Front end 'spook' options..

[Zedyone_kenobi]

Thanks so much! I sincerely appreciate it!

[Zedyone_kenobi]

Mr. Perry came through as he is a man of his word. I also received an update from bad dog parts that they are sending me a new front valance. There is also a chance that dk240z and I may do some trading parts. Either way, my front valance is going to be installed hopefully within the month. Cant wait to get 'spooked'

[Zedyone_kenobi]

UPDATE:

The new front valance from John at Bad dog parts, was immaculate! I will be taking the parts to the paint shop on Monday along with the front spook!

Good times!

[Arne]

Have you already test fitted it all to the car? You'll want to have the spook mounting holes drilled before paint. You don't want to drill through the fresh paint.

[Zedyone_kenobi]

DOH, that is a really good idea...I have not got that far yet.. I was sort of just assuming it would all fit...

Body work pro, I am not.

Great advice Arne.

[Zedyone_kenobi]

UPDATE:

Today, with my relatives out of town and my little son sleeping, I managed to do some quick wrenching on the Z. I Managed to get the bumper off and the spoiler. It was, as expected easy. The tube socks on the bumper was a great idea. I forget who gave me that advice, but thanks VERY much! Now that I have all the front parts off, I am going to mix up a batch of POR-15 and hit a few minor blemishes I found that I have no intention on leaving alone. May as well, strike when the cars pants are down!

Next the new valances go on and then its time to mount my new spook. Wow, its been a long road. Here is my progress...

IF all this goes as well as I think it will, I may be selling my air dam.

[Carl Beck]

If you are not thinking of it already - Coat the inside of the bumper with POR-15 while your at it...These bumpers rust from the inside out..

Mask the edges off, and cover the entire exterior chrome!

Shoot the interior of the bumper with some aluminum paint to cover the POR-15, just as the POR-15 gets tacky to the touch..

If there is already some surface rust on the inside of the bumper - just knock it down with some sandpaper and blow it out, then wipe it down with some lacquer thinner..

FWIW,

Carl B.

[Zedyone_kenobi]

THanks! That is great info! My bumper is in really great condition, but a on ounce of prevention is worth its weight in gold right!

Again, I really want to say I appreciate all the help this site has given me.

[Zedyone_kenobi]

One question, since I was in a rush, I did not have time to follow Arne's advice to do a trial fit and drill out the spook prior to paint. I sort of mocked it up, but realized there is no template for how the spook should be mounted. How far up or how far back should I mount it?

[Carl Beck]

Just use fresh and good quality Masking Tape - over the paint where you intend to drill though. Use a sharp center-punch to start and hold the drill bit in the correct place.

The BRE Spook bolts to the bottom of the Radiator Core Support - with three bolts that go into the existing captive nuts. Look at the underside of the core support and you should see them...

If you look closely at the Spook - it should have three little circles scribed in the fiberglass - where the Spook overlaps the bottom of the radiator core support..

If the body shop sanded and then painted the Spook - you may not be able to find the scribed circles that show you where the bolts should go though...

See BRE's mounting instructions...

FWIW,

Carl B.

[Zedyone_kenobi]

THanks, I will post pics as I make progress... stay tuned, news at 11

[Arne]

Just use fresh and good quality Masking Tape - over the paint where you intend to drill though. Use a sharp center-punch to start and hold the drill bit in the correct place.

The BRE Spook bolts to the bottom of the Radiator Core Support - with three bolts that go into the existing captive nuts. Look at the underside of the core support and you should see them...

If you look closely at the Spook - it should have three little circles scribed in the fiberglass - where the Spook overlaps the bottom of the radiator core support..

If the body shop sanded and then painted the Spook - you may not be able to find the scribed circles that show you where the bolts should go though...

See BRE's mounting instructions...

FWIW,

Carl B.

Good comments, and the 35+ year old instructions are great to see - now. But my recent experience is that the instructions may not be much help.

The BRE Spook bolts to the bottom of the Radiator Core Support - with three bolts that go into the existing captive nuts. Look at the underside of the core support and you should see them...

Correct in theory, but not always so in practice. I tried hard to figure how to use those three core support holes, but could not get there from here. In my car's case, the front valance is too much lower than the core support. The spook has a step molded in it to accommodate the difference, but the difference in my car is much greater than the step in the spook allows. When I mounted my spook to the valance, the step area is at least 1/4" below the core support.

My '71 has never been hit up front, and all the parts there are original. So all I can assume is that the molds have settled/warped/changed over the ensuing 35+ years, or that there are significant production variances between cars, and I caught the far extreme. Or perhaps a combination of the two.

In any case, get a friend and carefully test fit the spook to your particular car before drilling any holes.

If you look closely at the Spook - it should have three little circles scribed in the fiberglass - where the Spook overlaps the bottom of the radiator core support..

Maybe. I bought my spook from CDM about 2 years ago, it came with no hardware and no instructions. It also did NOT have the hole guides scribed in. There was no indication at all of how many holes to use, or where said holes should be located. I can only assume (since CDM is supposed to have/use the original molds) that the mold has been re-worked and re-polished over the years and no longer has the scribe-marks. So you may have to wing it a bit on where to drill. Measure and fit several times....