shaved doors on the cheap :)

[Naterman35]

Ok the topic is shaved doors.

Options-
Electric/Mechanical
Then
Build a kit buy a kit....

I was planning on doing mechanical using cables.
We just did it on a old LTD. and works beautiful he has 6 bucks into both doors... Using cable then for pulleys used parts from a sliding door. and has a loop on the end. for the poppers used hood springs off a SAAB.

Well spinning off this Idea... I dont plan to have my poppers run off a key fob if i go electrical. So the idea...

Using the same basic idea of cables and pulleys but using a trunk release from a third gen camaro. Then after thinking realized it wouldnt work because when you shut the trunk it pulls back in.

So now looking into solenoids... the problem is coming up with on with the right length pull...

Anyone have a suggestion?

[vegaschevy]

im no help but i too wan to do this to my truck.

[Naterman35]

Well if its an actuator/solenoid it needs to go back to the original position after the button is let go. It also needs enough force to actually open the door. Poppers are easy. Its the actuator that has me stumped.

[Naterman35]

Idea number two...

On the LTD we needed roughly 2 inches of pull..
So plan now is to hit up the junk yard find two older vehicles so i can pull the whiper motor and switches.... A rod will go on the end of the shaft with a pin. As the motor is activated it will spin the rod... pulling the cable releasing the latch. door popped. IN THEORY.......

[LONGHAIR]

Power door lock solenoids will work for you. If you need more travel, just hook up a lever to lengthen the pull. You may have to experiment a little to get the right travel.

[Naterman35]

Will the pull strong enough? thats the only thing keeping me from power lock.. Now the drawing on the solenoid part. Is that like an actuator or a motor? dose it pull or spin?

[LONGHAIR]

Actuators and solenoids both pull. Solenoids pull by magentism, Actuators pull by gears (screw, rack and pinoin)
There are solenoids that are made to rotate, but I was assuming that you were looking to use easily available (even used) automotive parts.

It should be strong enough, it just depends upon how much lever length you have. The longer travel you make it, the less power it will have. That is the "experiment" point. Sometimes you can reduce the effort needed to pull the latch too. It just depends upon the springs and the mechanism.
I have done this to so many cars, I can't remember anything specific about the latch though. They are all different, some are a lot easier to pull than others.

[Naterman35]

alright i see what you were saying. i got confused. We've been boiling this in our heads between me and my two roomates trying to find a way for this to work.

[BBChevy71]

I got shaved doors put on my truck and for me personally, it was a very bad decision. I'm just passing along my bad experiences with them in case you aren't familiar, not saying you are making a bad decision.

It was hard to get used to having to have a key chain to open the doors when working, say grabbing something out of the truck, or someone else needing to get something from the truck. Also, sometimes during the winter (in Georgia and Alabama so nothing super cold) they would have problems getting the door all the way unlatched. Also, if parked on a hill with one door higher if I popped that door I would have to grab the edge quick or it would swing back and relatch. After about 2 years, both my actuators (my doors aren't water proof) went bad and it was a super hard time getting back into the truck. So, I had some pro's switch me back to handles and I should get it back next week