Someone clue me in on suiciding doors.... *DELETED*

[SwitchBlade327]

Post deleted by SwitchBlade327

[296 V8]

I know this isn’t what you want to here but. Suicide doors kinda suck. It’s a lot of work to go threw just to make it hard as fuck to get in and out of your ride. Then they do the suicide thing one day and bash the shit out of everything. There’s a reason they don’t hang doors that way anymore.

[finkd]

I've done suicide doors and this is the hardest thing you will ever do. if you can chop a top, section a body and hand build your ride then go for it, but they are very hard to do properly, I would sugjest holding off on this. start slow , master what you are doing in small steps, like removing the headlights from the fender , then sand blast the part fix rust and dents then prime part. then start on the fender after you remove it from body. this is not something that should be attempted by a beginner or your project WILL become one like so many others.....abandoned.

[bootie]

fuck them go for it i'm suiciding the doors on my 47 ford p/u and the reason they stopped putting 'em on cars was miniskirts - gave a good view when the woman got out of the car - u can use door stops to stop 'em smashing the fenders - if you want to use hidden hinges theirs heaps of info around on using them - but if your like me and have a thing for external hinges then the best bet is some of the old vw magazines or early R and C (which i have none of) u need to also use a deadbolt system so your passengers don't do the big swing when ya hit a bump - ok if you want to use the original hinges - in theory yoiu should be able to swap the hinges from the left door to the right door and vice versa - i'll post pics when i do this but at the mo i'm trying to find another cab that isn't totally gone

[finkd]

don't take me wrong,I'm not trying to be the bad guy here just honest. I get tired of seeing abondoned projects cause someone thinks this stuff is soo easy, I do this for a living and it is one of the hardest things to do . why don't you get it running and driving , mechanicly sound and then go back and make some changes after you have some experience. sure you can buy the KIT but if you have tryed those you KNOW that they dont work as planned either. so then you are out the 300.00 bucks and still have a pile of cash tyed up in something that doesn't run, can't drive, so now you have to pay someone thousands to fix it or you can get discouraged, sit in the house watch tv and think man what was i thinking taking on something so big for the first one. but i guess thats the way it goes, we start on the hardest most impossible job first, and as we get more money and age we go for the nice running cars and do a nice makover on a cream puff..... look at the big builders... do they start with the rusted junk like we do. NO THEY BUY CREAM PUFFS, AND WE STILL DON'T LISTEN.

[bootie]

sorry dude i'm not raggin' on ya just when i started discussing suicidin' the doors on my truck and looking for info - all i ever seemed to get was "don't do it you'll hate it" i spent years working on british vintages and most of them had suicides and i never had any problems getting in them hell rolls royces there is no driver door ya gotta get in from the passenger side - (love to see a rodded silver ghost) i guess i wish people whold post helpful info rather than slamming ideas - ok i realise theres alot of work and pissing around but thats what make it your own and not a copy of everybody elses.

[SwitchBlade327]

who the fuck said I have no experience? I've just never done THIS particular thing before, becuase I've never had a project that I thought would look worth a shit with suicide doors. I think with the chop and channel the truck will have, the suicide doors will go along pretty good. I'm not seeing how it'll be anymore work than redoing the stock hinges since I'll be basically starting from scratch with them even if I put them on stock, seems like the extra work would just be putting the proper precautions to keep them from flying open at speed....
I asked for tips on how to do it and about hinges to use, not tips on why i SHOULDN'T do it.....This ISN'T my first project. I might not be a goddamn "pro-builder" but I dont' SUCK at what I do.....
I have a fucking toothache...got any reason's I shouldn't pull it?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Sweet lord Jesus weaping on the cross, perhaps you should get that thing running first before you worry about the doors.

[bootie]

glad ta hear someones with me ya gonna use stock hinges or go external?

[SwitchBlade327]

I have to get the doors hung to finish the cab?! I'm doing all the work I can do at this point with little cash. I'm trying to sell my car so i can do the rest. I can hang the doors, make the patch panels, chop the top, and do all the metal work for very little $$. I'm not pulling the cab from the frame until I have it repaired, and hanging the doors goes right along with that since I have to get my gaps lined up and everythign opening and closing smoothly.
Don't be so concerned with my chain of events...I'm just looking for info from people who've done this shit before. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif If it lets me I'm just deleting this goddamn post. I'll figure the shit out for myself....where'd all the helpful people go?

[Justin B]

my dads got an essex sedan with them and i have no problem getting in or out of the car. he did have one bad experience with the drivers door a while back before the current rebuild, it came open on the freeway, he was able to hold it shut and pull off to the shoulder but he said it scared the crap out of him. soon after the engine blew and the car sat until about a year ago. one of his first priorities in the complete rebuild of the car was adressing the doors. he found a company that makes a little electric lock for suicide doors, when the doors close they hit a stricker that shoves a pin into them, when you want to get out you just hit a button and the pin retracts so you can open the door. i installed them for him and they're really easy to put in, only took a couple hours for both sides. i think the also make a manuel version too. i can't remember the company name but i'll try and get it for you tommarow. oh they were cheap also like $75 or so.
anyways i say go for after all the whole point of building is to do something different.

[bootie]

heres links to all the info i found i hope this helps you out - sorry if people put ya off dude - guess its a forum and everybody wants ta have there say - anyways :-

http://www.ornesscreations.com/vw/70_vw4.htm
http://www.streetrodstuff.com/articles/body/suicide_door_deadbolts/
http://www.bugzilla.com/chapter8.html
http://www.suicidedoors.com
other than that cruise on over to the a volkswagen forum - they seem more willing to help out with suicide tech - hope this helps you out some - keep me posted on how it goes

[buzzard]

53Choptop did suicide doors on his truck not the long ago. He even posted pictures and a tech post about it. Hopefully you can find it on the search. Good luck. When done right, on the right vehicle, suicide doors look cool.

[SwitchBlade327]

Thanks Buzzard, bootie, and wasa.....

[buzzard]

Here ya go,

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB4&Number=330713&Forum=A ll_Forums&Words=128&Match=Username&Searchpage=3&Li mit=25&Old=allposts&Main=330675&Search=true#Post33 0713

[53choptop]

Thanks Buzz..

Suicide doors suck! he he http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/image_uploads/386143-suicide2.jpg

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/image_uploads/386120-Backsuicide.jpg

[bobx]

i agree..they suck. dont do it..dont try something youve never done before. sell that old car. buy a new one. new ones are better...

yea..

i was once told that you cant fuck something up so bad that someone cant fix it.

now go suicide some doors.

[finkd]

I owe switchblade 327 an appology.... after reading what i wrote it sounds all wrong. I didnt mean to offend you,or belittle you in anyway, what I was trying to say is that this is a complicated job and the truck looks like a complicated project, without adding the major task of suicide doors. by all means do what you want it is YOUR truck and who cares what others like or dont like cause it is yours. hell look at my stude pu it has suicide doors ,pancaked hood, chopped top ,hand made bed,reradioused wheel wells, and tons of other mods nobody will ever notice . but it does have square headlights and everybody hates em'. but i like em so who cares . If you look at the front from a distance they fit cause the front isnt a circle its a rectangle which is what the lights are.....so point is I was wrong and you should do them. the only tips i can give you is run a bar around the back of the cab to tye them together cause it will flex. be sure to beef up the inside of the doors also. switching jambs on your truck won't work due to design, so find some other hinges with the right geomitry, or buy the kit. the safety latchs are a must have ,which i do, but they still can fail i have a drivers door and cab corner to prove it. I'm running bear claws also, and the safety latches, with electric windows. all in all i would have this damn truck done years ago if it wasn't for all the extra work in the doors. I started on this truck in 90 and still in prime, but i have a family ,business and customers cars to work on as well as after hours projects to have the extra funds to build my toys. so i didn't mean to piss you off, but you are going to need more patiants to pull this project off. keep us posted on the progress