Knight Industries Two Thousand
Installing the Spoiler /Progress Pics
Installing the Hood
Installing the hood has to be one of my least favorite parts of the conversion so far for a couple of reasons. First, it is absolutely impossible to do without at least one extra set of hands, and works better with two. And secondly, it is a pain in the butt to get it straight ...which is imperative.
Removing the hood is a pretty straight forward process. There are like six bolts which have to be removed holding the hood hinges to the fenders. This is a very good time to decide whether or not the hinges need replaced or not. As it turned out on my car, the hinges were ok, however the shock towers were shot to hell, so those needed to be replaced. New shocks can be found at most any auto part store. I think that the front ones can be found for about $15 for each side. Don't skimp here, buy them both if there is an inkling that they need replaced. There is nothing worse than a 60 pound hood coming down on your head while you are working.
Replacing the hood is pretty simple, you just put it back together the way it came apart. There will be a number of adjustments you will need to make to the front and rear rubber bumpers to make it level, as well as adjusting the hinges to the body so that it all lines up correctly front to back and side to side.
I decided I wanted to test fit the hood that I found at the junkyard. However I would suggest before installing your hood to go ahead and take it to your body shop and have them edge it will save them some time and hopefully money on the paint job.
Also, these hoods are not to my knowledge available as an aftermarket part so you will have to check out Ebay or your local junkyard. I found this hood for $50.
The first thing you need to do for this installation is to remove the plastic panel which covers the underside of your deck lid. This will give you access to where the bolt holes need to be for the spoiler. Also, if you have a rear windshield wiper and have any plans on removing it, this would be a good time to go ahead and get it out of your way. Remember that there will be a hole left behind from the wiper, so be prepared to tape it off of or plug it. I had the body shop weld a plug into it, but I am sure bondo and some fiberglass would have worked well too.
You might as well replace the shocks on the hatch if they are in need of it as well. There are two different kinds of shocks for the rear hatch lid. One is for cars with the spoiler and wiper, the other is for just the spoiler. Make sure you get the right one if you keep the wiper. Otherwise you will have to return them because they won't hold the lid up. The rear shocks are about twice the price of the front ones, but they make a world of difference when working on the car. The deck lid is extremely heavy and cumbersome. Not to mention you will want to replace them at some point anyhow.
The first thing you need to do for the actual installation is to decide the placement of the spoiler itself. The spoiler should be centered on the back of the deck, with the bottom rear corner of the spoiler lining up with the back rear corner of the rear quarter panel. Once you have it lined up where it looks good, then you will need to mark around the bolt studs for your holes.
The front holes are pretty straightforward. Just drill through the sheet metal and you are set. The rear ones will be much trickier. The problem with the rear ones are bolt access. The front bolts are easily accessed with a nut and socket driver, however the back holes will need to be widened out on the underside of the lid as it goes through two separate pieces of sheet metal. As you can see I used a grinder to widen out the holes...however that would not be my recommendation for doing this process. Go to the hardware store and get a metal cutting hole cutter for your drill that is big enough to get a socket head in. It will save you time and look much nicer, not to mention there will be less sparks.
