Before...

...and after.

This is a step-by-step guide on fitting a universal Evo spoiler onto a Calibra. The method applied here can also be transferred onto other models, for example the Cavalier. The guide shows a aftermarket spoiler removed and replaced with the Evo spoiler, hence some holes in the tailgate were already in place. Some owners have factory fitted spoilers, and if they have a centre mounted screw down point (i.e. Calibra Turbo deep flat spoilers), then this hole has to be welded over and resprayed, bumping up the cost. Because the Evo spoiler is light, only 2 bolts on each leg are required, and bonding it down to the tailgate should be more than enough.

This particular spoiler has an integrated brake light, the guide also shows you how to wire this up to your car electric's too. The most time consuming part of this modification is the preparation. The spoiler will almost definitely not fit the tailgate properly when you first sit it on the tailgate. It will wobble end to end somewhere. The feet need sanding down until it is stable. This is the time consuming part, sanding, checking, sanding, checking....you get the idea.

Then once it sits straight, the surface of the Evo spoiler itself needs attention. There will be many small cracks and holes in the fibreglass. If your having a body shop spraying the item, you don't need to worry about this. But again, patience prevails and you will get an ultra smooth finish on the surface, making spraying easier.

• The spoiler came from www.ccmotorsport.co.uk. Price includes P&P and VAT.
• The Pick-up Grabber Toll came from Maplins, order code BN98G.
• Sanding paper can be purchased from your local car accessory shop (usually sold as a kit).
• The Quick Foam Filler are used for wall cavities, this can be purchased from B&Q and other DIY shops.

General Notes:

Just before you start, make sure you note the following:

• If you don't have one, buy a Haynes manual for your car and have this is front of you. You'll may need this on how to remove the spoiler and trim etc.
• Before fitting the spoiler to the car, test the brake light out first. The brake light on this unit was an LED array which works on 12v. Any lower and the intensity of the light produced is reduced, but still works. You can't damage the LED's by reversing the power (unless it's a higher voltage), just swap the connections around. Generally Red is positive and Black is negative (earth).
• The spoiler kit came supplied with bolts, but I found these would not fit the thread hole that was in the spoiler. So I replaced these with thick self tapping screws, about 3 on each foot. These simply dug into the spoiler when fitted to the car.
• When you first fit the spoiler temporally on the tailgate for the first time, it will most likely wobble or rock. The process of sanding down, checking, sanding down again etc. takes about 60% of fitting these universal spoilers. Take your time on this to get a nice snug fit.
• This particular spoiler is hollow, which keeps it light. The thickness of fibreglass for the feet, and where you screw into is VERY thin, only about 2-3mm in thickness. When sanding down the feet to get it level, I sanded through the thickness and produced a hole (as shown in the guide). You have to fill up the void so that you have something to screw into and bond onto as well.
• When the Evo spoiler is screwed down on the tailgate, and it is closed, take a note of the gap between the over hang of the feet and the top surface of the rear quarter. The overhang may bang on the rear quarter when the tailgate closes, so sand this down until there is a comfortable air gap between the two. If you don't you may mark the rear quarter, which will either crack the spoiler or damage the paint surface (= respray).
• When the old spoiler is removed (if you have one), the paint work can be restored a bit by using T-Cut, as it's bound to be dirty and dull when the spoiler was on top of it. If it's too heavily pitted or even scratched, then you may have no choice but to get the tailgate resprayed.
• An extra pair of hands may be required when fitting the spoiler on, as it is difficult to keep the spoiler in position and screw it down at the same time.

OK, got all the above? Then follow the steps below (remember to click on the pics for a bigger view):

General Notes:

Just before you start, make sure you note the following:

• This is not a definitive guide on how to rub down fibreglass and paint it, it is just a guide to point out a few hints on how to get a nice finish.
• There are several grades of sanding down paper (wet and dry) available, they are ranked as 100 = rough, and 1000 = smooth (almost feels like paper). Use 200 grit to begin with, followed by 400 grit. To get a smooth finish use 600 grit. 800 to 1000 is rarely used as it takes ages before you see any noticeable difference. This grit paper can be purchased from B&Q or your local car accessory shop.
• When sanding down, use a small amount of water to clean away the rubbings and to clean the grit paper free from fibreglass/paint. This also assists in making a smoother finish too.
• Use primmer to 'see' imperfections in the surface, then fill it up with fibreglass filler (for large areas) or filler (for small holes/crakes).
• Everytime an area is sanded down, it should ideally be re-primed again to see the effect done. This will be a long winded process of sanding, checking, sanding, checking etc.
• The brake light should be removed from the spoiler and taped up with news paper. As you don't want primmer over spray on it.
• When spraying, use light layers, never think ones. About 5 light layers will give a nice even coating. If your too close, runs will appear and you have to rub it down again. If your doing this outside, there must be no wind in the air (otherwise it's difficult to control the flow spray).

General Notes:

Just before you start, make sure you note the following:

• If you don't have one, buy a Haynes manual for your car and have this is front of you. You'll may need this on how to read the wiring diagrams and colour codes of wires for your particular year of car.
• Fit the supplied wire in the order shown, because it has to be fed through several items in a particular order. Failure to do this will almost result in removing all the wire again and re-feeding it (= hassle, these are the words from experience ;-).
• Feeding the wire through the car can be very stressful. This make take most of the time up, because you can sometimes never 'quite' get the wire through the holes in the tailgate etc. The combination use of the long plastic cable ties and the Pick-Up Grabber tool came in VERY useful.

There are two ways to the wire up the brake light on the spoiler. Either way will work, but one method will work better than the other. The two choices are 'serial connection' (bad) and 'parallel connection' (good). The two diagrams on the left show the two possibilities.

The serial connection is bad because it takes 50% (6v) of the volt drop away from the original stop lamp. This makes it appear to be half bright when viewed from the rear. Because the other 50% (6v) of the voltage is now across the new brake spoiler lamp.

The best way is to connect the brake light up in parallel in the circuit. This way both lamps get 12v across them. Hence the intensity of the light emitted is not affected. See the Y adapters in use here.

• The wire and colour coding in this guide were for a 'early type Calibra'. Vauxhall may have changed the colouring code on some models and year, check first in the Haynes manual before proceeding. Otherwise you could cut the wrong wire (again words here from experience).
• A lot of internal trim has to be removed to feed the brake wire in-between the panels (to make it neat). This is because the trim is layered in a 'house brick' fashion where one piece of trim covers a screw for another piece of trim etc.
• The use of 'Y Adapters' make the electrical installation much easier. These are simply two wires commonly joined together with one bullet plug. Follow the wiring diagrams as shown for correct connections.

OK, got all the above? Then follow the steps below (remember to click on the pics for a bigger view):