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Assistance required
Have just received bob tail spoiler for 2002 from mania
does anyone have experience with fitting?
Mania said fit with the double sided tape, but it has twp small 'rockets' that appear to be removable, with one large black plastic post in the centre. These items do not let the spoiler sit flush on the boot. Also has provision for two bolts, either end of spoiler.
Should these rockets be removed ? Is double sided tape sufficient to keep the spoiler in place? Should the spoiler be bolted on, thus needing two holes drilled in boot??
Any advices gladly received.
robbiew
also have boot lid gas strut to instal. instructions in German !!
anyone done this as well ??
cheers

...sorry about the dodgy pic, this is what the boot strut looks like when its installed -

If the spoiler is like the one for the earlier models then the two end pieces are meant to go around the outside edge of the boot lid and then screw into the ends of the spoiler. That leaves you with a central bolt, which requires a hole to be drilled into the boot lid. I have read on the big forum that is possible to mount the spoiler without the central bolt. It is achieved by removing the bolt and using double sided tape such as that used to attach car windscreens. Haven't tried it myself, but thats what I read.

J

Personally, I wouldn't trust double sided tape to hold an external spoiler on with.
Drive along at 80k's and stick your hand out the window.
Feel the strength of the wind blowing on your hand.

Now imagine you are travelling along at 110k's and the rear spoiler decides to part company with the car......................

I installed a genuine Mazda spolier and it required 3 holes to be drilled in the boot lid. 1 in the centre and 1 on each end. The spoiler had a stud in the middle and 2 nuts cast into the plastic on the ends which required bolts up from the underside of the boot lid. It also came with a run of double sided tape along the leading and trailing edges of the spolier. The kit also included some taller rubber stoppers to replace the ones already around the boot frame and a thicker spring to support the extra weight of the boot lid with the spoiler attached. There were a couple of templates included to help locate where the holes had to be drilled.

It was a straight forward installation, though a bit scarey drilling into the boot lid. But once that was done, a wipe down of the boot lid with the included alcohol impregnated wipes to remove any wax or grease on the bootlid and carefully line the spoiler up and press it down on the bootlid then attached the 2 bolts and one nut and it was done.

All was well for about 12 months till a very hot concourse day where my car was out in the sun all day and the spoiler started to lift up. When it cooled it sat back down again but it was never flush with the boot lid again. Over time it warped more and more. I took it off and replaced the double sided tape but it was permanently warped by then so it didn't work. Mazda replaced and refitted a new spolier under warranty but it only lasted about 2 weeks before it started to lift off.

Suddenly Mazda didn't want to know about it any more because it initially wasn't installed by a Mazda dealer, though I have no idea how that would affect their brand new replacement spolier lifting off after only 2 weeks, so I went to body kit place down the road from me to get them to install it. They ditched the double sided tape and used a producted called sikaflex or something and it's been fine for about 2 years and counting.

So, I wouldn't recomend relying on just the double sided tape. I'd also recomend taking it to someone who knows what they are doing. Drilling the holes in the bootlid will be a lot harder without the template.

Mine has 1 centre bolt and the 2 screw fittings that grab the boot lid. Double sided tape would hold until the tape goes off or gets wet.

3M Bond probably has some tape product that has awesome stength yet is easy to remove & without damaging the paint in the process

Buses are glued together by Sykaflex

Don't drill holes, Sikaflex it.

Sikaflex is great for sticking stuff like this down. I once used to to affix some heavy kit to the deck of a boat during a sea trial. We couldn't drill holes (compromise the watertight integrity) and the lashing points were inadequate.

A seam of Sikaflex around the outer edge of the box and it simply would not budge. Removal involved a couple of razor blades and pulling up on one corner to place uneven stress on the seal.