Been working on my 1G, making her into a "Back to the future" replica DeLorean. Just kidding!
I just like the door style. It's interesting, convinient, and not overused like lambo doors.
More impressive that the mod was done by one guy in about 4 days, working about half a day each day. Car had to be driven home each day and that slowed the process down a bit. Why not wait and do it now that it's gutted? Because work was done about 6 months ago, way before the engine mailfunction that promoted the gutting and overhaul (to come).
There is actually pictures floating around of some dsms in japan that had gullwing doors installed. Some were supposedly made for a pupular tv show in japan.
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Originally Posted by BISHILVR
Are you kidding me? the Dsm is the most reliable bullet proof tuner car that was ever produced..
I don't see how that is convenient at all? The bottom half of the door is welded to the chassi meaning you have to step up over it to get in. IMO looks like a total hack, the door 'latch' sticks up even higher than the edge so you will cut ur ass on that.
Since i did this myself it only cost around $50 for materials (some 1x1 box steel and some 2X3 box steel). Did all the work at a technical school that i've attended for their Collision Repair sertification. This was a bit off the curriculum, but was a good practice in welding, metalwork, and figuring out what-in-the-world-is-going-on-here
Found some diagrams of a targa-top 1G (appears to be from the company that made them professionally) but they are all in German. Can send them to ya if you want.
Also diagrams, sizes, detailed photos, and other gullwing-related stuff is available upon request. This was a really interesting project to do.
Sean485, you have a valid point. The top of the bottom part is a reinforcement bar that not only keeps the car from folding but also protects the occupants and the latch is there because i did not want to cut the bar and that was the only solution that came to mind. Becides, having the bar that high made it legal to drive without the doors, which is great for summer. That is also why mirrors are now on the front fenders.
Another convinience is that when gullwing door is opening, it only needs about 12" of clearance from the car to the obstacle. That is great around here where it seems that people have forgotten how to park and like to put their cars way too close to each other.
The bottom half of the door is welded to the chassi meaning you have to step up over it to get in.
I just noticed that. Why did you not use the whole door like the ones in the link?
That is going to be a huge pain in the ass IMO
You should REALLY move the mirrors back.
EDIT: to make it legal to drive without the doors (reading wins again)
So there are diagrams with exact measurements for the targa?
__________________
HELP= What we all need. Actually, it is the featurein MS that assists in generating more questions. When the help feature is used correctly, users are able to navigate through a series of Help screens and end up where they started from without learning anything... but now it's their fault and they should buy more RAM.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BISHILVR
Are you kidding me? the Dsm is the most reliable bullet proof tuner car that was ever produced..
Sean485, you have a valid point. The top of the bottom part is a reinforcement bar that not only keeps the car from folding but also protects the occupants
The bar is a crash beam, it has nothing to do with the rigidity of the car during normal operation or the car 'folding'. In addittion if you would use proper latching at the front and back of the doors the crash bar would still perform its job exactly as intended had you left the door in one piece. By putting a latch in the middle of the door with the support beam attached to the already rigid rocker panel and A/B pillars all thats going to happen is the top of the door, which looks like its totally gutted for weight purposes is going to fold over the latch and cut you in half should you get t-boned.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 91-GS
and the latch is there because i did not want to cut the bar and that was the only solution that came to mind.
Pretty narrowminded if you cant see why attaching a latch to the middle of a structure like that isn't a good idea for safety or practicality, especially given the background you are in... A latch at the front and rear of the door would be significantly stronger, would assure a tight weatherseal, and you wouldnt have to climb up over half your door every time you want to go for a drive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 91-GS
Becides, having the bar that high made it legal to drive without the doors, which is great for summer. That is also why mirrors are now on the front fenders.
Interesting idea, poor execution. You could just have well made 'half doors' for summer and still been able to get in/out of your car rather than haveing to climb into it. Additionally those mirrors are WAY too far forward to be of any actual use.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 91-GS
Another convinience is that when gullwing door is opening, it only needs about 12" of clearance from the car to the obstacle. That is great around here where it seems that people have forgotten how to park and like to put their cars way too close to each other.
I am curious what you plan to do for a proper window and roof seal as well as latching mechanism. It is an interesting idea, and I would love to see it done properly but you are going to regret doing this to that car and it will likely windup in a junkyard in very similar shape to how it sits now.
Reminds me allot of the thread where someone 'knew it all' and did a choptop on thier dsm...
The build is by no means perfect since i am not a pro. There are mistakes, would have been surprised if there were not.
Laguage: English is not my native language, doing best I can.
Pink bike with purple rims: funny you mentioned that since one of the ideas for the car was dark purple (no pink though).
Twin latches: decided not to do that since that's twice more stuff to go wrong and jam up. Looking at the set-up that i have seen on Japanese conversions, it seems they have a single-latch setup as well. To keep the doors from being shoved in there will be pins that will prevent that from happening. Same pins will keep the doors lined up for proper sealing.
Crash beam: yes, factory beam is just for protection, but since the top got cut, the car needed something to replace it. Decided to go with what i've done so new bars would serve as crash bars since driving with no doors was an intent.
Targa top: no, they do not have the dimentions, only the parts that were added/changed.
Junkyard: not planning on it. If nothing else, she will sit in the shed for a year or so till she's done.
I do not claim to know everytihng, just trying to something that not many have tried before. So far it has been a good fun driver and i got plenty of time to finish it. Some things will probably get changed though, nothing is set in stone here. I would really appreciate some more input on how the project can be improved since (once again) I am not a pro.
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