Can you straighten out the front spoiler?

[Karl_W911]

I see this on every 944 except my uncles '85.5 which has the cleanest front bumper/spoiler/valence I've ever seen. Mine, is not so good; is there any way to straighten it out, or at least make it look more even? You can see on the left side of mine it's slightly detached from the fender, I'm not sure how to go about fixing that either.
My '84

My Uncle's '85.5

Any help will be appreciated!

Karl

[mikepellegrini]

Looking at your pictures, it's tough to tell what's warped.

I've had some luck straightening valences off the car - it's a lot easier that way. I tried heating while exerting force on the warped portion but what worked best were metal reinforcements (painted black) that hold it in shape.

[Thunder-71]

Check the steel brackets that hold it in place and straight, if they are bent or misaligned your spoiler will warp. The spoilers are quite soft and pliable so bent or misaligned brackets will easily warp them. They were the problem on my spoiler and it was a fairly easy fix. Good Luck.

[Motorwinder]

I've been curious about this myself. I have a valance I'm working on to replace the mangled one currently on my car. I was thinking of reinforcing it with some strips of aluminum, but I'm not sure what would be the best solution to attach it to the valance.

[SiegfriedS]

Hello,
I think our plastic spoiler over time, we are talking about > 20 years, is loosing the chemicals to keep it soft.
Therefore its is deforming over time.
On my 944 S2 convertible the right side looks exactly the same. I hate it.
The left side is basically ok, but starting to extend to the outside as well.
Still to early to do something.

I took a piece of aluminium with the shape of an L and glued it from the inside of the spoiler, full height, some clearance on the bottom and some on top, right there where deformation was at its max.
Try to find out the right line where to glue , to avoid a strange form.

Use a 2 - component glue , clean and sand the spoiler carefully where you apply the glue. Use a press to fix it until the glue is hard.
Good luck from Germany!
Please keep us posted how you were doing.
Siegfried

[Karl_W911]

I've acquired a heat gun and some gloves for safety reasons, but here's a thought:

Would it be better for me to try to reshape them while the front spoiler is still on the car, or should I remove it? I ask because I think it'd be too much of a hassle to reshape, test-fit, then remove and repeat until it's "right".


(Also here's that "warping", or at least where the spoiler no longer touches the wing)

[GGX2]

Where it's separated from the fender? There should be a bolt holding the fender to the spoiler where that gap is, so that shouldn't even happen... maybe it came loose. Kinda hard to get in there, good luck with it.

-George

[ckelly78z]

Remove your front wheel for better access to the inside of the problem area. There should be at least one bolt through the metal fender into the lower valence in that "warping" area near the side marker.

[Volhv]

I've seen this issue quite a lot on 944s. Any idea what causes the warpage? I'm guessing it's due to it being repeatedly scammed into curbs and parking dividers. Mine is still in great shape minus some minor scrapage on the very bottom. I should consider myself lucky.

[pfarah]

Karl,

Have you tried to adjust the spoiler by loosening/adjusting the securing bracket?

[Karl_W911]

Originally Posted by pfarah

Karl,

Have you tried to adjust the spoiler by loosening/adjusting the securing bracket?

I haven't. I was told about the bracket by another 944 owner, and he even showed it to me on my car, but for the life of me, I completely forgot how and where to adjust the bracket.

[Tom944]

As far as I recall there are 3 tiny bolts holding the bumper to the fender there with a thin metal strip. You just loosen them (some need a long extension to reach) hold the bumper in place and tighten them. I think they are M6.

[pfarah]

They're 10mm head bolts. Look at part#30 (bracket).