Disclaimer: The instructions below are what I did to my car and can be used as a "guide" for working on yours. But, I take no responsibility for what you decide to do to your car. Be sure to read through all of the instructions first before doing anything to your vehicle.
**UPDATE** --> I finally got around to painting my airdam the same as the car. Scroll all the way down to see pics.
Purpose: Mainly for looks, but does improve aerodynamics, handling and gas mileage at higher speeds. This airdam is 4" tall, so you have to be careful not to hit curbs, steep driveways and those concrete blocks in parking lots. (not that I would know or anything)
Application:
1st Generation '95-'99 Dodge Neons
I haven't checked 2nd Gen Neons, but for those who want to know, the measurements for this airdam are: ~47" for the straight part in the middle and ~17" for each of the curved ends.
Time Required: 2 hrs
Scale of Difficulty: 3 (5 being the hardest)
Cost: ~$50
Tools Required:
AFTER:
PAINTED:
First of all, this idea was taken from Chris Barnett's Army Neon so all props go to him. Second, I'm not going to lie to you, this is not the easiest job in the world. It doesn't fit perfect, but it's pretty damn close and from 3 feet away it looks perfect. Like all things in life, the results you get are directly related with how much time and effort you put into it. Getting a friend to help makes the job go a lot faster & easier since your friend can hold the airdam while you stand back and see how it looks. A warm, sunny day also helps make the airdam a little easier to bend. I've also heard of people using a towel and an iron to heat the airdam to make it easier to bend.
I used a sharp utility knife to make all of the cuts shown. Since the airdam is made of thick ABS plastic it was actually quite easy to cut. Red shows you where you need to cut. Green is where I used the drywall screws to keep the airdam flush against the bumper around the bend.
1. First thing I did was cut the "triangle wedges" on the bottom lip of the airdam. This is done to make it easier to bend the airdam to match the curve of the bumper.
2. Next, I cut slits on both sides of the second to the last hole on each end.
3. The ends are cut off after the airdam is attached to the car so you can match it up with the wheel well. Same thing goes for that last hole for the lag screw so you'll know how far in you need to make it.
4. As for the part I cut to smooth out the arc or natural curve of the airdam, I did this before I put the airdam on the car and wish I had waited. I got lucky and it turned out really good, but being the perfectionist that I am, it could have been better if I waited to see how it looked on the car. I'm not sure if all the airdams have this, but mine did. Cut it or leave it, it's your option.
Again, here you can see where you need to do some cutting in red, drywall screws in green and the gray dots are where the lag screws & washers were used.
1. Putting the car on ramps makes it quite a bit easier since you'll have a lot more room to work. What you want to do is start from the center and work your way out to the ends one screw at a time.
2. Find the center of the airdam (halfway between the 2 middle holes) and hold it up to the center of the bumper (middle cross beam). Bring it out as far as you can to the edge of the bumper without the mounting lip of the airdam sticking out.
3. Take an awl (or sharp object) and punch a hole where one of the middle holes are in the airdam. Then, put a lag screw & washer in it. Straighten up the front of the airdam with the front of the bumper and tighten the lag screw to hold it.
4. Put another lag screw in the other middle hole and make sure the airdam is straight. If not, adjust accordingly.
5. Continue on to the next hole in the same manner. Bend it, hold it, look at it, mark it, screw it. Take your time and make sure it's the way you want it before you make any holes. Keep doing this with all 12 holes.
6. When you make the bend around the side, try to position the airdam so that you get as little of a gap as possible (easier said than done). If you get any gaps (and I'm sure you will), use a finger and press in the middle of the gap. If it takes care of it, then put a drywall screw where your finger was pressing. If one finger didn't do it then use 2 fingers spaced apart to get rid of the gap and put drywall screws where your fingers were at. Don't worry about the heads of the screws sticking out, we'll fix that later.
7. After the bend, your next problem will be that second to the last hole. The slits you cut on each side of it will help it go where it needs to go. Once you put a lag screw in that hole you'll need to make those slits into thin wedges or slender "V" shapes. It's hard to put into words, but you'll know what I'm talking about when you do it. Just take a little bit off at a time and test it. Once you got it the way you want it put some drywall screws in it. (see pics)
8. When you get to the ends, the last hole in the airdam will hang off and you can't use it. Make another hole just inside of it to use your last lag screws on.
9. With the airdam attached to the car, stand back and mark how you want to cut the ends off to match the lines of the wheel well. You may have to remove that last lag screw to cut it.
Congratulations you now have a sleek, lowered, aerodynamic look to the front of your Neon. If you want to clean it up a little bit more, here's what you can do:
10. Take off the airdam and clean up all the holes on both the bumper and the airdam. I used a straight razor blade to shave the plastic sticking up around each hole. This will allow the airdam to sit a little more flush against the bumper with less irregularities.
11. You can also get a countersink bit for your drill and countersink the holes for the drywall screws so that the heads sit flush with the airdam and don't stick out.
Now you're ready to paint it to match your car or do whatever you can think of. Enjoy !!!
BLACK:
PAINTED:
1. Sand your airdam down with the 400 grit to get rid of most of the texture, then use the 600 to finish it off. Wipe it clean.
2. Spray a couple of light coats of the Flexible Plastic Adhesion on and let it dry. Then spray 4-6 light coats of the Flexible Primer. Let it dry for an hour and then sand it down with the 600 grit to get it nice and smooth. Wipe it clean.
3. Spray 4-6 light coats of your Color Paint until you get a nice coating. Then use 3-4 coats of the clearcoat to get it nice and shiny. You can wax it if you want.
