Finally started mocking up the GT bumper and valance.. Needs plenty of love but maybe able to make a kit. Click to view attachment

Hi Ben @mb911 - Here are a couple shots of my oil cooler opening: As you can see we did not opt for the bumper cutout. I am happy to report with just the 5 front body plugs open my car stays nice and cool. In the heat of the summer, when it was 105-110 degrees outside, my car was consistently showing about 195 degrees and if I sat in traffic, it would maybe get to 210. Then as soon as I got rolling, within 1 mile, it would be back at the 195 reading. Though I love the opening in the bumper to match the valance, I wanted to stay a little more stealthy with that mod.

The only thing I wish we had done was do a screen over the holes to keep rocks from damaging the cooler. This '70 that recently sold had the nicest screening I have seen and I would like to do this to my car. See last 2 pictures:

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Totally get that.. I did that on my last 914-6 .. My car is a GT style tribute.. So needs to be authentic.. And the fiberglass options stink and fit poorly.. I have done 50 bumper mods to date and this is the prototype valance matched with my bumper that will get sent out for chroming at some point.

Really just trying to give options to others

On mine, I cut out the bumper mod and tig'd stainless in for the bends. Used stainless rod. After grinding and smoothing, you can barely tell it was welded. Slight loss of chrome, but silver paint touch up makes it barely visible. Why steel for the valence?

Why steel for the valence?

Because steel is real.

I did not want fiberglass on my car for multiple reasons- the most significant being I just think fiberglass would break, crack, etc. in no time on a street driven car. So steel was the way to go. Kent Simmons at Auto Art Customs, who did all of the metal, body and paint on my car, is a Master and did a terrific job on the valances, front and rear.

Ben,

I would be interested in a kit, when the time comes as I too am building a GT tribute car. Also, I dont even have a front bumper or valance so that makes me even more inclined.

@Cairo94507 Do you have a picture of the front of your car from 5-10 feet away? Would like to see the big picture. Your front valence looks great!

OK, here you go. This was about 8' back. OK, those came out terrible- you can't even see the valance. I will take some good ones on the weekend and post them. Sorry.

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OK, sorry, got busy. Here are some additional photos of the front valance. It is tough to get any photos of it as it is satin black. I even used an alternate light source to try to get a better photo. Hope this helps.
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I like that you didn’t cut the bumper although a well done cut bumper looks great. Do you get enough cooling with only the opened up valance and holes in the front bulkhead. Like you, I have a real -6 and don’t want to cut holes in it if at all possible. My plan is to have a small hot 6 so as to not need a cooler but if need be, does yours work?

Charlie

Mine works fine and it’s set up like Cairo’s. I took out the plugs at the back of the trunk so no cutting was involved. I don’t have a cooler on the 3.2 engine. Just a large 20 row Setrab cooler in the front with a fan pack.

My GT car will have one of Ben’s front bumper and valances. I love the GT look.

Ben, I won't be running a front cooler, but I still want one of your front valance to fit GT flares. Mark

This looks like a very cool project.

I can see easily see wanting one of these in steel for my narrow body car...especially if there's a way to do a small/thin oil cooler that could dump into a variation of the composite exit air ducts that dumps to the wheel wells we've seen…which might allow for the full-size spare to stay in place? Frankly, maybe even a 911 SC trombone-style loop cooler that simply went from one fender to the other with the pipe "blown on" in the middle through this valance might be enough for a lot of cars.

Have considered a rear cooler for my 2.2, but…

I have a 3.2 with Motronic injection and the PMS front oil cooler with the GT lines and a thermostat I believe we determined opens at 180 degrees. In the heat of the summer I climbed the Grapevine and my car got to 200 degrees. As soon as I got into open air the engine cooled right down to about 185 which is where it typically runs. I only have the 5 back plastic plugs puled out in the front panel and then the louvered panel in the trunk floor with the shroud that seals it all up nicely to force the air out the louvers. My plan was to start with this and if it was not enough, then have the front bumper cut/modified to open it up more. So far, after driving it this summer, not necessary.

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^ Really nice setup, and among the nicest I've seen. Ultra clean install.

The GT setups make a lot of sense to me for competition cars, but delete the full-size spare tire as an integral safety feature and eat into front luggage space. If I was going with a big engine, I'd probably go that way anyway for the obvious reasons.

When I see Ben's setup, what I think about is a very small oil cooler behind that valance with very tight exhaust venting that maybe leads to two large ducts or hoses aiming air into the front wheel wells (and brakes?). Or maybe a 911-style "loop" cooler that starts in one front fender and goes over to the other without need for the ducting (just being blown on through the hole in the valance), adding more oil capacity and a bit of extra air cooling thanks to the hole in the valance.

Anyways, this valance has me rethinking my LE spoiler in the long run. A cooler setup for less than 3.6 liters designed to work with it might be pretty cool...

Both Ben and Cairo have a vertical spare so that might be better than nothing. Ben also runs a big cooler since he also leaves out the engine mounted oil cooler.

I think the front valence looks great and love the louvered frunk floor.
That car is beautiful and provides a lot of inspiration!!
Love it.

I think that a steel gt valance identical to the original fiberglass factory gt front valance would be a really good product, but even better would be a rear steel 914-6 valance with hole. You would sell a lot more of them. I could get the rear valances stamped, but the tooling would be expensive for the number sold at a REASONABLE price

@dr914 @autoatlanta

I wonder if just modifying what you have in stock would be the most ideal

Problem with the rear valance is it retains heat.
I have one of the crappy FG units that needs a total rework, if I do use it I'll add grated steel venting. But IMHO that will look rice, so right now I'm not using a rear valance.

I have a Stainless steel GT front bumper and I have to make my valance and I'll be custom making it out of steel. I don't really care for the flat face correct opening, I think I'll try for a more rounded corner, scoop, pouting bottom lip like appearance. I won't get to this until later in the winter months.

My SS bumper that I'll to have to mod a stock steel valance for project.

Seeing the aftermath of this protection 1st hand I cant emphasize enough how much the presence of a fully inflated full size spare is an important component of the 914's safety design.

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Not metal but a combination of GT and Limited Edition.
Created from a pretty deep item that was a swap meet buy.
Took an inch out horizontally, eliminated the round brake inlets and shaped the flare.
Don't look at the other items in the swap meet haul picture.

I’m still using my plastic improperly fitting GT Valance although my beautiful Ben/Oscar GT bumper is extremely happy to hear the time is near for matching steel GT Valance.
I have the valance awaiting shipment to Bens talent.

Here is how mine turned out. Click to view attachment

Your car is beautiful Ben, great shot with a happy pup.