Fitting of Spoiler to open boot?

[.Woody]

Hi guys,
Well I know a lot of you may not like me doing this but I have my "SEAC" spoiler painted and ready to fit, it looks lovely
Trouble is if I fit it with the leading edge up to the leading edge of the boot, the boot won't open much
I've just realised that I need some external hinges to acheive this, can anyone tell me what car these are off or where to get them, and what else I have to do to fit it.
Other than that is there any way I can fit something at the hinge bolts so the boot gets lifted away from the edge?

My last resort will be to fit it slightly further back.


Cheers
Woody

[Steve_T]

.Woody said:

Other than that is there any way I can fit something at the hinge bolts so the boot gets lifted away from the edge?

How about the boot mechanism they use on the Cerb? That works in the way you describe.

[dickymint]

Hillman Imp bonnet hinges (oooh the shame of it). Come up on ebay a lot in chrome.

edited to say: here you go.....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HILLMAN-IMP-BOOT-BONNET-HING...

Edited by dickymint on Friday 20th July 18:02

[.Woody]

Cheers Richard

And thats all I need? and the "thing" will fit fine?

[dwgriffith]

£33 a pair !!!!!!! I think it's time to put my sets on ebay?

[dickymint]

dwgriffith said:

£33 a pair !!!!!!! I think it's time to put my sets on ebay?

Or do what us Wedgers do and help out a mate

[Number 7]

The SEAC spoilers don't look right on anything other than as intended IMHO, but of you're fitting one, I would factor in a new pair of (uprated) struts.

7.

[.Woody]

Thanks Paul, I did think of that one earlier, I did this nearly 20 years ago on my Escort when fitting a cosworth spoiler to it (seems to be a habit forming!) so any idea what struts are they off?

[mikeb]

Landrovers or range rovers I think? There are loads of different types lengthwise and pressurewise. Get the wrong one and your into bamboo sticks holding the boot open time or as I have seen on other peoples cars press the boot opening button and the boot pops open with a vengence - which is nice but it stresses the GRP around the hinges with all of the force required to close it which may lead to cracks.

Got an article on fitting a 400SE spoiler to a 350i on the Wedgepages website. The hardest thing is to ensure that you get the correct hardness of rubber 'gasket' in between the spoiler and the boot lid. Also ensure that you have some big washers to hand to stop your new spoiler being ripped off at speed! ;-)

MikeyB

[.Woody]

mikeb said:

Also ensure that you have some big washers to hand to stop your new spoiler being ripped off at speed! ;-)

Cheers Mikey,
What type of washers could I use to reduce any cracks etc? am I best to get some thin (1mm?) sheet rubber and cut some to suit? Ore could I just squirt some silicone sealant on the base of the spoiler feet, and let it harden before fitting to do this?

[.Woody]

Ok, fair to say, there's been a bit of a "blonde moment" going on in my head I haven't done much DIY for quite a while (can anyone tell!?), sorry to say, it seems that everyone here is a bit of an expert in this field! Am I on my own here!?

I've got some gasket sealant for between the spoiler feet and the boot, and some vinyl and fibre washers for under the boot between the bolt head and boot. Which ones should be best?

I'm about to order the hillman imp boot hinges...
could anyone advise me what the ditance between the hinges are?

Is there anything else I need to know? hopefully get it all done for Saturday

[mikeb]

You need to ensure that the hinges have something between them and the bodywork to stop them 'creeping' out of position. TVR used some sort of hard rubber sheeting cut to size, this also acted to stop water ingress (supposedly).

I found normal rubber sheeting too springy and one the spoiler and hinges were tightened down the rubber spread out of the side and didn't do the do.

Had to source some much harder compound stuff. I suppose the silicone stuff would work if you let it harden first.

As for washers I ended up putting some big metal ones in just to spread the load.

MikeyB

[.Woody]

Thanks Mikey, The hinges are all ordered and I've took some measurements today at Brooklands off a couple of other wedges, hope the gasket sealant does the job.

I suppose I can fit them to the boot before I take the bolt hinghes out from inside?

[V8 GRF]

.Woody said:

Ok, fair to say, there's been a bit of a "blonde moment" going on in my head I haven't done much DIY for quite a while (can anyone tell!?), sorry to say, it seems that everyone here is a bit of an expert in this field! Am I on my own here!?

I've got some gasket sealant for between the spoiler feet and the boot, and some vinyl and fibre washers for under the boot between the bolt head and boot. Which ones should be best?

I'd use a combination of steel and vinyl/fibre washers to fix the spolier myself to give yourself a really firm platform. The problem with just using fibre/vinyl alone is that under pressure they will cut and move over time.

Using sealent alone isn't good enough either IMO, I think you need to cut some vinyl to give yourself a proper rigid base and then finish off with a bit of sealant to make the edges look nice.

[.Woody]

I'm going to attempt this job this afternoon

Once I've marked up the holes for the external hinges, the removal of the old ones are plain simple I guess? Just removal of the 2 bolts either side??

[rev-erend]

Guess we will see the results tomorrow..

If you are not in a TVR - then we will know it did not go well.

Hope it all turns out OK.

[Steve_T]

.Woody said:

I'm going to attempt this job this afternoon

Once I've marked up the holes for the external hinges, the removal of the old ones are plain simple I guess? Just removal of the 2 bolts either side??

Suits you sir.

Edited by Steve_T on Friday 27th July 13:19

[rev-erend]

Steve_T said:

.Woody said:

I'm going to attempt this job this afternoon

Once I've marked up the holes for the external hinges, the removal of the old ones are plain simple I guess? Just removal of the 2 bolts either side??

Suits you sir.

Edited by Steve_T on Friday 27th July 13:19

Arrrhh . the Cerbera door hinge

[Steve_T]

Well, since my most helpful tip of Cerby boot hinges was passed over, door hinges was the next logical step Rev'

[.Woody]

Door hinges might be an easier job Stevie!

I've put masking tape down and marked the spoiler and hinges out for drilling.....and there's a fibre glass stiffener 32mm thick moulded right round the edge of the boot which I have to go thru, so am off to look for longer studs! The boot is also differrent to the 350i (and I guess the SEAC) boot, its a lot squarer, I've taken the studs out of the hinges and sat the himnge on the boot and also it is not flush, I think this wont matter once the old hinges are taken out. The fibre glass that the forward end of the hinge sits in, seems to be not much space there underneath for a firm fixing........BALLS

Best wait for another week and have a look at a few tomorrow if people dont mind