I'm reattaching my rear spoiler after paint and am wondering about the attachment nuts and body sealing.

The parts & assembly manual shows a washer (p/n 2134885, WASHER-HTR) but my car (an '82) didn't have these when I disassembled it. I assume there should be a gasket of some kind installed since not having one could easily let water get in to the decklid.

Couple of questions:

First, does anyone know what the "HTR" designation means for p/n 2134885? "Heater" comes to mind and I suppose that makes some sense. Not a big deal -- but I am curious.

Second, does anyone know if there really should be a rubber washer installed or if the 10mm nut was the type that had pre-applied sealer on it? If there should be a separate washer, is it just a regular old rubber washer? The GM part number is no longer available and I can't find any pictures of it.

I know I'm overthinking this and that there needs to be a gasket/washer/sealer installed to prevent water intrusion.

Given that my car is an April '82 build it's possible the washer was added later, but the parts & assembly manual does show it for the 82 model year.

Anyone have any insight?

 

I just took my spoiler off my 92 rs last week and was wondering the exact same thing. Mine didnt really have a gasket though. It looked like there was some sort of sealant used though. What ever it was after all these years it was still rubbery and not brittle.

It looked as if there was a generous amount on mine because it was enough that some of the nuts were almost covered in the sealant. I couldnt find anything about any washers so I just used some sealant I picked up at the local advance and applied a generous amount onto spoiler studs then re-installed it.

 

Thanks. Looking closer at the book, it looks like the Firebird spoilers may have used a gasket between the stands and the decklid.

What you described is what I think my car had -- the nut flange had sealer applied to keep water out and there was no washer ever installed. The book doesn't list the sealer or that the nut should have sealer applied. The exact name is:

NUT - HEX W/CON WA (M6X1) PEOR

I assume this translates to Hex, with connecting washer (M6 x 1).

Not sure what "PEOR" means.

Anyone else?
Thanks

 

I used nylon and rubber washers between the wing posts and deck lid to keep the two from touching. I did not want to scratch up my new paint with direct contact. You can just barley see a crack of light between the two using a flash light at night.

 

I removed and reinstalled mine. On the existing nut was something exactly like grey plumbers putty. It comes in a strip rolled up. its used to keep water from getting inside the hatch panel.

 

@ Ron U.S.M.C and @aroto -- Thanks for the info guys!

 

I can't speak specifically to your Bird, but a non-hardening butyl sealant was used by GM on some applications like that. It "never" fully cures, and does a good job preventing leaks into body panels where studs go down through them.

 

That sounds exactly like what was on mine. I just went with one of the permatex sealers that is non hardening. Figured that would be close to what GM had on there.

 

It's been some years, but IIRC, I used the following. The 3M product will work as well (make a little ball of it and smash it flat and you have a washer).

JamesC

 

Folks can even look for a similar sealer called "dum-dum" for preventing
leaks/paint chafing on screw/stud reassembly................

Comes in strips and colors or in bulk cans.
http://www.proformproducts.com/en/pr...m-strip-caulk/

 

@JamesC - I actually bought the 3M strip caulk a while back and originally planned to use that. As I started looking at the book it got wondering if the original GM nuts with the sealer already applied were still available or not.

Thanks again for the info everyone.

 

Autozone carries strip caulk in a roll, have used it effectively to install spoilers and hatch lid to glass. Reasonable cost.