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Resolved 1994 talon mid-section of 3 piece spoiler removal

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sacrileger

Proven Member
288
43
Jun 26, 2016
Orillia, ON_Canada
i am struggling with the removal of my mid-section of the 3pc spoiler on '94 talon. i am trying to be as gentle as one can be as not break any clips. Number of members on this forum struggle to find replacements for broken clips so i dont wish to join the crowd.

in any case, there are posts on here dealing with 1990-1991 spoilers but my spoiler is different. This is 1994 talon and the spoiler is not as wide as others, does not have a hole for the rear glass wiper arm and the spoiler sits on 3 pillars.

What is the procedure to remove the middle section of the 3 piece spoiler? I removed the two short bolts from underneath the hatch and there is now some minor play in the spoiler but nothing significant.

Other post on here with photos show 4 flat clips which look like the spoiler slides into them.. somehow. I presume i will have the same clips... i am just not sure which way the clips are oriented. i tried to pull/slide the spoiler away to the back of the car without lifting the spoiler as not to break any clips etc. but it hardly moved. i used considerable force but was not able to dislodge the spoiler. Is there a trick to it?

Other spoilers on here slipped off just like that so i presume not much pulling force is required so i wonder if there's some kinda "trick manoeuvre" i am not aware of to take it off ...???
 
I believe the middle piece is held on by two bolts. You have to pull back on the spoiler away from the car and then lift up to get it off.
 
I believe the middle piece is held on by two bolts. You have to pull back on the spoiler away from the car and then lift up to get it off.

would you know if the 94 talons are attached in the same way as this 1990 spoiler, with 4 flat clips like these:
Need help with 1g spoiler install

i have already exerted considerable force pulling and tugging at the spoiler but it wont give.. and i worry about breaking the clips off if their orientation is not in the same direction as the ones in those pics above... bunch of guys on here are having difficulty finding those clips if they break off. this spoiler has never been taken off so i wonder if i should give up and deal with rain water that is getting in thru holes in the hatch
edit: actually, at closer examination, it looks like the 1990 spoiler has 6 clips.. not 4; my spoiler very likely has that many clips as well .. but hard to tell...
 
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I'm not aware of any other obstacle to pulling the wing off. I've had to install two different 1gb talon wings on my car and that's what I've found.

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I tried taking mine off when I first got the car and I gave up since it really didn't "need" to come off (trying to clean the caked on dirt and misaligned gasket). I too pulled hard and couldn't get it off, but maybe it wasn't enough force??? If you must remove it, I'd try heating up those clips first. Vegas lives in Texas so maybe that's why it was easier for him.
 
I tried taking mine off when I first got the car and I gave up since it really didn't "need" to come off (trying to clean the caked on dirt and misaligned gasket). I too pulled hard and couldn't get it off, but maybe it wasn't enough force??? .

spot on ^^^ .. plus i had water coming into the trunk because the seal broke. it took considerable force to get the spoiler off.

however, my advice to anybody who finds this post is not remove the spoiler unless pros outweigh cons since this is a classic case of trade-offs. The reason why it is so difficult to remove is because the metal studs intended to hold and secure the plastic spoiler in place get rusty, they swell up, grow into the brittle plastic and when one tries to pry it off, it breaks off the plastic clips. that's exactly what happened to me just now. To make matters worse, the "clips" are integral part of the spoiler and cannot be replaced, only "fixed". The built-in clips get brittle because of all the heat this black spoiler generates in the sun. Furthermore, my plastic cover which covers the lock and wiper motor underneath the hatch is deformed from heat and sun baking the hatch so one can imagine how dried out and brittle the hard plastic from which the spoiler is made becomes over the decades.

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I'm not aware of any other obstacle to pulling the wing off. I've had to install two different 1gb talon wings on my car and that's what I've found.

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thanks.. i did get the spoiler off looking at your pic and understanding how it is attached. i chipped/broke two of those built-in clips though.. see pic and more detail in my reply above
 
So it looks like you’d have to get the studs off the plastic first. Then standing behind the car, pull the spoiler towards you instead of up. Is that accurate?

Standing behind the car and pulling/sliding the spoiler away from the car towards you is the correct manoeuvre while ensuring no upwards pressure is applied to the spoiler as that will break off the clips for sure.

However, there is no way to remove the studs prior to removing the spoiler. This is the reason:
1/ the hatch was drilled first
2/ then plastic inserts installed in the holes
3/ and then metal studs screwed (not threaded) into the plastic from the TOP (only 2 out of 6 studs are visible from the bottom due to other fixed/welded obstructions in the way. The only visible parts are tips of what looks like short wood screws, not bolts that can be undone )
4/ the spoiler is clipped on the studs.

there even is no way to spray WD40 on the studs where the rust is to loosen the bond b/w the plastic and metal
 
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