Recommended hardware to mount spook?

[Arne]

Anyone care to share what they've used for mounting a spook? Types and sizes of fasteners?

[Goose52]

Mine was mounted with short 1/4" bolts (maybe even 3/16") and fender washers as I recall.

I always wanted to covert it over to use 1/4-turn Dzus fasteners so it could be quickly removed when I had clearance problems (like when pulling on some lifts, etc.) - this was with a car lowered 2" - not as much as a problem with stock suspension. Anyway, I never got around to using the Dzus fasteners before that Spook bit the dust after several "impact" incidents.

[Walter Moore]

Mine is bolted on with a very large number of 6mm bolts. (Stainless steel, just because I had them around and I HATE rust.

My spook came from an Ebay auction. The seller had it listed strange, and it didn't generate much interest. It looks to ME like a BRE style part, but it didn't fit very well at first. I had to use a large number of bolts, about 4 to 6 inches apart and sort of pull it into the right shape to fit the lower valence of the car. Very strange and frustrating, but it worked.

[Goose52]

Mine is bolted on with a very large number of 6mm bolts...

Yikes! Mine was original BRE production and fit pretty good. I had about 6 fasteners - 2 on each side, and two spaced across the middle.

[hls30.com]

Even though there are 12 mounting holes in mine it was mounted with six fasteners as Goose52 said I have replaced them with stainless 1/4" with stainless fender washers and stainless lock nuts. I'll snap and post a pic(off and waiting for paint).

The holes used were the four outside of the ducts, and #2 and #4 in the back five between the ducts.

Will

[rtaylor]

Arne. I have the original with 9 10mm bolts and fender washers. I have two on each outside edge, like Will, but five in the middle part.

[Arne]

Thanks for all the replies, folks. I'll hit the hardware store on Saturday morning and get to it. I'll probably either use 7 or 9, maybe the 6 that Will uses plus one extra at the front center.

[240ZX]

Arne,

Something additional to consider! I added two aluminum straps, one on each side spaced approximately 30" to 36" apart, that run from the leading edge of the spoiler up to the lower face panel. I actully seemed to feel a bit more stability at speed. I'm sure you've seen this sort of spoiler reinforcement. The spoiler is now very rigidly mounted but, not to stout that it wouldn't rip away under inpact. The reasoning behind the strap is....if I can easily flex the spoiler downward by hand, it is certainly going to flex downward at speed. Wish I had a pic to show!

Tom

[Arne]

Hmm, I can certainly see how that could help a bit, but considering how seldom I'll exceed 80, I don't think I'm willing to mess with the classic looks of the spook for a small additional improvement.

Besides, my spook (from Classic Datsun) is very nice quality hand-laid cloth fiberglass, and is much more rigid than I had expected.

[AZ-240z]

Besides, my spook (from Classic Datsun) is very nice quality hand-laid cloth fiberglass, and is much more rigid than I had expected.

Arne,

I Had an original BRE front spook on my 240z many years ago, bolted to the front valances with the included hardware. I never drove the car above highway speeds, and when the spoiler was eventually removed, there was considerable distortion of the valance panel metal at the mounting points. There are substantial air loads pulling on these panels which was somewhat unexpected on my part. I would consider reinforcing strip laid along the inside edge of the valance panels through which to mount the spoiler. This would obviously give added rigidity to the mounting panels on your car and reduce distortion. Just wanted to include my experience, for what its worth.

Dan

[psdenno]

Shortly after I bought my Z in 1971, I added the BRE spoiler for stability. The first winter in Kansas, I learned what a great snow plow blade it made - not intentionally. Still have it and the Z and when I recently took it o ff, the valance was in good shape in spite of the beating the spoiler has taken over the years. Use good sized washers for best support.

Dennis

4/71 Original Owner

[hls30.com]

Arne,

...when the spoiler was eventually removed, there was considerable distortion of the valance panel metal at the mounting points. There are substantial air loads pulling on these panels which was somewhat unexpected on my part. I would consider reinforcing strip laid along the inside edge of the valance panels through which to mount the spoiler. This would obviously give added rigidity to the mounting panels on your car and reduce distortion. Just wanted to include my experience, for what its worth.

Dan

Arne,

Dans post prompted some more thought on the spoiler and the results of its mounting.

The spoiler was mounted by the PO when the '72 was pretty new. When I took the spoiler off, I did think that it was a wee bit strange that 12 holes got 6 bolts, and now that I think about it, the washers I removed were small and the sheet metal around the mounting holes was heavily distored with no impact damage to the spoiler. I took the car apart so long ago, I had forgotten that I spent over an hour with a dolly and ammer straightening the pulls. Based upon that, I will be drilling six more holes and adding the missing six bolts when I reassemble.

Will