Well its almost winter time and im thinking about installing remote door locks and while im at it mabe a remote starter. Has anyone done this yet on a 86 firebird if so let me know where you got the power and how you routed your wires. Im going to buy a universal kit off ebay and ill try to bolt it in cuz i dont think im going to be able to find the factory ones.

 

I just got done putting in a factory set that i pulled from a couple different cars with excellent results. Not difficult to do really. Ran wires from switches and actuator through the end of the door into the car from each door, brought it together to the relay, and then got power from the junction block underneath your driver side kick panel. Rivited the actuators to the doors (1/4" rivits, pain in the a$$ to find), rivited in rocker arm that controls the rods inside the door to unlock/lock, and then just bolted the relay to the frame of the car to ground it out. Wasn't that difficult to do and i'd be weary of aftermarket kits. Then again if those kits were crap they woudln't sell many. So good luck!

P.S. if your interested in piecing together an original GM kit, let me know, like i said i did it and it wasn't terribly hard.

 

ya if you can help me find an original gm kit that would be awesome

 

I have almost all the parts you need to do the convertion, i have 2 actuators with wire pigtails (one driver one passenger), i have the rocker control for each door to control the lock/unlock rod, i have a switch and switch plate for each door with wire pigtails coming off of each one of those, all you'll need to do is go to a junk yard and find the power lock relay and the pigtail wires that go into that, and i can help you wire it up. My car happens to be totally stripped right now so i can get you pictures and do a step by step for you if your interested.

 

Well i live on long island an there reli isnt any junkyards near me. If you could do the step by step with pics That would be sweet. As for the remote can I just pick up a universial one in circuit city and program it to work with gm's relay

 

yea, to my understanding (haven't used the aftermarket remote entry system yet), it either gets hard wired in, or it has intermediate plugs...you plug the wiring harness into the universal remote entry system, and then you then plugs it into your stock relay. What set-up are you looking at curcuit city, can you send me the link?

 

Well i think it would be easier to just buy this kit from ebay and bolt it on. It seems simple enough just gotta bolt it in the only hard part is getting the power.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/4x-PO...spagenameZWDVW

Or mabe this one http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/POWER...em170171647333 <--- that one look cheap tho

 

I don't know, the first link with yellow actuators looks cheap to me, but either way, i would assume a two door kit should be cheaper, but it's really up to you, i don't have experience with universal kits, just deal with factory stuff (easier to replace when things go wrong, i.e. can go to any parts store for parts), but like i said, just check feedback and go from there, if there are many satisfied people out there, then go for it. My only issue with those kits is that it's really not power locks, it's just keyless entry. (unless you use the remote to unlock the door each time...short battery life!)

 

well ya that exactally what im trying to do get in the car without using a key. I dont see how it could shorten battery life because isnt it supposed to get power form the car battery??

 

i understand, just saying it's not a regular power lock system, so the only way you can control it is the remote, so if thats what you want, then that works! As far as power, you can run the power wire from the harness they'll supply, and put a male spade solderless terminal at the end and in your fuse block...plug it into one of your three "BAT" locations, it looks like a single plug area, plug that male spade connector in there, and then just ground out the module to the frame of the car, it will get power constantly, but won't drain the battery, what i meant above is if you use the remote like power locks, like instead of reaching over to unlock the passenger door for someone, you hit the remote, after a while THAT battery (in the remote) will wear down, thats what i meant. But yea, it looks good. Good luck and let me know how it goes, i've always wondered how those universal kits were.

 

it wont drain the battery, I have keyless entry on my Commodore. 90% of new cars have it as a factory option now, I installed mine and it was not hard just a little time consuming because I installed an alarm system at the same time.

 

if you have a pic of where you ran your wires and where you got the power from that would be great. Also whats the best way to remove those door panels cuz i dont wanna break anything.

 

i'm in college right now so it'll have to be after 9PM tonight or tomorrow that i can get you pictures, if you don't have any power options into your doors, your going to need the rubber boots that the wires run through into the car, look near where the doors hinge, you probably have a plug in the body and one in the door if you look around to the edge of the door. You need to get a special boot that connects the two and water proofs that setup, thats how you get the wires into the body of the car. As far as pics, i'll get you the pics you need to get this all done up right. As far as removing the door panels, best thing i know of is going to advanced auto or auto zone and get the door panel puller (just because your unexperienced, everyone else will say screw that and use a screw driver or just pull, either one if you don't know how to do it right you might damage or pull out the plugs out of the door panel, up to you), i think it's the same tool as the manual window crank tool, but you put that under the door panel between the push pins (there is about 10-12 around the edge of the door panel, just start in the middle and go around the edges pulling gently to see or feel if there is a clip, once you make it to the black armrest panel at the top, you need to tilt the bottom of the door panel away from the door and gently lift up, it works best when the window is down i've experienced, but that is your biggest pain right there. good luck and if you need further explanation just let me know and i'll get you those pics in the next two days.

 

Sry i dont have any pictures either but you can do a remote install real easy. all you need is constant power (cig lighter) and an earth.
I have a 4 door system so i don't know what you get with the 2 door ones but 4 door kits have 2 switches (front) and 2 receivers (back).
The front ones if unlocked by hand or key will unlock all 4 doors but the rear 2 wont, Front 2 have 4 (2 for the switch) wires and rear 2 have 2 wires. but they have instructions in the box when you get them. if you have any trouble installing them P/M me and ill try help the best i can.

EDIT: damn it, that is the second time you have beaten me to the punch! lol

 

reta thanks in advance for the pics man and I do have power windows so that should make things easier.

 

yes that will, notice those rubber boot that run between door and body inbetween the two door hinges, that is where you run the wires into the body, so that is a plus!!

 

ya so all i reli need to do is to splice an solder seems easy enough..

 

since your car had the power windows, yes it's just that easy. Otherwise you'd have to find those rubber boots to seal the doors from water and everything else. Mine didn't have anything, so when i put power windows/locks/mirrors in my car, i needed to also get two rubber boots that connect the door with the body.

 

sorry, i forgot about this thread, i got the pics, but my camera is being stupid, i'll try and get them to you tomorrow!

 

As promised, First pic far corner of door where actuator is and wiring starts, 2nd pic is middle of the door where wire runs (stock location of wire), 3th pic is the rubber boot the wires come through, 4th pic is where the wires come into the car, and 5th pic is the fuse block, notice the 3 empty spots on the right side that makes an opposite L compared to the other side, is should say BAT, those are 3 points that you can get power for your accesories, just use a male spade solderless connector in there and you should be all set once you find a place to ground it out. Hope this helps and if you need anything else, let me know!

 

4th and 5th pics

 

I have a remote start/keyless entry system on my 87 Trans Am... It was actually much easier to install than I thought... But then again, my car came with electric door locks, so I just hooked up the system to the relays on the kick panel... I have one spare working door lock actuator thats yours if you pay shipping. One of my locks was stubborn and I thought I had to replace the actuator, but all it needed was to be soaked in WD-40!... I used a kit off ebay, but I went with one by Directed Electronics which also makes Viper alarms, so its a reputable company. I've had it for a couple of months with immense success. Specially now thats its cold. I wake up, go to the window and remote start the car, then go brush my teeth and eat breakfast and when I get into the car, its nice and warm (since I'll leave the heater on)... Check the vid in the sig for the remote start and keyless entry demo... If you need more info, let me know, I'm happy to help... FYI: the kit is Boa 265B and its like avg$30 on ebay...

 

thx for those pics man im going to order that ebay keyless entrysystem right now ill let you guys know how it turned out. that keyless entry system you got is awesome man i might order that to while im at it.

 

This link might provide some information as it is about installing a remote entry system....


http://www.p71interceptor.com/thirdgen/powerlocks/


Dave

 

Hey guys I'm getting ready to order actuators for the locks and just need to be sure: The actuator for drivers side are the same as passenger right? All I should have to do is order 2 and I'll be good? Thanks

 

I'm not 100% but I'm pretty sure that there is only one actuator type, I think the mounting plates are different, but then again, you might just turn it over...I think you'll be fine...

 

I ended up just getting a a universal setup after reading everything posted. It shouldn't be to hard to fab it up to work.



For $35 shipped I don't think I can complain too much. I don't plan on installing buttons either so this kit should work well. I plan on just using the remote from my aftermarket alarm for lock and unlock.

 

ya i just used a similar kit it worked great!!! and i wired it up to my remote start system so i only have one remote to control my car. Its soo worth it in teh winter let me tell ya.

 

Only problem I'm having is the locks aren't locking/unlocking all the way. I just read the article from up above. I was thinking it was gunk buildup in the grease, and the thread all but confirmed it. Guess I'll take another stab tomorrow.

 

I just went through the same problem umm take teh armrest off and see if they work then cuz for me the armrest was kinda squashing the actuator so i just put a big chunk of cardboard in between those silver metal squares and put the arm rest back on an shure enough it worked. All in all it took me about two days to do it because i took my time and oiled everything up.

 

I bought those same ones, they work great, I also got a keyless entry remote system, which killed my battery in a month or so.... I would wire a kill switch or some other means to turn the reciever off. Just my

 

I just updated to a full power everything battery (720 CCA). I hope it won't kill it. Though I do run a 800 watt sound system in my car along with the security system I put in with the power locks.......I hope the battery hangs in there. Thanks for the heads up though.

 

If I wanted to add remote locks, would I be able to scavenge all the parts from a junkyard and then get a key fob from a GM dealer and have them program it to the right frequency? If so, where do they hide the receivers for these systems?