Austin Vert's Rear Spoiler Install.

Hi to all,

To put or not to put a rear spoiler on the trunk of a '71-'73 Mustang Convertible. That is the question. Some guys like the look, others don't. I chose to go ahead with the project.

I bought a fibreglass one because of less tendancy to bend, distort etc.

They are heavy though. I heard plastic can play up in that regard. On the install, your two placement measurements are front/back and side/side.After much research, the proper favoured posi is having the back edge of the spoiler line up with the back edge of the trunk vertical edge. I have seen many variations with the front/back placement though. Remember, the fat, thick edge of the spoiler, faces towards the front of the car, while the thinner back edge faces towards back.Instructions come with spoiler and explain it all well. The spoiler should be set on a level angle, maybe slightly angled down towards the front. (check with level)

There are two spacer rubber feet that the pedastals sit on the trunk.I chose 14 1/4 inches from front edge of lid to front face of rubber feet, and 3 1/8 inches from back of rubber foot to back edge of lid.This will give you an accurate front/back placement of the spoiler with the back edge of spoiler lining up with back edge of trunk.Side aside will of coarse be equidistant and should come in at 8 3/8 inches from side of foot rubber to side edge of trunk lid.

The pedastals get installed to the spoiler before you mount the whole thing to the trunk lid. You will need shaped bolt spacers behind the trunk lid, as where the bolts come through the underside of the lid, the steel has uneven profiles. I bought pine dowel from my hardware store about an inch thick, cut it into small sections, drilled out the centers, and sanded each section down to match the angled profile of each of the four bolts.I sprayed them matt black.(See my photos) That worked well. Don't overtighten bolts when fixing spoiler to lid as you will easily distort the trunk suface.

Refinishing is a must for good looks and is a real bugger to do. Painting fibreglass was never easy to start with. My spoiler had a real uneven wobbly finish to it. I fixed that by using a long sanding block with 80 grit paper, and broard sanded it down first to help level it out. Several coats of 2k putty followed. That was long blocked as well. A couple more coats of putty and a block sand down with 240 grade paper followed. A guide coat and sand down with 800wet/dry to finish. I choose quality black satin acrylic lacquer to finish with over a more durable 2 pak black because if i got junk in the paint while i was spraying, i could easily sand it out as i was going. You can't do that with 2 pak matt and satin black.The finished result looks pretty decent i think. See photos on photobucket.and press any image to enlarge.

That's about it. I like the whole thing.

Thanks to all.

Greg

FOOTNOTE- By the way folks, you are looking at the original factory paint finish inside and out (Gold Glow Metallic) in these photos. The paint is still in fantastic condition given the car's age.The car originally comes from Ohio, where the first owner who owned it from '73 to 2009, hardly drove the car and kept it garaged all the time. Also, forget color matching from photos as if you look at mine, the color of the car changes dramatically between the shots. Never trust photos for accuracy.

Your reference for the pictures ..................................

http://s1295.photobucket.com/user/gregsladen/library/Mustang%20Trunk%20Alighnment/Mustang%20Rear%20Spoiler?sort=3&page=1

How about some pics here? I would like to see it and I don't do photo bucket

How about some pics here? I would like to see it and I don't do photo bucket

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Hi Wendell,

You should be able to just click on my link and go to the photos straight away. Here are a couple anyway.

Greg

Looks pretty good to me!

See another posting about trunk rods for good related info:

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-trunk-torsion-rod

Those spoilers make the trunk lid heavy!

Ray

Looks good Greg! Does the trunk lid stay up when you open it? You have a nice looking convertible there.

I used nylon tube spacers cut and sanded to match the profile and depth I needed. Added some rubber end caps to cover the threads and finish off the look.

Looks like you got it perfect.

I think it looks fantastic

Thumbs up, looks great, It's a very nice contrast between the black and gold all over. Breaks things up nicely.. There's nothing like that nervous feeling you get before you start drilling holes in perfectly good panels, Will be having it soon myself when I put a set of hood locks on my 72.

Hi Buddy,

Thanks for your praise.

Ray.

Thanks for the forum connection. A lot of good info in there.

Hi Steve,

Thank you also. The trunk lid does stay open with just one rod mounted in the center notched position (on level ground), but is definately sensitive to want to auto close easily if i'm parked on a slope or shake the car body.With the spoiler mounted, it's surprising how heavy the whole thing becomes to lift up.That spoiler is quite heavy! I posted a reply to another thread where the forum member's convertible trunk lid is rising up dramatically to the right. I talk about the tosion spring adjustment etc. Do check it out. I think you will find it interesting.

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-trunk-torsion-rod-convertible?page=2

Hi Bill,

Thanks for your kind words of praise. I like your idea of the nylon spacers as an alternative to the pine, and also using the rubber caps for the bolt ends.Thanks for your suggestions.

Cas,

Thanks for your kind feedback on the spoiler. I'm glad you like it.(Did you manage to check out the rest of my photos on the dreaded Bucket?)

Hi Pegasus,

Hope you're keeping well and enjoying your Mustang!Thanks for your kind words. I did feel nervous when i first drilled the lid. (original lid and original paint both in good condition:-/) But i don't regret it now that the job's done and turned out a success. Late last year, i pushed ahead and installed hood locks for my '73. The job turned out a great success. If you want any feedback from me about the install, drop me a private message when it suits you, and we'll catch up.

Many thanks again guys,

Greg

Looks good to me! My wife's 05 vert has a factory spoiler of a related design - just more modern looking but similar size.

Hi Don,

Many thanks for your thumbs up!

Greg

Greg, that is indeed a very nice looking car, the fact that it's the original paint and looks so great indicates to me you don't leave out in the Australian sun very often.

Jim

I missed that it is original paint. Wow! That's awesome looking. I had a gold glow torino. It is a very nice color that does change color in the sun. Very nice!

Looks good, great work. What do you recon best placement on an XB Coupe is? will be doing the same to mine shortly.

Greg

Looks good, great work. What do you recon best placement on an XB Coupe is? will be doing the same to mine shortly.

Greg

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I imagine it would be the same, centered side to side, with the back edge of the spoiler lining up with the edge of the trunklid. The XB's have different looking rear ends though so I might be slightly different.

Greg, that is indeed a very nice looking car, the fact that it's the original paint and looks so great indicates to me you don't leave out in the Australian sun very often.

Jim

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Hello Jim & Jutta,

Thank you very much for your kind words Jim. That means a lot to me. Yes you're right about the powerful Australian sun. Where i live here in Queensland, we are living in a tropical/sub tropical climate, and the Queensland sun is quite powerful and intense.

The sun (ultra voilet light)is the worst enemy to paint finishes, especially the clearcoats. The UV goes straight through the clearcoat and starts breaking it down rather quickly. It is well known that if you want your paint job to last a long time, keep it out of the sun as much as possible.

I was lucky that the previous owners did just that, mainly the first owner.

Greg

I missed that it is original paint. Wow! That's awesome looking. I had a gold glow torino. It is a very nice color that does change color in the sun. Very nice!

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Don,

Glad you like the color and the finish. It's stayed in good condition over the years because the first main owner from Ohio kept the car out of the sun pretty much all the time. Sun (UV light ) is a car's paint finish worst enemy.

I love Gold Glow myself as colors go, and it does look beautiful and comes alive when it's in the sunlight.

Thanks again Don,

Greg


Hi Greg,

Hope you're keeping well and enjoying your cars.Thanks for your kind words on the spoiler. In regards the spoiler position on the XB Coupe, Buddy's reply is on the money, as you would want to mount it eqidistant from side to sde of course, and i would alighn the back edge of the spoiler pretty much up with the back edge of the trunk lid, similar to my Mustang convertible setup.

If you go to Google Images and type in Ford XB Coupe rear spoiler, it should provide some pics of XB's wth rear deck spoilers of different types as well. Those pics should verify what i say for positioning.

All the best,

Greg

this was very helpful in installing mine for my coupe! So thank you!! However somehow i screwed it up and got 14". My spoiler however is a fiberglass one and may have different pedastals. As doing so with mine i ended up with the bottom screw in the angled section.; Blah!!!!

Thank you Sir,

Glad to be of help. By the way, your spoiler seems to be sitting fairly high off the trunk lid. I wonder did you buy the correct pedistals  with your kit, as the underside ends of the spoiler should be sitting just above the quarter panels by about a 1/2 inch gap. The  wrong kit or pedistals might have caused your mounting problem. Just guessing there.My kit was a fiberglass one.

All the best,

Greg.