If you wanna see part one go to the Tech/General Engine forum. This thread is all about pulling the body of this car together...

Couple general questions for you guys:

Where in the world do I find these upper hood louvers? Did all GTA Trans Ams have them? because I like the look without them as well.

The wrap around spoiler is still on the car. It doesn't look half bad, but for some reason the rear hatch doesn't align with the back of the car. I know I'm gonna be told to ditch the plastic one and get a fiberglass one, but I honestly can't afford that so does anyone know of a repair kit or something they sell that could help me fix it?

Any help is appreciated too... Lets just say after hearing this car run I'm definitely a proud GTA owner.

 

The hood vents are the same as on trans-ams and GTA's, no different. Find a TA in a junkyard and get them if they are good shape. They have 4 bolts per vent for the front ones, and the rear ones snap in, I'd bring a plastic putty knife for those, cause you will mar the hell out of them if they are even slightly stubborn with metal.

How does the rear hatch not align? Does it stick out too far over the rear tail lights? Too far left/right? etc....

The rear hatch is actually clamped onto hatch glass and sealed with silicone. To adjust it you'd need to remove the silcone, the plastic interior piece, spoiler, and then you can get to all of the parts. Its a pain, I haven't fixed mine yet but thats what you have to do. Beware the whaletail bolts, they may snap off, then the wing is useless. Ask me how I know, my wing is constantly up now because one of them snapped off and now I can't tighten it down. Its time for a fiberglass spoiler.

T

 

Alright I'll do that. Is there any place that sells them for cheap? I had an old YearOne Catalog from 3 years ago and they had them in there, but they told me they dont even sell them anymore.

Yeah it hangs too far back over the tail lights. Probably about 1/2 inch to an inch.

For the first part are you talking about how to adjust the spoiler or how to make the hatch line up again?

I probably won't replace the wrap around wing only because the guy I'm working with who is doing some of my body work with is positive he can fix it. One of the clips on the passengers side is broke though. I'm gonna have to see how he does this lol

 

The hatch should be adjusted at the hatch hinges where they attach to the roof. The hinges can become 'bent' over time from the force of the hatch struts though and there may not be enough slack in the mount points to pull it back to alignment. In this case the hinges may need to be replaced or straightened.

When aligning it back up, release the struts to keep them from pushing the hatch back towards the rear of the car.

 

I had to take my hatch completely apart and move the bottom plate forward, like mentioned in the 2nd post. That was a very aggravating job, and you'll need a helper.

 

Yep, this is what I have to do to mine. The hatch glass itself is perfectly aligned. However the deck lid sticks out about 1/4" inch past where the 1/4 panels wrap around the tail lights. So it looks out of whack.

The only way to fix it is to redo the deck lid attachment, which is a pain. I also need to take it apart to reseal it so it doesn't leak. Fun, fun.

 

I've got some vents if anyone needs 'em...