I just picked it up Thursday night. I didn't have time to work on it until last night. In less than an hour I had the old flat base bird wing off and the new 4th gen T/A wing bolted to the car. I had to fab up some center post extensions. The extensions took about an hour to make and I let them cure over night. This morning I shaped them out and painted them. I've got around 3 hours total in the install, fabrication, and paint. $100 for the wing and 3 hours worth of work beats the hell out of $400+ for the wing that's made to fit 3rd gens. This is actually a really easy mod to do. I still have a little tweaking here and there to do like bondoing the edges of the post extensions to the original center posts so it's seamless, but for now I'm happy with it and it's not that noticeable. I still need to weld up the holes from the old wing but for now I've got bolts in the holes.

 

Personally, I think 4th gen wings belong on 4th gens, only.

But, taste is subjective.

Nice job on saving cash by mounting one yourself, rather than buying the pricey models for thirdgens.

 

I think it looks great! You do anything to hold the arms down? I love those spoilers on 91-92 cars.

 

I don't have anything holding the arms down at them moment. I didn't really see a need for it, they're really stiff and I shaped the tips of the arms down to make them sit tight on the quarter panels. They do have pieces of weatherstripping ruber under them to keep them from scratching up the car. when the hatch closes the whole wing sit's flush and tight.

 

I think it looks pretty good myself

 

hmm. guess I now gotta consider the 4th gen wing before I buy a fiberglass reproduction 3rd gen wing... or Ill try to fix mine. anyway, looks great.

 

I'm not a fan of the wing on 3rd gens personally. But good job on the center extensions.

Did you swap hatches? or just disconnect the factory third brake light?

Acutally, on second glance, looks like you have the spoliers brake light wired with the parking lights....

 

It's still got the original hatch. A buddy has an extra hatch without the brake light in it, I might get it in the future.

The original third brake light didn't work anymore. The little reflector piece that holds the bulb inside the housing was sun baked & brittle so it fell apart.

I took pics of it with the brake pedal pressed (a stick between the front of the seat and the pedal). I've got 4 running lights on each side of the car. With the brake pressed only the 2 outter lights on each side light up along with the brake light in the wing.

 

it's amazing how only the posts need to be extended to make the 4th gne spoiler fit so well. It's tight to the glass and matches the width of the decklid and fenders perfectly. I think it'd look great with some 91-92 T/A tail lights... of course they cost a fortune. Even 85-90 T/A tail lights would look great on it.

 

And very soon, we'll see a 4th gen one, fitted to a 85-90 body....My 87 GTA!

Eddy's fit was amazing. I got to check it out in person. It's not even finished, and it looks great. If you don't know where to look, and what to look for, you wouldn't even notice what needs finishing!

I'm picking up my wing tomorrow!

 

I generally don’t like them (I like it on my 97 WS6 though), but I have to admit that it looks good from some angles. I’m starting to wonder if it was massaged a little, mostly the edges squared off some to match the lines of the 3rd gens better and it needs a slight upward bend at the end like the stock TA/GTA/formula spoiler (almost like a bit of an old 911 whale tail spoiler), if it won’t actually look like it belongs there… I’m almost tempted to get one and see what I can do with it.

Anyone have some good pics like those of one on an earlier GTA/TA?

 

I'll post pics of mine, when it's done.

One thing I really liked, was that the rear edge of the wing, was lined up perfectly with the rear edge of the rear bumper. Kinda "hanging off" off the hatch, but all 4 posts were still well on the hatch. Instead of the wing lining up with the hatch itself.

I was wondering when he was gonna post it with pics here.

 

I got a few cracks in the posts of my wing, what are you guys using to fill the cracks?

 

the 91/92 bumper sticks out significantly further than the earlier bumpers...

 

Nope...I've measured between his & mine, and there's no difference.

 

The only "massaging" done to it was a very slight trimming on the bottoms of the "arms". And that was only about the first 6-7" from the tips. I took about 3/16-1/4" off the bottoms of the arm tips so it wouldn't hit the tops of the quarter panels when the hatch was closed. Other than that it just bolts right on. Well, you have to extend the center posts if you want it to look and sit right.


I'd love to get my hands on a set of 91-92 T/A lights but I don't feel like shelling out the cash that it takes to get them at the moment.

 

Exactly! He trimmed the bottoms of the front "arms", extended the posts, and that's it.

We'll get pics of doing it on mine, step by step, as we go.

 

You sure, I could have sworn that we measured a difference between my 87 formula and my friend’s ’91 formula… oh well…

Naw, you missed my point, I was wondering if I could square off some of the rounded features to make it match the 3rd gen lines more…, I wasn’t saying that you did.

 

The sublte rounded edges on it match my 91 perfectly, but 91-92 are more rounded. I think it looks almost stock. The angle of the wing is the exact same angle of the big GFX on my doors.

I'm sure you could square it off a little, but it really doesn't need it. It's really not that rounded when you see it in person, I mean the whole top of if is flat, which matches the top of the hatch.

 

I see you have a thirdgen.org sticker on you window.

 

I love seeing a thread reply....20th one...just saying "You..." without saying which one of the 19 other replies a person is referring too....

Looking through the thread, I saw no TGO window decal, just an ATGO decal.

 

It's an AustinThirdGen.Org decal

 

FYRCHKN.....
I've been working on your hood FireBird decal, and I haven't even started on your new ATGO decal. I should just stop & do it...I can be done with it QUICK, whereas the Firebird for the hood....Maybe 2010? The graphix conversion from a .jpeg, is time consuming process....

Actually...I"M DONE! With the graphix side. Just gotta cut it out.

 

Well, I opened my hatch, and set the wing in place, for a quick & easy preview....

 

its starting to become a trend!

 

I think they match best with the 1991-1992 Body gfx. Nice job!

 

i got a 4th gen wing on my car, i personally like it more than the third gen one mainly cuz anyone who has a third gen aroudn here is old and doesnt do anything with it....i figured i'd try to spice up the car a little bit by changing the color and adding that, i was gonna do a ram air hood but they crack so easily.....anyway, heres a pic of it when i was getting my car ready for paint





incase you didnt know, yes, i did pay the outrageous amount of money for it and i am certainly regretting it! not to mention that hawks never even gave me all the mounting hardware and the thing was scratched to hell....plus who the hell sees a box marked "fragile" and said "uhhh durrrrrrrrrr lets put tons of staples in it!!"

anyway, heres the brake lights in action

 

I take it that is a Hawk's 4th gen style wing for a 3rd gen, and not an OEM 4th gen wing?

 

looks pretty sharp, if i had a bird i'd highly consider one.

 

lol yeah, it is a hawks wing....ithink i paid 350 dollars plus like 110 for shipping and an extra 20 because i dont live in a commercial neighbor hood...man, with shipping like that they might as well have just added another 15 cuz i have a soul, 45 because its going on a third gen, and how about i pay for the gas for the trip up here? do you accept souls? cuz im sure if i went through with buying a motor from them thats what the fee would be....no dollar amount it would probably just say "1 soul" lol, i mean i love hawks, they have good stuff, just wish it wasnt so expensive, but i guess thats what i get for not shopping around first in the junkyards for this spoiler....oh well

 

Looks good though. Wasn't wasted money.

 

You see the difference Stephen? The OEM wing hangs out past the hatch kind even with the rear bumper. The Hawk's replica wing is pretty much even with the back of the hatch.

But, racerx520 has the same body style as yours and the wing looks good on his. And, remember NOSAINT's car looks good with it too.

 

well it hangs over significantly more than the stock one did, i dont have a good angle that shows it....the hawks one is pretty much a replica of of the real 4th gen one, but it has a LED light strip instead pretty much thats the only difference that i can find after examining other 4th gens

 

I guess it's just the angle of the pic then. But, most of the 4th gen replicas I've seen don't hang much if any. Here's how far the OEM 4th gen hangs out.

This was before I painted it, but it's the only side shot I have at the moment.

 

I don't think the rears are any different but I've had both fronts on mine and yes, the 91/92 does appear to stick out more then earlier models.

 

Nice work getting it installed FYRCHKN! One of the first things I noticed was how much it hangs out over the back edge of the hatch. I'm undecided about whether I like that or not. I do like the shape and style of the 4th gen wing on our '91-'92 style cars (obviously, I have a replica one on my car!). I'm just not quite sure how I feel about it hanging out that far. To be honest I wasn't sure I liked how far my replica one hung out over the back when I first got it all together.

Regardless of that though, really good job, it does look good, and less expensive mods are (almost!) always better!!

-Paul

 

When I first put it on I was kinda worried that it was hanging too far out. But, after looking at several times for extended periods of time it kinda grew on me. Plus, the most I could actually move it forward would be maybe and 1 or 2 before I had to start cutting the arms down.....and that's not happening.

 

see i kinda liked the way it looked hanging over like that...kinda gave it like a blown back kinda look i thought....just my own opinion....the only thing i dont really like about it is that it feels kinda fragile and im afraid of it breaking lol.....



.....again

 

Agreed Fyrchkn, I noticed that it was as far forward as it could go due to the arms, and I would not cut the arms either. Like I said, it does look good, just takes some getting used to. Kinda like my whole '92...I always hated the "banshee" styling, but now that I've had it for a year (and finished for a few months) it's grown on me and I like it a lot

I hear you on the "feeling fragile" thing racerx520! My aftermarket 4th gen style wing feels VERY fragile. In fact I try hard not to touch it at all! LOL It has a crack near the back edge that has re-appeared since we painted it. We didn't have enough time to properly strip, repair, and smooth it when we painted the car. The fiberglass they're made out of is NOT very good quality. My ASCD RAI hood is much better made, and the 4th gen wings are a LOT sturdier than their aftermarket likenesses

-Paul

 

I don’t have any issues with the amount is sticks out, and yes, I’m familiarl with it, I have a 97 WS6…

Ah, perfect pic to show what I was trying to say.

I think that if it was squared off like the lines in this drawing (attached), with the double line in the back being a slight bit of a turned up lip, but otherwise kept the same basic lines/proportions that it would fit the 3rd gen ‘birds, especially the earlier ones perfectly. If I could get one for a reasonable price I would totally be willing to cut it up and experiment on it.

 

Yeah...that's my pic in fact. If the wing was more "squared off" & shaped like your red lines, I'd call it perfect.

If I had the fiberglass knowledge to do it, or the $ to have it done, I'd reshape it.

 

I may actually try it (part of the question is if the construction of the stock wing will lend itself to those kinds of changes), if I can find one of those wings cheap enough. Where are you guys finding them?

 

I found them both on a local F-body club site, that is primarily 4th gens & Vettes. The FY-club....

 

Here are some pics of an 89 GTA that I had. I did the swap 4 years ago now. The only thing I would have done differently is take time to fill the inside edge of the wing where each side comes off the deck and onto the glass area.

I personally didn't like the wing until I put the ASCD RA1 hood on the car.

I rounded the tips of the wing to blend with the bodyline of the 3rd gen and secured the arms of the wing to the glass.

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrow...der_id=1933725

 

is it my imagination or did you cut the arms down so that you could mount it further forward?

How did you mount it to the glass?

 

I like my fourth gen style for the third gen much better than any factory fourth gen conversion I've seen so far.

 

Pic? And what about it do you like better?

 

I'll get a pic of mine tomorrow,and as far as what I like better,I would have to say the fitment.I bought mine,filled a couple of holes in the decklid and mounted it.Every pic that I've seen of the fourth gen conversions looks like the side pieces next to the glass are chopped up or something.

 

Can you see any chopped up spots? Anything that looks remotely modified? I will agree with you that "some" pics of the conversion look bad, but if you take another 5-10 minutes to trim and fit properly you'll come out with a stock looking install.

 

I didn't like the end of the spoiler hanging quite so far past my bumper. I also didn't like how the tips came to a square end on the front of the hatch. But I could only move it so far ahead before I started running out of room to drill my mounting holes in the decklid. I can't remember exactly how far ahead, but it was a good couple of inches. In the link in my last post it looks like I had marked out the mounting holes that I had to drill in my decklid. Maybe someone can post a pic of their holes to get an idea how far I brought it ahead.

As for mounting the arms on the glass, I just used the correct primers and urethane I use for installing windshields and other glass. I ran a 1 inch "v" bead on the underside of the arms. I also ran a bead down the outside of the arms. The second bead was simply for cosmetics. It looked very good IMO.