Convertibles Discussed here are problems and solutions to convertible specific questions, including difficult to find part numbers and other convertible tech help.

Plastic sides

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Nov 29, 2016 | 12:59 PM
  #1  
junglejim75686's Avatar
Thread Starter
Junior Member
 
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
From: GILMER TEXAS
Car: 92 Z28 CONVERTIBLE
Engine: 305 TPI
Transmission: AUTO
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Plastic sides

Can someone tell me why the convertibles had the plastic piece's going down the side to the back instead of a regular rear spoiler
Reply
Old Nov 29, 2016 | 02:01 PM
  #2  
blacksunshine'91's Avatar
Supreme Member
25 Year Member
iTrader: (10)
 
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,499
Likes: 194
From: Moorpark, CA
Car: '91 GTA, '92 T/A Convertible
Engine: GTA: 350 w/Vortec heads, T/A: 305
Transmission: Pro-built 700R4
Axle/Gears: GTA: 3.27, T/A: 2.73
Re: Plastic sides

Styling.
Reply
Old Nov 29, 2016 | 02:11 PM
  #3  
junglejim75686's Avatar
Thread Starter
Junior Member
 
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
From: GILMER TEXAS
Car: 92 Z28 CONVERTIBLE
Engine: 305 TPI
Transmission: AUTO
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Plastic sides

So you can take them off and put a normal rear spoiler on then because I hate the way it looks
Reply
Old Nov 29, 2016 | 02:48 PM
  #4  
blacksunshine'91's Avatar
Supreme Member
25 Year Member
iTrader: (10)
 
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,499
Likes: 194
From: Moorpark, CA
Car: '91 GTA, '92 T/A Convertible
Engine: GTA: 350 w/Vortec heads, T/A: 305
Transmission: Pro-built 700R4
Axle/Gears: GTA: 3.27, T/A: 2.73
Re: Plastic sides

Yes, they come off pretty easily.
Reply
Old Nov 29, 2016 | 05:03 PM
  #5  
junglejim75686's Avatar
Thread Starter
Junior Member
 
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
From: GILMER TEXAS
Car: 92 Z28 CONVERTIBLE
Engine: 305 TPI
Transmission: AUTO
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Plastic sides

i wounder if anyone has any pics without them on and a regular spoiler
Reply
Old Nov 29, 2016 | 05:23 PM
  #6  
rarebmx's Avatar
Senior Member
10 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
iTrader: (6)
 
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 914
Likes: 16
From: Imperial, Missouri
Car: 89 IROC/89 Vert/87 Vert/89 GTA Vert
Engine: 5.7/5.0/5.0/5.7
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 9" 2.77/9" 3:23/9" 3:42
Re: Plastic sides

Those side pieces hide where ASC cut the roof off.
Reply
Old Nov 29, 2016 | 06:39 PM
  #7  
junglejim75686's Avatar
Thread Starter
Junior Member
 
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
From: GILMER TEXAS
Car: 92 Z28 CONVERTIBLE
Engine: 305 TPI
Transmission: AUTO
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Plastic sides

ok that makes sense thanks
Reply
Old Nov 29, 2016 | 10:18 PM
  #8  
Vanilla Ice's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
 
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,160
Likes: 40
From: ARIZONA
Car: 92 Trans Am Conv
Engine: LB9
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3.08
Re: Plastic sides

The other reason is too hide design flaws easily.
The trunk is a different shape and a normal spoiler will need to be tweaked to look normal and so will the lip.
Reply
Old Dec 4, 2016 | 12:51 PM
  #9  
Tibo's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
iTrader: (15)
 
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,028
Likes: 78
From: Desert
Car: 1991 Z28 Vert
Engine: 383 single plane efi
Transmission: T-56
Axle/Gears: 8.8 with 3.73s
Re: Plastic sides

I have a couple photos from my the paint and body portion of my convertible build that may help illustrate the point. ASC simply chopped the roof from an existing car and then made a couple spot welds. There is an enormous gap (wavering, not straight) between the trunk lid and fenders. There is also a height mismatch between the trunk lid and the fenders. In the pictures the height difference is 1/4" but that was with no weatherstripping. With the weatherstripping it was 3/8-1/2" I'm not a fan of the convertible spoilers so I knew I was going to replace it. I wanted to use a duckbill spoiler but it would require so much work since the body contour and fender height would be different between a fixed convertible and a t-top.






Last edited by Tibo; Dec 4, 2016 at 12:57 PM.
Reply
Old Dec 4, 2016 | 01:05 PM
  #10  
Tibo's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
iTrader: (15)
 
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,028
Likes: 78
From: Desert
Car: 1991 Z28 Vert
Engine: 383 single plane efi
Transmission: T-56
Axle/Gears: 8.8 with 3.73s
Re: Plastic sides

I had to make a new piece inside the channel and weld it in. I used the expanding foam to afix the top strip into position so it was in the perfect spot and level with the trunk lid. I don't have any pictures but I also welded a strip to the side between the top of the old fender and the new top that I made.







Reply
Old Dec 4, 2016 | 01:10 PM
  #11  
Tibo's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
iTrader: (15)
 
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,028
Likes: 78
From: Desert
Car: 1991 Z28 Vert
Engine: 383 single plane efi
Transmission: T-56
Axle/Gears: 8.8 with 3.73s
Re: Plastic sides





Reply
Old Dec 4, 2016 | 02:58 PM
  #12  
Tibo's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
iTrader: (15)
 
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,028
Likes: 78
From: Desert
Car: 1991 Z28 Vert
Engine: 383 single plane efi
Transmission: T-56
Axle/Gears: 8.8 with 3.73s
Re: Plastic sides









As you can guess it is a lot of work to make it look factory without the plastic wrap around spoiler!

Last edited by Tibo; Dec 4, 2016 at 03:02 PM.
Reply
Old Dec 4, 2016 | 07:32 PM
  #13  
junglejim75686's Avatar
Thread Starter
Junior Member
 
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
From: GILMER TEXAS
Car: 92 Z28 CONVERTIBLE
Engine: 305 TPI
Transmission: AUTO
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Plastic sides

that looks great but a little out of my ability
Reply
Old Dec 4, 2016 | 09:02 PM
  #14  
Tibo's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
iTrader: (15)
 
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,028
Likes: 78
From: Desert
Car: 1991 Z28 Vert
Engine: 383 single plane efi
Transmission: T-56
Axle/Gears: 8.8 with 3.73s
Re: Plastic sides

Another member (that seems to have left the thirdgen community) did a write up of mounting the high rise spoiler while using the existing side caps a few years ago. He kept the sides of the wrap around spoiler intact and cut the side caps of the spoiler to fit to the side caps of the convertible's fenders. His thread is here
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/conv...ml#post4875374

And these are his pictures:







He seemed to have gotten the idea from this members thread:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/conv...h-rise-my.html


Last edited by Tibo; Dec 4, 2016 at 09:05 PM.
Reply
Old Dec 5, 2016 | 06:04 PM
  #15  
rarebmx's Avatar
Senior Member
10 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
iTrader: (6)
 
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 914
Likes: 16
From: Imperial, Missouri
Car: 89 IROC/89 Vert/87 Vert/89 GTA Vert
Engine: 5.7/5.0/5.0/5.7
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 9" 2.77/9" 3:23/9" 3:42
Re: Plastic sides

Originally Posted by Tibo
Another member (that seems to have left the thirdgen community) did a write up of mounting the high rise spoiler while using the existing side caps a few years ago. He kept the sides of the wrap around spoiler intact and cut the side caps of the spoiler to fit to the side caps of the convertible's fenders. His thread is here
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/conv...ml#post4875374

And these are his pictures:







He seemed to have gotten the idea from this members thread:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/conv...h-rise-my.html

Bluezee is still around just sold that LS swapped Z28. He's got his Dads 92 purple haze vert listed now.
Reply
Old Dec 5, 2016 | 09:35 PM
  #16  
Tibo's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
iTrader: (15)
 
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,028
Likes: 78
From: Desert
Car: 1991 Z28 Vert
Engine: 383 single plane efi
Transmission: T-56
Axle/Gears: 8.8 with 3.73s
Re: Plastic sides

Originally Posted by rarebmx
Bluezee is still around just sold that LS swapped Z28. He's got his Dads 92 purple haze vert listed now.
I had some questions about how he mounted his high rise that weren't handled in his thread so I reached out to him via (polite) emails, private message and replies in his thread way back in the spring. Never heard from him. Hence why I say he isn't active here.
Reply
Old Dec 5, 2016 | 11:43 PM
  #17  
rarebmx's Avatar
Senior Member
10 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
iTrader: (6)
 
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 914
Likes: 16
From: Imperial, Missouri
Car: 89 IROC/89 Vert/87 Vert/89 GTA Vert
Engine: 5.7/5.0/5.0/5.7
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 9" 2.77/9" 3:23/9" 3:42
Re: Plastic sides

I bought some stuff from him around Labor Day but then again he is local to me & I sent him a PM, then just called him.
He is not doing anything with cars right now & focusing on his family. I'm in sure in time he'll be back at it again.
Reply
Old Dec 6, 2016 | 03:00 PM
  #18  
Vanilla Ice's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
 
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,160
Likes: 40
From: ARIZONA
Car: 92 Trans Am Conv
Engine: LB9
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3.08
Re: Plastic sides

Tibo if yours is done could you post a profile pic?
This is something I am considering in the distant future but I'm afraid of ruining the body lines. Hardtop lines are what I prefer so the idea would be to go back to them but it looks like you altered the fender to match the trunk instead of somehow altering the trunk to match the fender, which changes the body lines the wrong way. Of course this is a personal preference and not meant in a bad way.
But I'd like to see it regardless of how you approached it.
Reply
Old Dec 8, 2016 | 02:40 PM
  #19  
Tibo's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
iTrader: (15)
 
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,028
Likes: 78
From: Desert
Car: 1991 Z28 Vert
Engine: 383 single plane efi
Transmission: T-56
Axle/Gears: 8.8 with 3.73s
Re: Plastic sides

Originally Posted by Vanilla Ice
Tibo if yours is done could you post a profile pic?
This is something I am considering in the distant future but I'm afraid of ruining the body lines. Hardtop lines are what I prefer so the idea would be to go back to them
I don't know which angle you want to see it from. Can you post a picture of another car from the angle you want to see? I'm not really following when you talk about preferring the body lines of a hardtop but you want them on a convertible.

Originally Posted by Vanilla Ice
but it looks like you altered the fender to match the trunk instead of somehow altering the trunk to match the fender, which changes the body lines the wrong way. Of course this is a personal preference and not meant in a bad way.
But I'd like to see it regardless of how you approached it.
I don't think you could sink the trunk lid to match the height of the fenders. The trunk lid sits at the same height as the tonneau cover- which cannot be altered without lots of work. You would also have to sink the trunk's weatherstrip channel down which would mean cutting it out and welding an extension of a long strip of metal 1/2" wide and then welding it back in place. I also don't know if how straight or even the fenders were cut and if they were cut at the same height on both sides. I really think they just held up a template on the car, made a line and then cut it apart. These convertibles just don't weren't done to the same quality as a 4'th gen convertible or especially a Mustang convertible of the 80-90's. My dad has a 16,000 mile 96 cobra convertible and it was done so much better. Sad really.
Reply
Old Dec 9, 2016 | 12:45 PM
  #20  
Vanilla Ice's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
 
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,160
Likes: 40
From: ARIZONA
Car: 92 Trans Am Conv
Engine: LB9
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3.08
Re: Plastic sides


Basically this angle.
Reply
Old Dec 9, 2016 | 01:59 PM
  #21  
Tibo's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
iTrader: (15)
 
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,028
Likes: 78
From: Desert
Car: 1991 Z28 Vert
Engine: 383 single plane efi
Transmission: T-56
Axle/Gears: 8.8 with 3.73s
Re: Plastic sides

I can take a picture from that exact angle on Monday. The car isn't done so it is still sitting in the garage. No tonneau cover on yet. I had to spot spray a few spots so I will need to re wet sand. I'll measure the height above the tailights as that might be the best indicator for if I raised the body line. I have a laser level I can try to use for this.
Reply
Old Dec 9, 2016 | 03:23 PM
  #22  
Vanilla Ice's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
 
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,160
Likes: 40
From: ARIZONA
Car: 92 Trans Am Conv
Engine: LB9
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3.08
Re: Plastic sides

That would be great. My problem is while a Camaro actually mostly hides it with the spoiler it is exacerbated by the trans am whale tail.
Reply
Old Dec 15, 2016 | 08:07 PM
  #23  
Tibo's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
iTrader: (15)
 
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,028
Likes: 78
From: Desert
Car: 1991 Z28 Vert
Engine: 383 single plane efi
Transmission: T-56
Axle/Gears: 8.8 with 3.73s
Re: Plastic sides

I put the new weatherstripping on the trunk and found out that for whatever reason the trunk lid now wants to sit higher. I'll have to re-use the the old piece (if I didn't throw it away) or buy a different brand. So no new pictures for now.
Reply
Old Dec 15, 2016 | 09:01 PM
  #24  
my82roc's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
iTrader: (101)
 
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,941
Likes: 30
From: Levittown Pa
Car: 89 Iroc Convertible
Engine: 305 TPI
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.27 Posi 9 bolt PBR
Re: Plastic sides

Originally Posted by Vanilla Ice

Basically this angle.
That's my 86 Iroc...Where did you dig up this picture?
Reply
Old Dec 16, 2016 | 10:08 AM
  #25  
Vanilla Ice's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
 
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,160
Likes: 40
From: ARIZONA
Car: 92 Trans Am Conv
Engine: LB9
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3.08
Re: Plastic sides

Originally Posted by my82roc
That's my 86 Iroc...Where did you dig up this picture?
Found it on this cool new search website called Google.com.
Reply
Old Dec 16, 2016 | 10:52 AM
  #26  
Tibo's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
iTrader: (15)
 
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,028
Likes: 78
From: Desert
Car: 1991 Z28 Vert
Engine: 383 single plane efi
Transmission: T-56
Axle/Gears: 8.8 with 3.73s
Re: Plastic sides

Originally Posted by Vanilla Ice
Found it on this cool new search website called Google.com.

Yeah, once you post a picture anybody and can pull it and use it.
Reply
Old Jan 17, 2017 | 08:58 PM
  #27  
Tibo's Avatar
Supreme Member
20 Year Member
iTrader: (15)
 
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,028
Likes: 78
From: Desert
Car: 1991 Z28 Vert
Engine: 383 single plane efi
Transmission: T-56
Axle/Gears: 8.8 with 3.73s
Re: Plastic sides

Not fully assembled but does this help?








Everything is flush with the trunk lid so imo it just boils down to if you prefer the look of the convertibles with the high rise or the three piece factory spoiler.
Reply




All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:10 AM.