installing a spoiler on a C 63 (pics inside)
08-31-2013, 03:10 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
installing a spoiler on a C 63 (pics inside)
it might not seem like rocket science but there is a process to get it done perfectly without massive amounts of guessing and struggle. the fact that this particular wrapped OE spoiler mounts to the back angle of the decklid as well as the top makes it somewhat challenging to get every single side and area as flush as possible while maintaining center.
here is the trunk with the spoiler removed, completely corrected and then prepped with Maxx Solv and wiped with an isopropyl alcohol/distilled water solution. this ~20% solution is common in detailing. FYI: the adhesive tape that Mercedes uses for their spoilers is ridiculous, so be prepared to triple insure that the decklid side as well as the spoiler surfaces are COMPLETELY squeaky clean and free of residual adhesive.
line up the spoiler using automotive painter's tape to hold it while you line it up.
once it is lined up, take bisected pieces of tape and place them on the spoiler in a few places, lining it up so one end of each bisected piece is on the trunk and lined up with the corresponding piece on the spoiler. this will help guide you when you go to mount it for good. make sure you leave them on the trunk and the spoiler.
so the big question is how to do the adhesive. the following is basically what they do in the body repair industry but with a little additional care to the details, angles, etc.
place the thin strip on the back angle of the spoiler. make sure you leave a couple inches on each side of additional adhesive. with these couple inches, you will cut the foam side at the angle necessary for the edge of the spoiler. i use masking tape as a guide to match the cut to the spoiler angle. however, DO NOT cut through the film part. the film will act as tabs available when you install. however, for the back strip, since keeping it tight at the center point is the biggest concern, you will slice the film and split it right at the center point. peel back the film just a bit so you have tabs that will hang down when you put the spoiler back for fitment. you can use painter's tape to keep these tabs where they need to be until installation. (i don't have pics of that but you'll see what i mean when you have the tabs hanging all over the place.) also, it is imperative to make sure the film at the various cuts lifts freely from the tape. go over each cut and separate the tape from the film. when you cut the angles, it tends to smear the adhesive a bit on a microscopic level making it hard for the film to peel on the initial peel attempt. this can be trouble if it happens on the car.
so the same for the wide strip of tape in terms of angle cuts and tabs, but don't worry about cutting the center portion film for tabs. you can, and create additional center tabs as insurance (the outer tabs will be the insurance tabs on the thin strip), but it's not necessary and actually could cause problems when you get to them after pulling from the ends. at the minimum just slice the film in the middle of the spoiler on the wide strip so when you are pulling either side, it won't get stuck on itself when you get toward the middle. if you pulled from only one side allll the way across the spoiler, then it wouldn't matter. but the key is to pull from the ends of the wide strip evenly. you want to make sure the ends fasten to the trunk first and then work your way in.
before you bring the spoiler to the trunk, make sure all of your tabs are folded over to make the angle away and down or up from the spoiler. it's hard to explain but you don't want the film to have to fold under itself when you are pulling the film away whilst the adhesive is being pressed against the car. it might hang up and get caught that way. so again, fold the tabs perpendicular to the film strip so they are headed in the direction that you will be pulling. when you are pulling the tabs, you want the back of the tab film sliding against the back of the film on the tape, so it's "rolling" way from the adhesive. hopefully you'll see what i mean when you go to install. i know this sounds incredibly confusing
anyway, line up the spoiler using the painter's tape that you left on the trunk and the spoiler from the initial line up. since i bisected the pieces off of the spoiler, the cut is not straight - that is fine. you want to make sure you are paying attention to the sides of the tape so when you meet the pieces, the unified pieces are exactly lined up.
apply pressure to the back center of the spoiler, pressing it into the back angle of the trunk. also, press down a bit as well to assure the top flat part is indeed flat against the top trunk surface. now slowly pull away the center film tabs while keeping that pressure at those angles, working your way away from center toward each end. when you get about halfway on one side, start working the other. try to do it evenly from side to side. make sure the back of the spoiler is sitting flush with the back angle of the trunk. keep in mind the end tabs you made for the thin strip were just insurance strips in case something happened while pulling from the center.
once you pull the film out completely from each end whilst pressing firmly forward and down, go over your work to ensure everything is secure and the film is stuck well. press it all over the place with ample pressure.
once that is done, pull the film for the wide strip using the same techniques but naturally you'll be pressing down as you work your way toward the center. in my opinion, even if you created center tabs in addition to end tabs (i advise against this - just slice the film in the center), it's best to start from the ends with the wide strip and pull toward the center. in my opinion you don't need to press that much in the center until you get the film out. you don't want anything to get stuck in the center and then have to fight the tension of ALL that adhesive across the decklid. trust me.
press everything down and make sure it sticks. if you did it correctly, it should all be tight and flush.
so to sum it up, it's an OE C 63 spoiler wrapped in 3M 1080 film by Wu Wraps in Seattle, WA. for protection it is coated it with Optimum Opti-Coat Pro.
here is the trunk with the spoiler removed, completely corrected and then prepped with Maxx Solv and wiped with an isopropyl alcohol/distilled water solution. this ~20% solution is common in detailing. FYI: the adhesive tape that Mercedes uses for their spoilers is ridiculous, so be prepared to triple insure that the decklid side as well as the spoiler surfaces are COMPLETELY squeaky clean and free of residual adhesive.
line up the spoiler using automotive painter's tape to hold it while you line it up.
once it is lined up, take bisected pieces of tape and place them on the spoiler in a few places, lining it up so one end of each bisected piece is on the trunk and lined up with the corresponding piece on the spoiler. this will help guide you when you go to mount it for good. make sure you leave them on the trunk and the spoiler.
so the big question is how to do the adhesive. the following is basically what they do in the body repair industry but with a little additional care to the details, angles, etc.
place the thin strip on the back angle of the spoiler. make sure you leave a couple inches on each side of additional adhesive. with these couple inches, you will cut the foam side at the angle necessary for the edge of the spoiler. i use masking tape as a guide to match the cut to the spoiler angle. however, DO NOT cut through the film part. the film will act as tabs available when you install. however, for the back strip, since keeping it tight at the center point is the biggest concern, you will slice the film and split it right at the center point. peel back the film just a bit so you have tabs that will hang down when you put the spoiler back for fitment. you can use painter's tape to keep these tabs where they need to be until installation. (i don't have pics of that but you'll see what i mean when you have the tabs hanging all over the place.) also, it is imperative to make sure the film at the various cuts lifts freely from the tape. go over each cut and separate the tape from the film. when you cut the angles, it tends to smear the adhesive a bit on a microscopic level making it hard for the film to peel on the initial peel attempt. this can be trouble if it happens on the car.
so the same for the wide strip of tape in terms of angle cuts and tabs, but don't worry about cutting the center portion film for tabs. you can, and create additional center tabs as insurance (the outer tabs will be the insurance tabs on the thin strip), but it's not necessary and actually could cause problems when you get to them after pulling from the ends. at the minimum just slice the film in the middle of the spoiler on the wide strip so when you are pulling either side, it won't get stuck on itself when you get toward the middle. if you pulled from only one side allll the way across the spoiler, then it wouldn't matter. but the key is to pull from the ends of the wide strip evenly. you want to make sure the ends fasten to the trunk first and then work your way in.
before you bring the spoiler to the trunk, make sure all of your tabs are folded over to make the angle away and down or up from the spoiler. it's hard to explain but you don't want the film to have to fold under itself when you are pulling the film away whilst the adhesive is being pressed against the car. it might hang up and get caught that way. so again, fold the tabs perpendicular to the film strip so they are headed in the direction that you will be pulling. when you are pulling the tabs, you want the back of the tab film sliding against the back of the film on the tape, so it's "rolling" way from the adhesive. hopefully you'll see what i mean when you go to install. i know this sounds incredibly confusing
anyway, line up the spoiler using the painter's tape that you left on the trunk and the spoiler from the initial line up. since i bisected the pieces off of the spoiler, the cut is not straight - that is fine. you want to make sure you are paying attention to the sides of the tape so when you meet the pieces, the unified pieces are exactly lined up.
apply pressure to the back center of the spoiler, pressing it into the back angle of the trunk. also, press down a bit as well to assure the top flat part is indeed flat against the top trunk surface. now slowly pull away the center film tabs while keeping that pressure at those angles, working your way away from center toward each end. when you get about halfway on one side, start working the other. try to do it evenly from side to side. make sure the back of the spoiler is sitting flush with the back angle of the trunk. keep in mind the end tabs you made for the thin strip were just insurance strips in case something happened while pulling from the center.
once you pull the film out completely from each end whilst pressing firmly forward and down, go over your work to ensure everything is secure and the film is stuck well. press it all over the place with ample pressure.
once that is done, pull the film for the wide strip using the same techniques but naturally you'll be pressing down as you work your way toward the center. in my opinion, even if you created center tabs in addition to end tabs (i advise against this - just slice the film in the center), it's best to start from the ends with the wide strip and pull toward the center. in my opinion you don't need to press that much in the center until you get the film out. you don't want anything to get stuck in the center and then have to fight the tension of ALL that adhesive across the decklid. trust me.
press everything down and make sure it sticks. if you did it correctly, it should all be tight and flush.
so to sum it up, it's an OE C 63 spoiler wrapped in 3M 1080 film by Wu Wraps in Seattle, WA. for protection it is coated it with Optimum Opti-Coat Pro.
Last edited by builthatch; 09-01-2013 at 12:11 AM.
08-31-2013, 11:47 PM
#2
MBWorld Fanatic!
Awesome write-up!! My bodyshop did my installation, but he did exactly what u did. Props for taking the time to share with us for the DIYer's.
09-01-2013, 01:26 AM
#4
Member
Thread Starter
i didn't, unfortunately. but the guy who did is really good! he has done a few things for me. Mark Wu in the Seattle area - https://www.facebook.com/wuwraps
all i had to do was remove the OE adhesive on the underside and i trimmed a few of his corners and folds and touched them up with an EZ Dabber and some gloss enamel model paint. most people would laugh if i showed them what i needed to touch up but at least i can admit that i'm crazy.
09-01-2013, 12:03 PM
#5
MBWorld Fanatic!
Why did u decide to wrap over buying a CF glossy spoiler? Just asking as they are very cheap, more durable & requires the same effort to install.
09-01-2013, 12:14 PM
#6
Member
Thread Starter
i studied what i really wanted out of this and it made more sense to wrap the OE spoiler.
- perfect OE fitment
- carbon appearance
- minimal investment since a real carbon unit would look, perform and weigh about the same as the wrapped one, but wrapping would cost a fraction of the carbon piece.
for stuff that matters, i'd definitely go "real".
- perfect OE fitment
- carbon appearance
- minimal investment since a real carbon unit would look, perform and weigh about the same as the wrapped one, but wrapping would cost a fraction of the carbon piece.
for stuff that matters, i'd definitely go "real".
