I'm working on putting a 4th gen spoiler for my 88' Formula and wondered if any one could give me advice or tips on how they installed theirs. I'm super lucky to have another firebird to work off of

 

Just gotta add material to the center posts..some have used pieces of wood and covered in fiberglass resin and sand smooth..there is a good write up on it..try searching fourth gen wing mod..

 

I really like those spoilers, been looking for a complete white hatch so I could put it on mine for a long time. Too hard to find though

 

I pushed my spoiler all the way till the tips hit the mount for the old spoiler and mounted it right there. I got it from a guy that had it on an 87 GTA and so mine fit, but had some gaps on the sides. To drill the holes I made a template and traced the footprint of the spoiler on my deck lid. I had the aerowing spoiler so I had to repaint it anyway. Then I got some rubber that is used to do rubber roofs on houses so water won't leak into the trunk.

 

The way I did it was to use styrofoam to make a filler piece and use the stud to hold it in place. Then I just wrapped it in a few layers of fiberglass then put a skin coat of filler to fill any pinholes. Good luck with the project.

 

Thanks guys, I've seen a few threads but most of them were arguing over the differences in the spoilers for lt and ls cars lol. So how did you guys mount the rest of the spoiler along the window? Cause the aero spoiler is clipped down there or are you guys only mounting the spoiler to the hatch and calling it good?

 

yes, the wing tips along the glass are rigid. Just make sure you have a 1/4" gap or so to mitigate any vibration at high speeds (remove clips off of band). Extend legs so you can have four attachment points - NOT just two.


https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...y-paint-2.html

 

Looks like the General made it that way.

 

Thanks Winnie - my mother grew up in East Kildonan.

 

Thanks TEDSgrad, that spoiler turned out great on yours and the car looks beautiful!

 

Ok guys I'm stumped this spoiler is atleast a half inch too wide. Are you guys cutting it in half?? I can line it up perfect on one side and the other side sits on the quarter panel, help me out

 

Got a picture? I did not have have a problem and I am run the "problematic" ls1 wing.

 

Ill go get some pictures of it really quick, maybe im doing something wrong. The spoiler is off a 93'

 

I haven't made the center posts yet, just have it mocked up sitting on 2 lugnuts on my other firebird, which its going on my 88' formula when done. Hopefully in the pics you can see how far it sits over on the quarter panels, what am I doing wrong? I've also read somewhere people have cut it in half and shortened it, I'd like to avoid doing that if possible

 

Anything?

 

For the problem of not sitting flat I ground the wing down a little till it sit flat on the outside. The other problem of hanging off the hatch is normal. The wing will not completely sit on the hatch as it was designed for a different wider car.

 

Yes, you have to grind the back of the outside legs for it to sit flat enough - that is the key. Search under my username in this sub-section and read the threads.

 

more

 

Fitment takes patience.

 

Thanks, I'll look at it again tomorrow. The problem is how much wider than the hatch it is at the front

 

Yes, it is slightly. GM wasn't perfect either. Make sure the clips are off and grind the support holes down on the underside of the tips.

 

The biggest dilemma i'm having is my dad thinks the way everyone else has done it is "half-a**". Because of the tiny gap between the between the spoiler and hatch and how the ends of the "arms" hang out wider, plus he thinks that is gonna rub my fresh paint off when I open the hatch? Have you guys ran into that problem? I think your work looks good, but my dads gonna make me and him get it done perfect.........I have no problems with that though, just don't see the need to do it

 

That was my conclusion, no need. There has to be some space or wing tips will rattle at speed, unless you find a way to attach. Lot of hours for something minor. You could find double sided colored tape, but over time...
My tips will not touch anything - no paint to paint rubbing, hence the space.
You could always re-engineer the whole wing. I'll watch you from my chair. At what point does the "worth it?" question come into play. I would enjoy watching, but I have other areas to work on.

 

I have no gap between spoiler and hatch. The gap is between glass and tips.

 

Yep, we will see what happens. I'd rather keep the work minimal because even though it's not exactly perfect it still look great. But if he wants to get it perfect I guess ill play it out. Thanks for your input and pics, I have no problem with the way you did it, yours turned out nice.

 

Got a little work done tonight, got the "arms" or ends of the spoilers shaped a bit and I'm filling in the gaps and center posts right now. Dont mind the bricks and dirty garage lol

 

More progress, haven't made up my mind if I want to keep the third brake light.

 

Shirley, you should keep it! Looking Good!
You could be giving the cops a reason to investigate you if the brake light is there, and not operational. Don't give them an excuse - wire it up, or glass it in.

 

Thanks! I'm probably gonna buy a new lense and tint it. That's kind of a happy medium lol

 

I am missing the lens for mine, cant seem to find one, might end up glassing it in

 

Has anyone done anything with the tip or the tips? On the body of the 4th gen, they fit together and the body line flows along the quarterpanel onto the wing. I've been thinking about trying to make the tip look more like it was intended for the 3rd gen, but I don't know what material would work best. Any ideas?

Also, mine fits like most of the other people said, so I'm probably going to use some good 3M trim tape - the kind with the dense, black rubber/foam - to hold the tips in place so they don't rattle when I close the hatch.

 

Yeah thats what I originally wanted to do was get the ends of the spoiler along the glass but you will have to cut the spoiler in half and shorten it

 

Slowly making progress

 

Looking better. The wing tips will not move, they are stiff. As long as you have 1/4" clearance, they will not rattle on anything. Tape would be just to close the gap, but will attract dirt, etc.
Once you have the third light working, you'll want to seal up the lens watertight. It's not an electrical problem. I would wash my car, and always come back to wipe drips from the lens. Finally, I just sealed it on the top so no water would run down.

 

Awesome, thanks for the advice. I decided to keep the third brake light and make it functional.

 

Havent posted in awhile, been a little busy. The spoiler is super close and about ready for primer.

 

So you are going to add the bolts to the legs (all four) and drill the holes in the deck lid, correct? And repair the original holes, of course.
The two inner legs you extended - you will need to trim the bolt (once fitted) and use an acorn nut to provide clearance and a smooth edged nut in order to not damage the weatherstripping.
For the gaskets, I used the neoprene .093 sample squares from http://www.rubbersheetroll.com/samples.htm
$20 shipped for two and cut to fit. Weatherstrip adhesive to attach.

You're close - good job!
Neoprene rubber is an all purpose elastomer and an extremely versatile synthetic rubber used in thousands of applications. Neoprene rubber resists degradation from sun, ozone and weather and performs well in contact with oils and chemicals. Neoprene rubber maintains its strength, flexing, twisting and elongation very well over a wide temperature range while having outstanding physical toughness.

 

Thanks! And yes I plan to have the spoiler attached by all 4 legs, and close up the holes for stock spoiler. Thanks for the info on the neoprene rubber, i'll look into it!

 

Got it installed and ready for thirdgen fest saturday, tinting the third brake light tonight and may get a few more pictures

 

Heres a good pic

 

Looks good.
Has your Dad come around and approved the final product?
How was the Fest?

 

Thanks! Yes lol he was checking my work. The fest was great perfect weather, 63 cars registered. Surprisingly a couple liked the spoiler, to me they dont realize that the 91-92 wraparound spoiler is pretty similar to the 93-02 spoiler. Oh well! They look awesome and I love it

 

Looks nice. Good work!