ive tried a littel research and came up with nothing on this one... air flow is a big problem to the engine in our cars right? so why is there a huge black peice of plastic in front of the radiator... i never noticed it before until i was looking for a place to mount my trans cooler, does it serve any purpose to help cooling or something else i dont know about? if not i plan on removing it along with the window washer fluid bottle since it wasnt hooked up when i got the car anyway and its also in front of the radiator 0_0 ... if cooling is so big on these cars why is there so much crap piled up in front of the radiator oh well.. so does this serve any purpose or is it just there to block air to the radiator cause thats what it looks like at a glance, and also while im on it any suggestions for keeping the car below 190 with a 180 thermostat? (most of this was brought on by a 1998 camaro i drove the other day that never got off of just barely under 160 unless sitting for 5 mins or more) i know i type way too much crap so here is the main point >>>>>>>>
black plastic in front of the radiator and behind washer bottle there for a reason or painless waste of space and airflow?

 

I'm not sure what plastic thing you are talking about in front of the radiator....but my car has a body kit on it (more plastic up front) and with the 160 thermo and the fans always on (manual switch) it never goes over 170. Best thing I've ever done to the car.
Bill

 

If your cooling system is in good shape it will have no problem keeping the car cool enough. What you are thinking of is the coolant temperature rising while the car is sitting still. That is from GM programming the computer to wait and turn the cooling fans on until it reaches just over 220 degrees. You can get your computer reprogrammed so that the fans will come on sooner, and they'll also tune it to get you some more power while they're in there. Try a search for Madwolf or www.pcmforless.com, they both do tuning and people have had good results with them.

Do not remove any of the plastic in front of or around the radiator. It was put there for a reason. Air is not supposed to be blown straight through the radiator from the front of the car, it is supposed to be drawn up from under the nose. Just having three clips broken on my front nosepiece and the underside of it hanging down a little caused my car to run 10 degrees hotter on the interstate. Those pieces are put in place for a reason.

 

another switch to remember to cut off might not be too good for me :-p im thinking of reprogramming teh fans to come on when the thermostate opens up though.. but the big black plastic thing im talking about is just a sheet of plastic covering the entire front end of the car behind the washer fluid bottle and directly in front of the radiator, seems like a horrible place to put and i see no reason for it, ive never seen such on a v8 car, but im use to fooling with older 80 and 70 model cars *shrug*

 

The plastic behind the washer reservoir is there to promote air flow to the radiator-not block it. Air comes in from under the bumper, because the car has no grille. If you remove that baffling, you will risk overheating.

 

glad i checked on that, i knew it sounded odd to block air flow, i figured it couldnt be true, but just looking at it, it sure seemed like it. thx for the info shoebox, got any suggestions on where to place the tranny cooler then? i dont think itll do any good where that washer fluid bottle is if thats the case =/

 

My tranny cooler is right infront of the radiator. Works fine there.

Transmission Cooler

 

in front of the radiator behind that plastic sheet? i ddint look to hard at everything yet but is there enough room for a good sized one there? (1in thick and 4x8)

 

Post edited, picture added.

 

thatll do it then. same cooler as mine too except its got 2 less coils
thanks for the info everyone!

 

Right on man, mine will be up for sale once the m6 convert is done.