It is in tribute to Kerry's
work, and it is with his
permission, that I am using his
text (in
italics) as the
base for the description of my
own variation on the work, with
my added notes. The work at
first seemed daunting, but as I
repeatedly read Kerry’s thread
and looked at the pics, I soon
became inspired and motivated.
This is my first time doing
something like this, so I think
anyone else could as well! It
took me @ 2 weeks of free time
this September.
I truly hope this thread will
become a valuable resource for
those of us who call
FerrariChat
home.
Photos 1, 2, 3 = 21 years
of repeated cycles of
scrapings-damage-patchwork
repairs. The opposite corner is
not as bad.
REMOVAL
Photo 4.
"First
remove the centre bolt (10mm) in
the centre under the hood.
At that point, crank the steer
tires to the inside (driver’s
side to passenger and visa
versa).
Photos 5, 6, 7, 8.
Next remove the enclosure panels
in the front of the wheel wells,
5 to 6 bolts (10mm).
[Driver’s side is shown as
representative, passenger’s side
is not vented]
Photo 9.
With these
panels removed you gain access
to the 10mm nut that is located
about 3" inside the fender. JUST
loosen it 2 or 3 turns.
[
Note: it’s no big deal
if you loosen it too much and it
drops off the bolt, since you
will recover it upon removing
the spoiler!]
Photo 10.
Now remove
the yellow parking/turn lens
with a Philips screwdriver.
[Incidentally, you might notice
that I have a protective film
applied over these lights. I
obtained the sheet from Griot’s
Garage and did my own cutting.]
Photos 11, 12, 13.
You
then take a regular straight
blade screwdriver and remove the
2 screws [circled] and take out
the light assembly, unplug the
electrics and set aside.
[Prior to reinstalling the
connections I cleaned the
contact blades and applied some
di-electric grease to prevent
future corrosion]
Photo 14.
This now
gives you "access" to the 10mm
nut that is located about 15"
front of the wheel well opening.
Again JUST loosen 2-3 turns.
[
Note: again, it’s no big
deal if you loosen it too much
and it drops off the bolt, since
you will recover it upon
removing the spoiler!]
You then remove any Philips
head screws (that’s what was
holding the aluminium belly pan
covers on mine) or rivets from
the front bottom edge of the
spoiler.
[I replaced the ‘original’
screws with #8 machine screws,
used the original washers and
saved the original screws]
Photos 15, 16, 17.
Now
the spoiler should be pulled
forward and there ya go.
I suggest that when replacing
any of the panels or the spoiler
itself that you use new
stainless steel
bolts/nuts/washers/screws and
anti-seize. Also here is your
opportunity to clean any debris
out of the AC condenser and
clean and detail areas that NO
ONE will ever see.........but
you will know are clean, tidy
and correct!
Hope this is helpful to others.
Kerry"
REPAIR
Photo 18. This is about
all the materials you would
need. Make sure you mask of the
four mounting bolts to protect
from future sprayings.
Photos 19, 20, 21. After
fibre-glassing.
Photo 22. After 5 to 6
cycles of Bondo application and
sanding. I started out with
80-grit and progressed to
220-grit wet sanding after a
couple of coats of sealing
primer.
Photos 23, 24, 25. After
the final coat of primer. I then
made tracings of the top and
bottom silhouettes of the
spoiler, with screw-hole
markings, for future reference.
Photo 26. After being
sprayed with Line-X, which btw,
does not add that much weight to
the unit. It was this
demonstration video from Line-X
which convinced me to use the
product instead of just
repainting it:
http://www.linex.com/free_fall_12.shtml
RE-INSTALLATION
Photos 27, 28, 29, 30.
Don’t forget about the shims. If
your spoiler required them
previously, you will need them
again regardless. The ‘new’
spoiler is perceptibly thicker
than before, so fitting is a
little more snug; but I did not
need to force anything back on
or in.
In order to facilitate future
spoiler removals (Heaven
forbids), I carefully marked and
pre-drilled four holes
corresponding with the four
mounting bolts directly above.
The next time I have the car on
a friend’s lift; I will use a
step-drill and create 5/8” ports
to access these bolts. Be
careful with the 2 holes below
the bolts proximal to the wheel
well splash guards, since there
is a sub-frame element just
medial to where you will need to
create the ports.
I will then paint and grease the
cut edges and plug with rubber
body plugs.
From this project onwards, a
10mm socket on a flex extension
shaft would easily reach these
spoiler-mounting bolts,
eliminating the need to remove
the front signal light groups or
the splash guards. On my car,
the passenger side splash guard
was metal -vs. the plastic one
on the driver’s side- and I was
unable to flex it sufficiently
for removal; thus I had to
extricate the battery to get to
the needed mounting bolt.
I spread a generous amount of
industrial grease along the
inferior surface of the spoiler
to further minimize the impact
of any future contact it might
make with an offending surface.
Kerry took it a step
further and fashioned a skid
plate for his. Not being certain
that I need one, still, I am
looking into having something
similar made by a friend who
fabricates metal parts for a
local racing shop. We’ll need to
decide upon choice of metal and
thickness.
Possibly this is a service we
can offer to owners of other
cars and models …
stay tuned!
