TylerM27

So, like everyone else, my spoiler on my 1990 Firebird is all split and looks less than desirable. I believe that there is no way to fix this, so is my only option getting a fiberglass spoiler from Hawks? I live in Michigan and was hoping someone around here had a fiberglass one.

ramblingarage

I feel that the factory ones are cracking and splitting for a reason, I think that even if you were to fiberglass and epoxy it, you're likely to see it occur again over time. How much time? Hard to say.

TylerM27

That’s what my thinking was too. I guess I’ll have to just bite the bullet and get an aftermarket fiberglass one from Hawks.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

Fiberglass wouldn't be a good fix for a foam rubber endura type product. They have a steel frame inside that rubber, it absorbs water, rusts the frame then expands and splits the foam. Then more water, rust and splits.

DIGGLER

iTrader: (1)

if anyone has purchased the hawks wing i would be interested to know the weight of that unit vs the stock type. i will most likely be purchasing one in the future regardless, as mine is pretty shot.

live4formula

The fiberglass wing weighs about 25% of the original (estimated). I have used two of the fiberglass replacements on two Formulas and I highly recommend them.

Neil350

iTrader: (1)

There was a guy on here who fixed one, but they were in Europe so the labor cost was justified versus freight and taxes he would have to pay. The Hawks fits the best believe OER has a version that others have complained about.

Mikos_89

I fixed my original aero wing and it just cracked and split open again. The bare metal structure inside rusts from moisture and then swells up splitting the urethane skin formed around it. There’s no way to permanently fix it unless you removed all the metal. However, if you did that, it would probably make it too flimsy or floppy to hold shape when bolted to the rear deck lid. If GM had used galvanized coated steel for the metal support structure, then we wouldn’t be having this problem.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

I'd think the only way to fix it would be remove the steel, replace it with stainless steel then use the 3m stuff to fix the rubber

Mikos_89

I don’t think you could do that without chopping out all the urethane from the metal. From what I’ve been able to tell on mine, it looks like the urethane was mold formed around the thin metal support structure inside. If you tried to remove the metal, you would damage the urethane cover beyond repair.

Maybe if you had two junk spoilers, it could work. However, for all the time and effort that would require, I’d rather just have the aftermarket fiberglass version than a hacked out original that’s refilled with 10lbs of 3m urethane. lol!

If the splitting and cracking problem was in one little area, it wouldn’t be that bad. However, to permanently fix these things, you’d have to replace the whole metal structure inside or keep the car stored in a dry environmentally controlled garage.