Hi there, I'm trying to figure out what to do with these rusted and stripped screws/fasteners that are on the spoiler of my car. Eventually I'm going to get my whole car painted and I want it to look somewhat professional. Painting over screws in my opinion, doesn't look professional. I was wondering if it will work to fill the holes where the screws/fasteners sit with body filler and then get it painted. The spoiler doesn't ever need to be disassembled (unless the painter needs it to be) so I don't care if the spoiler becomes a single piece. Here are some pics of what I'm dealing with:

Can you do what you're wanting to do? Yes. But you'd be better off drilling the heads and using an easy out then replace the screws with new stainless hardware after paint.

BUT if youd like to do what you want to; Im assuming the spoiler is plastic or fiberglass, not metal that you can weld. To try to avoid it cracking out, you'd be best to wire wheel the area to remove any rust on the screw heads. A dab of duraglass in each hole so it sits just below the surface. Then use your body filler over the duraglass to smooth out the the surface and leave no traces that there was once holes there. Just remember you have to get all rust out of where the filler will be going.

you might want to think about having that spoiler on when your trying to spray your paint. its nearly impossible to spray around them when spraying the car and the spoiler all together . if the top comes off that would be good .
Jay D.

badsix wrote:you might want to think about having that spoiler on when your trying to spray your paint. its nearly impossible to spray around them when spraying the car and the spoiler all together . if the top comes off that would be good .
Jay D.

From my understanding, he was referring to the fasteners that hold the pedistals to the spoiler and not the spoiler to the car.. Because it's nearly impossible to spray a decklid with a raised spoiler, I definitely agree with you on that.

AH, I see now thanks.
Jay D.

You should be able to get those screws out.
Soak them with PB Blaster and let sit over night.
Place a proper sized screw driver in the hole and lightly tap with hammer while twisting.

For some reason spoiler fasteners tend to rust easily. I agree with the earlier posters in that it's best to remove the pedestals for a professional job. Looks like there are eight, so try penetrant oil, tapping while turning the screw, using a long shaft screwdriver, etc.

You'll get a few out. Drill out the rest and replace with new stainless fasteners.

I bought a screw extractor and have yet to fully use the method. So far I'm at the point of drilling into a fastener's head but it gets hot and I'm scared of it melting the plastic that the spoiler is made of. The spoiler itself is over 20 years old and the plastic it sort of brittle. I didn't mention that this is the second spoiler (an oem replacement of the first) that I got after breaking the first one trying to get out the rusty fasteners (I guess these spoilers are notorious for this). With the first one, it wasn't as bad as the one I have now and was able to get out 5 or 6 fasteners with just PB Blaster. The other ones however, were stuck and I tried hammering a torx bit into them and ended up cracking the slot where the pillars sit in. Then I tried drilling the whole thing out (knowing the spoiler was already broken) and it got so hot that the fastener melted the plastic around it. Now I am hesitant to use methods requiring hammering and drilling unless there are tips to avoid the same outcome with the first spoiler.

'68 Coronet R/T wrote:You should be able to get those screws out.
Soak them with PB Blaster and let sit over night.
Place a proper sized screw driver in the hole and lightly tap with hammer while twisting.

The thing is, these screws are so tight that the PB Blaster just sits in a pool and it doesn't seem to soak in. But that was over a 15 minute span. I'm not sure about over night.

I generally aggree with most posts on this forum but i'm going to have to disagree with using penatrating oil, in my humble opinion any penatrating oil does not belong in a paint & body shop. I allow NO silicone products in my shop whatsoever and I've never had an issue with fisheyes or adhesion issues.

If youre weary of the aforementioned methods (which do work great) You can try transmission fluid on the screws and let it seep for a few days. Clean up with W&G remover followed up by lacquer thinner. Its littke known, but this stuff does wonders.I've gotten more than a few stuck engines free with Tranny fluid.