Tips/Advice fitting GT350 Track Pack Spoiler

[RobMJ]

As above does anyone have any tips/advice on fitting GT350 Track Pack Spoiler please? Mine turned up this morning and would like to get it on asap. I do remember [MENTION=14447]Centurion07[/MENTION] mentioning something? Thanks

Sponsored

 

[stevec]

As above does anyone have any tips/advice on fitting GT350 Track Pack Spoiler please? Mine turned up this morning and would like to get it on asap. I do remember [MENTION=14447]Centurion07[/MENTION] mentioning something? Thanks

[MENTION=14447]Centurion07[/MENTION] is definitely the one to speak to. Some of us, me included, managed to sit the spoiler just a little bit far back, but its hardly noticeable. Tony got his spot on.

Template is pretty good and spoiler it is dead easy to fit as long as you get template lines up well.

 

[RobMJ]

[MENTION=14447]Centurion07[/MENTION] is definitely the one to speak to. Some of us, me included, managed to sit the spoiler just a little bit far back, but its hardly noticeable. Tony got his spot on.

Template is pretty good and spoiler it is dead easy to fit as long as you get template lines up well.

Cheers Steve, easy enough for me to do or get a body shop to do it? I'm not great with spanners and stuff but ok "ish" and have done a few on mine.

 

[stevec]

I think anyone could fit one tbh. As long as you are careful, careful careful.

Biggest possibility to go wrong is if you are not good with drills and it slips and goes right across the boot. A bit of masking tape over the hole is a good shout for this.

Personally I would say if you are not confident, don't do it.

I will be honest. I only did it because it came the day before I went in the NC500 but I am just lazy and would rather pay people to do stuff even if I cam do it. Also, if they screw it up, its down to them to put it right.

 

[Nookie]

To re-quote my post (#3271 - What did you do to your UK S550 Mustang today) on the GT350 Track Pack spoiler...

'Beware when fitting it (if you haven't already) - as the template Ford supplied with mine (bloody great big A0 sheet rolled up in the box) was a 'little' off.

I spent a good hour and a half checking the reference scale, cutting out the template, painstakingly laying it out on the rear and then measuring its position from various reference points before I drilled the rather excessive 9 holes required... only to find when putting the spoiler in place that it was up to 8mm adrift (too far back), which required the elongation of the holes to get it's final position spot on. Nothing that couldn't be worked around... just meant a lot of additional faffing around with a Dremel... but 100% spot-on in the end and really pleased with how it looks'.

I believe, as mentioned previously, that [MENTION=14447]Centurion07[/MENTION] also had issues, but not sure if they were 100% the same as mine.

There are 3 locating pins (13mm holes required - 1 left, 1 right, 1 centre), 4 securing bolts (10mm holes required 1 left, 1 right, 2 centre) and two red 7mm clips (7mm holes required - 1 left, 1 right). Having laid out the carefully cut template and secured it to the trunk lid perfectly and to the millimetre (I also cut 'eyes' in the central part of the template in order to be able to tape it perfectly flat), I offered the spoiler, with the help of a friend, up to the hole locations on the template, and found that when centring the two outer locating pins over their respective positions, the centre locating pin was around 4-5mm rearwards of the position marked on the template, and the two centre securing bolts were around 3-4mm rearwards of the positions marked on the template, so I double checked the alignment of the template again to make sure it was completely flat across the whole of the covered part of the trunk lid to see if there was any pull or stretch that could be throwing it out... but it was spot on... so I decided to pre-punch the central holes slightly rearwards as mentioned, and then carefully drilled the holes, which was surprisingly easy as the metal is incredibly thin (tip - use good quality bullet point drill bits, or make sure you use brand new HSS's or Cobalts, make sure you pre-punch the holes properly and pilot every hole with a 3mm bit before going larger, and make sure you drill at 90 degrees to the surface into which you're drilling, remembering that the rear edge of the trunk flares up a couple of degrees - this, along with a steady hand and even pressure, should stop you skating across the nice paintwork towards the rear window).

Then it was time for the dry/test fit... and Voila!... it dropped perfectly into place through the holes... except that the rear curved lip of the spoiler that extends over the rear edge of the trunk lid, was about 8mm too far back, and I could see the red peel-off backing of the 3M tape clearly. Gentle attempts to see if the spoiler would move forward a couple of millimetres came to almost nothing, and I wasn't prepared to leave it as it was (being a bit of a perfectionist), so the decision was made to elongate the holes (forward) with a Dremel and a small grinding wheel.

Half an hour later, and all 9 holes now having been elongated between 6-8mm, the spoiler finally fitted perfectly (the problem holes were without doubt those for the locating pins), so I filed all the hole edges, painted them with a good quality vehicle touch-up that I had spare (a necessity as it's a steel trunk lid and not aluminium like the hood/bonnet), piped a ring of silicone around each hole for added protection, removed the 3M tape backing and gently, again with the help of a friend, lowered into it's final resting place, and bolted it up.

I think (as it turned out in my situation) that the problem was not with the single central locating pin and two securing bolt holes being too far forward on the template, but the two outer locating pin, two outer securing bolt and two outer red clip holes being too far rearward on the template, but you can't ascertain this from the outset as it's impossible to lay the spoiler flat on the trunk lid before you've drilled the holes for the excessive amount of bolts, pins and clips to pass through... so the whole fitting process was a bit frustrating as it took twice as long as it should have, but the good thing is that whatever adjustments you need to make [to the holes] to get it perfectly positioned, and however it may look when you've finished turning a part of your car into what looks like a piece of Swiss cheese... you're never gonna see any of them, and the spoiler looks killer!

Personally, I'd give it a difficulty rating of 5/10, and found it a lot less hassle than removing the front end to change the lower grille and pony badge!

As [MENTION=8211]stevec[/MENTION] says... anyone can fit one, as long as you're careful, careful careful, and it's not as scary as I first thought it might be.

 

[RobMJ]

To re-quote my post (#3271 - What did you do to your UK S550 Mustang today) on the GT350 Track Pack spoiler...

'Beware when fitting it (if you haven't already) - as the template Ford supplied with mine (bloody great big A0 sheet rolled up in the box) was a 'little' off.

I spent a good hour and a half checking the reference scale, cutting out the template, painstakingly laying it out on the rear and then measuring its position from various reference points before I drilled the rather excessive 9 holes required... only to find when putting the spoiler in place that it was up to 8mm adrift (too far back), which required the elongation of the holes to get it's final position spot on. Nothing that couldn't be worked around... just meant a lot of additional faffing around with a Dremel... but 100% spot-on in the end and really pleased with how it looks'.

I believe, as mentioned previously, that [MENTION=14447]Centurion07[/MENTION] also had issues, but not sure if they were 100% the same as mine.

There are 3 locating pins (13mm holes required - 1 left, 1 right, 1 centre), 4 securing bolts (10mm holes required 1 left, 1 right, 2 centre) and two red 7mm clips (7mm holes required - 1 left, 1 right). Having laid out the carefully cut template and secured it to the trunk lid perfectly and to the millimetre (I also cut 'eyes' in the central part of the template in order to be able to tape it perfectly flat), I offered the spoiler, with the help of a friend, up to the hole locations on the template, and found that when centring the two outer locating pins over their respective positions, the centre locating pin was around 4-5mm rearwards of the position marked on the template, and the two centre securing bolts were around 3-4mm rearwards of the positions marked on the template, so I double checked the alignment of the template again to make sure it was completely flat across the whole of the covered part of the trunk lid to see if there was any pull or stretch that could be throwing it out... but it was spot on... so I decided to pre-punch the central holes slightly rearwards as mentioned, and then carefully drilled the holes, which was surprisingly easy as the metal is incredibly thin (tip - use good quality bullet point drill bits, or make sure you use brand new HSS's or Cobalts, make sure you pre-punch the holes properly and pilot every hole with a 3mm bit before going larger, and make sure you drill at 90 degrees to the surface into which you're drilling, remembering that the rear edge of the trunk flares up a couple of degrees - this, along with a steady hand and even pressure, should stop you skating across the nice paintwork towards the rear window).

Then it was time for the dry/test fit... and Voila!... it dropped perfectly into place through the holes... except that the rear curved lip of the spoiler that extends over the rear edge of the trunk lid, was about 8mm too far back, and I could see the red peel-off backing of the 3M tape clearly. Gentle attempts to see if the spoiler would move forward a couple of millimetres came to almost nothing, and I wasn't prepared to leave it as it was (being a bit of a perfectionist), so the decision was made to elongate the holes (forward) with a Dremel and a small grinding wheel.

Half an hour later, and all 9 holes now having been elongated between 6-8mm, the spoiler finally fitted perfectly (the problem holes were without doubt those for the locating pins), so I filed all the hole edges, painted them with a good quality vehicle touch-up that I had spare (a necessity as it's a steel trunk lid and not aluminium like the hood/bonnet), piped a ring of silicone around each hole for added protection, removed the 3M tape backing and gently, again with the help of a friend, lowered into it's final resting place, and bolted it up.

I think (as it turned out in my situation) that the problem was not with the single central locating pin and two securing bolt holes being too far forward on the template, but the two outer locating pin, two outer securing bolt and two outer red clip holes being too far rearward on the template, but you can't ascertain this from the outset as it's impossible to lay the spoiler flat on the trunk lid before you've drilled the holes for the excessive amount of bolts, pins and clips to pass through... so the whole fitting process was a bit frustrating as it took twice as long as it should have, but the good thing is that whatever adjustments you need to make [to the holes] to get it perfectly positioned, and however it may look when you've finished turning a part of your car into what looks like a piece of Swiss cheese... you're never gonna see any of them, and the spoiler looks killer!

Personally, I'd give it a difficulty rating of 5/10, and found it a lot less hassle than removing the front end to change the lower grille and pony badge!

As [MENTION=8211]stevec[/MENTION] says... anyone can fit one, as long as you're careful, careful careful, and it's not as scary as I first thought it might be.

Excellent stuff Adrian, precisely the information I was after, thank you very much!

When you say the outer locating pins were the problem and the spoiler sat 6-8mm too far backwards, as you look at rear from the rear do you mean it sat too far back towards rear windscreen or boot edge.

Would marking from template, then adding 6mm solve the issue please?

Thanks again, Track Pack looks sweet BTW.

 

[Centurion07]

http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1812227&postcount=630

If you drill exactly as per the template you'll find the spoiler hangs off the back of the bootlid by a few mm. Only noticeable if you're looking for it though.

As I mention in my thread, once you've lined the template up, check both sides as although one side was spot on, the other was out slightly so it needed centering by eye almost.

If I was doing it again I would drill at the very top (nearest the rear window) of the largest hole on the template, so roughly 3/4mm forwards of the centre.

Worth it...

 

[Nookie]

Standing at the back of the car, the spoiler was hanging too far over the rear of the deck lid (boot edge) and I had to fettle with the holes to move it forward towards the rear window.

There's a slight lip on the rear underside of the spoiler that should roll nicely over the upper rear edge of the trunk lid.

Personally... I wouldn't want to advise you in any way as I don't know if it was just my template, or the batch from which it came, was 'off', or whether they're all like that, so I could say drill here or there and then you find your template was in fact correct!

In reality, I think you've got to stick with the template and just hope, but be prepared (and have the tools) in case you need to do a bit of adaptation! It's a lot easier than it first seems, and once you've done it you'll feel like you could easily tackle that sort of job again.

It's just a bit frustrating, as mentioned, as I thought that having spent so much time making sure everything was lined up perfectly would make it a short and sweet installation, but maybe I expected too much, and it wasn't in reality that difficult to make the adjustments to get it 100% perfect, and as also mentioned, it doesn't matter how bad the holes look once you've played around with them, as they will never be seen again unless you decide to remove the spoiler, which will be highly unlikely!

I seem to recall when [MENTION=13920]Enoch[/MENTION] fitted his rear GT350 spoiler, which I'm sure is the standard non-Track Pack version, but has the same drillings/template (it's in the 'How to videos' sticky) he had to make a few adjustments, although not as severe as I did.

Perhaps wait and see if there's a reply from [MENTION=14447]Centurion07[/MENTION] and see what his issues were also! (Edit: Ah-ha... I see he's beaten me to it, and seems to have had a similar problem with the template placing the spoiler too far back also, hence his recommendation to drill 3-4mm forward of the template markings).

 

[Centurion07]

I would say given how all of us have made the same observation of the template needing to be 3/4mm towards the front of the car, it would appear that they're all like it.

As I said, if I did it again I would automatically drill further forwards.
[MENTION=13930]RobMJ[/MENTION] I'm quite happy to help out in person if it's convenient for both of us, as you're not a million miles away.

 

[Nookie]

[MENTION=13930]RobMJ[/MENTION] I'm quite happy to help out in person if it's convenient for both of us, as you're not a million miles away.

There's a good offer!... just don't forget if you take him up on it, to say how lovely his stickers look

 

[RobMJ]

Thank you both very much!

What I needed to know was the fault direction, you have both now explained it. It sits a fraction off the rear. I think I will go with 3-4mm towards rear screen. As you both say if I need to tweak it you will never see it but perhaps by doing the above I can fit first time.

[MENTION=14447]Centurion07[/MENTION] thank you very much for the offer, I see your about an hour away (less in your car!) I have a window to do it this Saturday and can't expect you to drop everything. Track Pack is looking lovely mate can't wait to get mine on.

Thanks again guys, off to buy some drill bits!

 

[Centurion07]

There's a good offer!... just don't forget if you take him up on it, to say how lovely his stickers look

I have a spare set of "Martini Racing" lettering too...

 

[RobMJ]

I have a spare set of "Martini Racing" lettering too...

:eyebulge: not sure if it will go with Old Man Magnetic :headbonk:

 

[Manders Mustang]

:eyebulge: not sure if it will go with Old Man Magnetic :headbonk:

True "racing" isn't quite on the side of old man magnetic

 

[Centurion07]

I'm sure other words/phrases can be made from the letters...

Sponsored