Fitting a 400SE Boot Spoiler to a 350i - PART 1

By: Mike Bressington

I have always admired the shape of my 350i and the other Wedge cars. One thing that I have always wanted on my 350i however was a 400 / 450SE type wraparound boot lid spoiler (it must be something to do with all the XR3i's I had in my youth!). I have toyed with the idea of fitting one for several years but have never got around to doing anything about it.

Something missing...		TVR 400SE Boot spoiler

After a phone call to Trevor Bee at TET Mouldings I decided to take the plunge and get one on order. TET Mouldings was founded in 1986, the company specialises in the manufacture of replacement TVR panels, spoilers, bonnets and bumpers for all kinds of TVRs including wedges. Prior to starting TET, Trevor worked in the fibreglass department of the TVR factory for 13 years and his obvious enthusiasm and in-depth knowledge really comes over when you talk to him.

Several days later, on the day that Trevor promised, a rather large package was delivered to my house. After opening the carefully wrapped item and inspecting it, it came as a bit of a surprise to find that not only was the finish and detail of the spoiler much better than I had expected, but the item was also painted in primer ready to go.

Ready primed		Detail of the 'wing'

The spoiler comes with 8mm captive nuts sunk into the fibreglass, no bolts are supplied with the package however, you have to provide your own fixing arrangements. On 'dry running' the spoiler on the boot lid, the spoiler not only fitted rather nicely but looked great (although not yet painted).

Detail of the pillar (bolt not cut to size)		Detail of the 8mm captive nut

I have contacted a local paint shop for a quote to paint the spoiler Mica Blue to match the car. In the meantime I am going to measure and drill the fixing holes, I also need to locate a suitable rubber pad that is situated in between the spoiler and the boot lid to stop it slipping.

Another problem I have to deal with prior to fitting the spoiler, is the previous owner of the 350i had a small mobile phone aerial fitted to the boot wing. I have to remove it and do something about the hole.

The 400SE spoiler as featured, costs £130 plus vat and postage. To order one, you need to contact Trevor Bee on 01253 892342, or write to:-

TET Mouldings
Unit 6, Block 4.
Cocker Ave
Poulton Ind.Est
Poulton-le-Fylde
Lancs FY6 8JU.

Watch this space for part 2....drilling and fitting.

Thanks to Trevor Bee at TET Mouldings for providing the spoiler and the necessary help and advice.

Fitting a 400SE Boot Spoiler to a 350i - PART 2

By: Mike Bressington

I made the decision to try fitting the spoiler before having it painted, as I thought that it would be less likely to damage the paint work whilst the measuring and fitting was carried out.

One of the first jobs to do before going any further is to correctly align the boot lid. My lid was considerably ‘out of whack’, the gaps on GRP cars are never going to be great, but I thought that I could improve the situation a little. The bolts holding the hinges in place had to be loosened and the lid re-aligned (along with the latch) - This is a bit of a fiddly job, but has to be done.

Slipping boot lid hinge damage		New rubber hinge pad

To complicate matters, the rubber pads in between the hinges and the bodywork had perished and had also to be replaced. This was the reason why the boot lid had moved, and had caused some damage to the paint (see pic above). I simply cut a suitable strip of rubber, replaced the pads and then re-positioned the lid.

Once completed, the next job was to measure the drilling points and to drill out the holes. The spoiler comes with M8 captive nuts sunk into the fibreglass. My friend had the idea to chop the heads off two M8 bolts and cut a screw slot into one end. We screwed the bolts into the spoiler and left about 3mm proud. I then cut some strips of masking tape and stuck these on to the boot lid so the bolts would leave a mark in the tape; hopefully indicating the correct drilling points.

Homemade grub screw marker		Mark left on tape

With the help of my mate, the spoiler was aligned approximately where it should go. It was held slightly off the tape, once the correct position was found, the spoiler was pressed into the tape leaving two nice marks where the holes should go – easy!. Next, two pilot holes were drilled. These were later opened out to 8.5mm to allow a little movement should the positioning be slightly off.

The ‘marker bolts’ were removed from the spoiler and the unit positioned in the correct place on the boot lid. I cut two stainless M8 bolts to 25mm length and pushed these through the boot lid, not forgetting the 40mm stainless tank washers (to help spread the loading on the fibreglass lid). With the help of my mate to hold the spoiler in position, the bolts were tightened.

Drilling the holes		Stainless washer and bolt

The spoiler fitted very well, although some unevenness was evident where the spoiler touches the boot lid. According to TVR, a 3mm hard(ish) rubber ‘gasket’ is used to stop the spoiler slipping and rubbing the paint.

With the spoiler still fitted to the car, I used a pen to draw around each of the spoiler mounting pillars onto the masking tape. The spoiler was removed and the tape was carefully peeled off. I laid the tape onto a sheet of suitable rubber sheet and cut out the shape with a sharp modelling scalpel.

Tracing the shape		Cutting the gasket

Two holes were cut into the rubber to allow the M8 bolts to go through. The spoiler was then re-fitted, this time with the home made rubber gaskets in between, the bolts were tightened up - This time the fit was perfect (see pic below).

The completed rubber gasket		Click to enlarge

In my humble opinion, the spoiler finishes the car off perfectly. Even though the spoiler was unpainted, it looked fantastic. Just to put my mind at rest, I took the car out for a spin afterwards. I took it up to an undisclosed speed on the motorway (partly to go for a blast, and partly because I was paranoid that the spoiler would rip off at high speed – phew - to my relief it didn’t!).

After finally getting the spoiler painted (I paid around £150 for the preparation, paint and labour), I carefully re-fitted it. This time I also glued the rubber gaskets in place with Evostick adhesive to stop any slippage.

Before....		After Click to enlarge

One thing I would recommend if you do fit one of these spoilers, is to check that you have got the radio aerial down before you open the boot lid, as this will foul the spoiler. I believe the 400’s were fitted with a micro switch in the boot that automatically lowers the aerial to stop this happening.

I was a little bit wary at first, drilling holes into my pride and joy and all that, but I am really pleased with the finished result. I think it makes the car look at least 10mph faster!. Now about that vented bonnet.......

Thanks to Trevor Bee at TET Mouldings for providing the spoiler and the necessary advice. And for Simon Eager for help with fitting.