HermanH's PASSAT Site

Tools Required

Zender Rear Spoiler Installation

INSTRUCTIONS

Have some latex gloves and a sharpie permanent marker ready. A second person will make things a bit easier.

1. Get the wing painted, but before you do, you need to decide on what to fill in; first the no-brainer: you should fill in the manufacturer's information imprint on the right side of the wing (I don't know why they did this on the painting side.) Now, there are two indentations on the wing: a circular one for the VW badge and a small rectangular one for the Zender America logo. You should decide at this point if you want them filled or not, prior to painting.

2. A good shop will mask off the "glue" side of the 3 pieces; if not, you can mask it off yourself. Expect to pay about $100-150 for a fill and paint job.

3. Now to prep the car surface by giving it a good car-wash, particularly the rear.

4. This is optional, but take the spoiler and have a sharpie permanent marker ready. Use the Beta Clean supplied by Zender and clean the areas that the spoiler will come in contact with, completely. Next, position the spoiler exactly where you want it, and use the sharpie to outline the top edges of each piece. You'll want these for reference when the time comes to glue the parts in, and the last thing you want to be thinking about is "is this the spot where I want this?"

5. Once this is done, you're going to use the Beta Clean to clean the Zender surfaces where the spoiler and car will mate. This will assure all manufacturing release agents/oils and any waxes are completely removed! Be careful not to rub the new paint!

6. Back to the car, be sure to lay out some of the duct tape on the trunk so you'll have them ready to help hold up the spoiler. Refer to the drawing by Zender. 

7. Now comes the fun part: the goop. This stuff really does work; so well that it took weeks for it to come out of my fingernails and even the crevices we call finger prints! I advise some latex gloves at this point. You'll note that the "sausage" containing the glue must be cut at one end and then inserted into a plastic holder like the end of some bathroom caulk tubes, where you'll be squeezing the goop out of. Cut the sausage and insert the open end into the plastic. NOW, what you want to do is take some of the duct tape that came with your spoiler and wrap it around the sausage and plastic a couple of times to ensure nothing leaks out easily or that the sausage doesn't back out of the plastic (as it did with me.)

8. Now, taking the main spoiler section, begin laying down a good thick bead of goop along the perimeter of the glue side of the spoiler. When you're done, take the serrated spatula that was supplied with the spoiler and begin to trowel the bead towards the middle of the spoiler. This is how tiles are done and ensures that when you press down on the goop, it spreads into the valleys you created with the trowel, instead of spreading OUT the edges. This is critical in obtaining a good mess-free installation.

9. Now, using the outline with the sharpie as your guide, carefully place the spoiler on the trunk lid and press down firmly; don't use all your weight on this; just firm enough so that when you look into the seam of the spoiler and trunk, there's a uniform amount of glue that seems to fill in that seam. You have a little time to center the spoiler.

10. Once you're satisfied it's affixed correctly, simply use the tape you had placed in step 6 and secure the spoiler down. I would only recommend 3 pieces at this time.

11. Now look at the seams again, especially along the top and bottom; if there is excess goop that oozed out, this is the best time to clean it off with the Beta Clean. Like caulk, you want a nice smooth seam of caulk; the Beta Clean will remove some but it will also give you a chance to smooth out the goop as well. If you had more than 3 pieces of tape holding the spoiler, it'll be that much harder to clean this up. I had 5 or 6 pieces in my way. IMO, too many pieces. Oh, and the sharpie marker comes off easily with the Beta Clean. NOTE: the new paint can take some of the punishment of the Beta Clean but I did manage to rub some of the color onto the T-shirt I was using to wipe up the goop so just try to be careful here.

12. Repeat Steps. 6-11 for the two smaller pieces. You'll only need 1 or 2 strips of tape to secure these but because they are lighter, they tend to move more; I would recommend a 2nd person for this part: one to hold the piece and the other to tape it up. At this point, if you feel you need to use more tape to hold down the main spoiler, you can add a couple of more for peace of mind. It doesn't hurt anything, but just be sure you don't move the spoiler in the process.

13. Now sit back and let it dry for at least 12 hours. I know, the instructions say 5 hours but personally, I let it sit for 12 hours. Do it just before dinner and wake up the next morning and remove the tape, use Beta Clean to remove any tape residue, then show off your new spoiler!