I have an 86 SVO and the Bi Wing upper section is cracked in the middle on the under side. The piece with the screw holes. Has any one been able to separate the two halves and repair. If so I would appreciate any help.
I have an 86 SVO and the Bi Wing upper section is cracked in the middle on the under side. The piece with the screw holes. Has any one been able to separate the two halves and repair. If so I would appreciate any help.
Yes, I have used a two part epoxy to repair.
I know that Lee Clary used to have a technique for splitting them and gluing them back together with using a piece of EMT conduit embedded in it to help stiffen it up. I never saw one that was repaired that way, but it always sounded like a somewhat delicate process to get the two halves split apart, then you have the process of getting the conduit embedded in and gluing the two halves back together. I wonder if Paul Becker could shed some light on Lee's process...oh, Paul??
Ted
86 SVO Mustang
17 Cooper S Clubman ALL4
I used to do it and was the first one to successfully "rebuild" an upper. I had built a jig and everything. Then my family problems started and took priority. I have since scrapped the jig as it was damaged when my house flooded while I wasn't living here.
It's not very difficult to separate the two halves. However the spoiler is available from NPD and is made from the original Ford tooling so it is as good as an NOS piece. It is molded in black so you would need to paint it to match.
NPD also has the correct textured paint and I would recommend painting both the upper and the lower to match.
Ken, thanx for the update, didn't realize you had done some upper wing patching back in the day. Also good to know that the wings are being repo'd now too.
Ted
86 SVO Mustang
17 Cooper S Clubman ALL4
Originally Posted by svono50
I was excited to hear NPR was making the wing, I did not find it on their web site so of I just called them. Part M-44210-5A, but the sales guy said they were just selling NOS, and have no parts available, nor listing of anyone with the tooling that might supply them.
??
I know of several people who bought theirs from NPD. Mostly guys on FaceBook but I'm pretty sure Rich Franklin got his there as well.
I also just checked and didn't see it listed. Maybe they're just out of stock. Also NPD doesn't make the actual part but is most likely being produced by Daniel Carpenter but I'm just guessing on that.
I "think" the guy you spoke with might have been giving you the run around.
The spoiler is no longer available from NPD. I e-mailed them about it and received a response that there will not be another run through NPD because the internal structures that make up the skeleton have all been exhausted.
Having taken several apart myself I find the "Internal Structures" confusing. The spoiler consists of only two main components. The plastic injection molded upper and lower halves and an open cell expanding foam core.
The plastic upper and lower halves have intersecting "Jig Saw Puzzle" extensions that link together internally. The foam is then pumped into the open area inside through one of the ends.
There are the studs that mount through the hatch and the screws that hold it together and that is all.
The fault in the design is that water eventually seeps into the inside and then freezes in the Winter causing the internal structures to break and the spoiler separates. When I took them apart and removed the foam the spoiler was very light. That was why the steel electrical conduit was needed in order to reinforce it and give it support.
The reason why so many crack is because people don't have the striker / latch assembly adjusted properly. On all my SVOs all I have to do is close the hatch and give it a little push downwards and the latch clicks / locks. I've seen guys slam their hatches repeatedly over and over until the latch finally catches. All the while the spoiler flails up and down each time.
This is how the two halves start to separate allowing water inside. It also breaks apart the internal links giving up the structural integrity giving away to spoiler "Sag" in the middle.
On the few I did I used an aircraft structural grade epoxy from BF Goodrich. The company I used to work for was a distributor for BFG aircraft epoxies so I had free samples to use. When reassembling I had to get it right the first time since the epoxy had a 30 minute cure time. Once it was cured it was literally as hard as a rock and there was no going back to readjust.
Imagine trying to put together a puzzle in less than 30 minutes knowing you only had one chance to get it right or else you're screwed.
Anyway I'm hoping that the spoilers will be a situation like the 85.5 / 86 headlights and turn signals. There is a way for them to reproduce them it just may not be worth their time / money. So now they're just coming up with excuses not to make them.
The one on our 86 was cracked/missing pieces where it screws to the hatch. It was repairable, but since the re-pop was available, we picked it up. It did take some 'fitting' to lay on the hatch flat, but it's on there now.
I repaired the old spoiler and reused it. The mounting stands were broken or missing from most of them, but some epoxy with fiberglass reinforcement will help those bits stay attached.
And yes, adjusting the hatch so it's closable with a simple push is key to longevity on these things.
Gene Beaird,
86 2R SVO, G Stock,
Pearland, Texas
Did you create new mounting tabs on the lower spoiler? What materials did you use? My lower spoiler has 4/10 tabs and needs some help.
Luckily, the stand-offs (tabs) were mostly there, so any missing bits I kind of recreated with epoxy and fiberglass. I glued the broken parts back on with a two-part epoxy. After that set, I used some Bondo fiberglass repair to help reinforce the breaks. That's the process I followed to repair the shattered grill on our '79 Seville and reassemble the pieces I had for the original header panel, and all three seem to have held well.
No repair pictures, but installed pics here:
http://www.svoca.com/forum/showthread.php?15519-About-to-start-body-restoration-on-86/page6
Post #87. Upper is new, lower is repaired OEM.
Last edited by gbeaird; 08-09-2019 at 09:25 AM.
Gene Beaird,
86 2R SVO, G Stock,
Pearland, Texas
I went nuts on mine to reinforce it around the 3rd brake light epoxied in conduit and put supports under the spoiler made from vinal window trim I bought at Home Depot. Alot of trial and error but its much stronger and hopefully won't break.
Bruce
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