So it's winter in NH... Passing time in the garage

So up here in New England, when the salt hits the road, it leaves us with time to kill, before the spring returns... You can drink it away, or any of the winter sports could help... but you always get a little of the winter blues... I decided to take some time, and try building something I've thought about for some time...

With shaved door handles, there's a few ways of getting back in, once the door clicks... 12v poppers, manual buttons, etc... I wanted to pop the door with something already on the door, so as not to add anything else(or else I coulda just kept the handles!)

I started with some square stock, and some old diesel motor parts, to get things "rolling"...

Measured things out...


I had a buddy that was rebuilding a diesel engine, and had some tappets w/ rollers that were being replaced, as some were less fortunate than others... I used the "better" of the bunch...

Cut in some notches, for the pins to roll in...


And this will be the "frame" of the project...

 

Work doesnt stop in the winter, its hard working time around here lol.


I'm interested to see what you have made up.

 

So now that I have that all set, I need to get the moving parts worked out... Just so happens the roller fits almost perfectly(from where I'm standing) in the bore of the square stock, and I notched the frame so that the pins sit tight.

These are the pins/rollers and I also added another notch to the frame for access to bolts, etc...


They sit in there, and slide nicely, without any lateral movement...


Also welded on a spacer to allow myself the ability to set the pins(for mounting mirrors) at a decent depth, once on the door.


I'm planning on using a throttle cable, to connect to the door latch mech., so onto that...

 

Included with getting a cable mounted up, I also needed to keep the pins spaced equally on each side, so I do not have them shifting and seizing in the slots/frame... I just used some alum. stock, and measured the mounting holes that I made in the mirror, and used that to place/space the pins on the other side...


This served that purpose well, and on to setting the cable stop for the throttle cable...


So now this thing slides pretty well, and the cable moves with it freely, things seem to be working out...

 

On to getting this thing on the car... I welded the spacer on, so that if needed, I could shave some off, to get the pins at an acceptable depth past the sheet metal, so the mirror is not scratching along the door.

Drilled/tapped the spacer, and the pins for the machine screws to mount the mirror...


I used washers on the pins to find the best location for the mirror, once that was all set, I welded a washer in place, so that there wouldn't be any issue of movement, or the stack of washers wouldn't rub on the inside of the door panel...

 

I must have put this thing on, and taken it out, a dozen times by now, fitting...

Looking at it...

Thinking....

Scratching......

Little issues were around every corner, and absorbed a lot of time, but hey... I got time...

The door latch mech. has it's own spring, but over time that spring just didn't have enough to return the mirror/relatch the door, so I added a spring to the mix, so there would be a return, on both sides of the cable.

Finally, I got the bolt/nut tightened so that they allowed the pins to slide, but weren't sloppy, and tacked the nuts to the bolts, so there was no more issue of loosening/slop...

I also added a piece between the two nuts, so that when I was mounting the mirror, the bolt/nut did not spin in the pin...

Here's the mirror mounted, outside of the car.

 

Wow, Thats very nice and clean! Great tech!

 

Wow, Now that is some very nice work !!!

 

very impressive. good old new hampshire inginuity at work.

 

Still have some adjustments to make, but I popped the door this morning... I think the throttle cable(used) is hanging up too much... so I'll have to sort that out...

Thanks for the feedback guys...

Also, for next time, I'm thinking of using teflon or delrin washers... Any input on what would not prematurely wear, but give less resistance?

 

there is your million dollar idea! Sell the idea to someone that can mass produce and sell em' in Speedway or something!!!!

 

Just when you think you've seen it all before... BAM!!!

This is a great idea. Thanks for sharing.



.

 

Now there's thinking outside the box. Great work man. Can't wait to see this done.

 

Not much of an update, but got the throttle cable worked out... took out the old one, and went to put the new one in... but decided to take some old advice, and let it sit in an oil bath for the night... sure as shit, it slides better than new...

Only problem is, the new cable is about 1.5" longer than the last, and I can't take the slack out with the adj. nuts... so gotta cut out the old cable stop on the door panel, and mount a new one, to give myself enough adjustment.

 

Very cool idea for sure.

 

SLICK, it's like pulling down the candle stick, to open the secret passage behind the book case.

 

So while I'm letting the fiberglass set, for the back plate on the mirror, I spent some time on finishing a gauge bezel for the Tacho and fuel gauges... I'm column mounting them, as I ran out of room in the dash(already had speedo, water temp., Oil pres. and Voltage)

Started making a template, to figure out the best placement for the two...


Spent some time cutting it out in aluminum(I already used alum. inside the dash gauge panel)


Had Ron at New England Rod Shop in Bedford, NH tig it up for me... Ron's a good dude, and builds some really nice hot rods, street rods(I know, I know...) and everything in between...

Cutting a champher into a round piece of alum. is a real pain in the ass, also decided to use a thin rubber strip, instead of metal on metal on the column... I used two existing holes to mount the bezel, that were originally for the column shifter to the Power Glide...


Did a quick fitment, before mounting the gauges...


Everything seemed good to go, so onto a quick wire up... I'll be tapping into the gauges on the dash panel, through the hole that the orig. column shifter ran through.


Now that the wiring is out of the way, I slapped it all together on the column, and then had to get behind the dash for the final terminations. The Signal wires I ran separately, as I wanted all of this to be easily taken apart, should I need to.

All the while I couldn't figure out why my helper wasn't giving me a hand, and why I heard snoring behind me... well, as they say, good help is hard to find...


Got that wiring all set and let the drum roll begin... turned the key getting power, getting signal... and got lights!


Now... guess I'll get back on these mirror poppers...

 

Nice work, very clever!

Brent

 

nice work!

 

That mirror /door latch is really thinking out side the box,,and something that is impressive! HRP

 

Thanks... I guess when you're outside the box, and you need a way to get back in the box, these kinda things happen, haha...

 

Hahaha my thoughts as well. Very trick, very cool and well fabricated.

Brilliant stuff, well done

 

This is the latest stumbling block...

Because the front mounting screw is so close to the leading edge, the notch for the pin extends past the base of the mirror. I'm going to use fiber glass to make a small pad that will extend enough to cover this, and be fixed to the mirror. Might put some kind of felt or material under the pad, for any contact with the door panel.

 

Love to see a video of this in action...where abouts you from?

 

I'm in Auburn... I don't quite know how to post a video... but I'm sure I'll be out at some shows this summer...

I literally push on the mirror/base, and the door pops... works for me!

 

Great idea on the mirror / door latch. Ron did all the welding on my chassis. I'll have to check out your car sometime this summer.
Tom

 

Man thats really cool , nice job .

 

Borntrouble, where in NH do you live?

EDIT:

Haha nevermind, I see it now, right up there! duh.

I live in Orford, near Hanover.

 

Haha... yeah Ron has seen a few of my "projects"... always up to something out in my garage... Ron has helped out quite a bit, and i put in some time helping with that 32 w/ FAST, that just wasn't quite right.

See ya this summer sometime at a show or on the street!

And thanks for the kind words guys...