1986 Spoiler with 3rd Breaklight on 1985 car.
 

Dear all,

I own a 1985 Z31 Turbo 228HP. The car as is, doesn't have a spoiler, not even the installation holes in the rear hatch.I guess at some point in the past the rubber spoiler rotted away and the prior owner replaced with a new hatch as he didn't find a replacement for the spoiler.

Now I found myself one of the 86 plastic spoilers with 3rd Breaklight and had it painted, but I am wondering if anyone ever installed this on a standard 84-85 hatch. I am especially looking for answers to the following:

1. Does it make sense to install the breaklight at all? As I understand the 86 version had a special hatch that had holes to get to the break-light bulbs and some kind of raised mount for the breaklight. Now I guess the breaklight could just be bolted to the 85 hatch, but then I guess there are no cable connectors for the 3rd break light present in a non-86 car anyways?

2. What about the wiper-arm? Is it possible to fit this spoiler with the 85 wiper arm, or modify the wiper or do I need an 86 wiper arm? As I understand these were also different.

Maybe someone has done this conversion before and can shed some light on my project.

Thank you very much,

Daniel

The wiper arm will need to be replaced with an 86 wiper arm. The shape of the arms are different and won't fit into the 86 spoiler.

Read this for 1984-1989 spoiler differences:

ZBUM's Z31 Differences Page

1. Does it make sense to install the break light at all? It’s OK for a pre-1986 car to not have a CHMSL (Center High Mounted Stop Lamp). A CHMSL became mandatory for all new cars sold in the U.S. starting in 1986. But if you have a 1985 car with a 1986 spoiler with a non-operating CHMSL, it could cause you to get stopped for a traffic citation. A cop might not know visually that your z31 is a 1985 model and doesn’t require it. All the cop knows is that your car has a CHMSL and it doesn’t work so he’ll stop you. If you want the CHMSL to work, you’ll have to study the 1985 and 1986 electrical diagrams to determine how to connect the CHMSL to the car’s electrical system.

2. Yes, as what’s said in the link and what the poster above has said.

Thank you for your response. I am not so afraid of US-Cops as the car is in Germany. :icon_eyes:

However even here the breaklight would have to work if installed. German cops (or MOT) will demand that anything installed on the car is in working condition. I am actually considering now to install the spoiler without the breaklight and just live with the cut-out. I don't think this will look exceptionally bad.

I got me the correct wiper arm from E-Bay in the meantime.

D.