splitter rods" using 5/16 all thread from the bumper core down. I also installed 5/16 bolts in the 12 holes in the oem splitter and bumper which I was hope to use to set the height. Sounds like I'll need to add a spacer to front few bolts to get the right angle and then adjust my splitter rod tension.

[Russ.]

Also thank you for linking the AJ Hartman video! I didn't know he's now developing a camaro. That's awesome!

[carguy55]

AJ's Camaro Splitter, wings and canards are now available, but his stuff is carbon fiber so its on the expensive side. His splitter design is not a quick release type. I also like his splitter rod design which are compressible and allows for raising the splitter some to lock it higher for loading on the trailer etc. You can also have him customize it some to match your needs.

https://ajhartmanaero.com/camaro/

[VaporPressure]

eimarshall, it looks like you didn't cut a hole in the middle of the splitter to expose the transmission cooler. Has that worked fine for you regarding cooling? Able to get through a whole session, or is it more of a time attack car? Do you have other cooling or power mods?

[eimarshall]

I have had zero cooling issues. granted I run in the generally cooler PNW weather but a couple 100 degrees days last summer had no ill effects. There is still ~2-3 inches of space between the bottom of the cooler and the splitter and air can escape rearwards.

I would avoid mounting the splitter to any part of the bumper itself. I know that's how the APR unit was designed but the bumper isn't really built to handle any vertical force. I'd suggest something like Baddawgs setup above. 6-8 points of solid mounting is better than 12 to something not so rigid...