Incoming

After taking my to the extreme and after extensive research ive come across the conclusion that there is not enough information on fabricating an automated rear hatch easily... that being said ive dedicated this thread to accomplishing this basass fast n furious fabrication...

multiple post gave a brief blow off answer of linear actuator this linear actuator that.. since we all basically have the same size struts it would be easier to put our minds together and develope our own actuator kit, or a How-to with materials needed (as you can call it)... links to exact items and all...

three things are needed so far from what ive seen... possibly more...

1. some kind of relay to pre trip the trunk latch and then trip the actuator..

2. the actuator itself

3. and for popularity reasons ((a remote control))

iansane

iTrader: (1)

I'd like this idea, 'cept for my hood. The vert's trunk is useless and I'm never in it enough to warrant that kind of mod.

Incoming

*bump* come on people this is some good stuff here...

Cyfun

How hard would it be to convert the shocks to being pneumatic or hydraulic?

Incoming

thats what the linear actuator would do it would automatically raise your trunk with a push of a button.. wouldnt be to hard if u could get a actuator same size as the strut. it would be a really easy project if some of these wizards put some words in
if i cant get some responses im just gonna go have it done for the 500+ they want at the local customizin shop.. although i could probly do it myself for like 50 - 100.. when it comes to my car, money is almost not an issue..

im waiting for the end of the year tax return so i can shave out the inside of my doors install some kind of strong brace in there instead and get lambo doors installed that all depends on if i get enough $$$ living in florida is great if u got underlights or / and lambo doors you are the coolest guy on the scene... i saw a white stock Honda 4 door with front lambo doors on it and there where 20 people standing around it oooing and ahhhing... he didnt have lights or a system even... this was only a month ago!!! if u want immediate female attention lambo doors and underlights are the way to go.. Instantly puts u in the fast and furious crowd... i know alot of u hate lambo doors on a 3rd gen but have u seen my car lately hahaha my big condor 18's slow me down too much to worry about engine upgrades... My car seems fast enough for me.. all i need is a small tank of Nitrous and im set as far as that goes...

Im going for more show then racing.. i cant afford turbos and superchargers... 5,000 is too much to put under the hood.. atleast at my age.. maybe once i got my own shop...

if i seem to be rambling on dont mind me i just worked like 14 hours straight and im extremely tired... i just like typin what i think and let you all know whats going on..

well whatever happens ide like some comments on the trunk hatch linear actuators... ide like to bypass the $500 dollars... they basically charge me 400 dollars just to look at it..

iansane

iTrader: (1)

The lambo door idea is cool and all but I'd want something like the konigsegg(sp?) cars. They almost roll forward infront of the wheels.
On a 4 door car It'd be cool to do forward AND rearward scissor doors.

Morley

For the actuators you'd maybe be able to use a set of struts and modify them with a fitting on the end. Also you'd probably want to go with pneumatic, since leakage with hydraulic fluid would be a big mess.

To open the hatch you'd just need to rig the pump up to the hatch release switch, pop the hatch and the pump pressurizes the struts and the hatch opens. Now it gets tricky, you can't just stop the pump once the hatch is open, you'd need a checkvalve (or better, a shuttle valve) to prevent the struts from deflating. Now, if you had the hatch pull down motor, closing the hatch would be simple, open the shuttle valve to a port with a metered orifice that will let the hatch down slowly into the pulldown motor.
Without the pulldown motor you'd need to let it down slowly till the ladt 4 inches or so and then open the shuttle up fully so the hatch will drop harder and catch the latch. The hatch release button could also be used to reposition the shuttle valve to the "open" port.

You'd need to use a high pressure pump and hoses to operate the system, since the hatch weighs a ton. Also the hoses would be exposed at the struts since they have to move as the strut swivels when the hatch opens.

87CIZ

iTrader: (8)

i dont know if it would work or not but you ever watch monster garage? Jesse James uses electric actuators for about everything he uses autoloc brand seen Here

i dont know how much they are or what the sizes are, but i've thought about doing the same thing. But i havent researched being that i have alot to do before customizing comes into play.

87CIZ

iTrader: (8)

alright you got me going now climbing into the back of the camaro lol. Measured them closed and fully extended its approx 29 inches shut and 39 inches extended. so you only need 10 inches of lift. finding one that is 29 inches may be a problem though, especially for prices, none of those autoloc will work.

That is granted you use the same mounting positions as the struts.

Incoming

...

Morley

One reason for that is the sheer weight of GM's large car doors. The DeLorean's doors weigh about 1/3 what a 3rd gen's do. Also look at the Gull Wing Mercedes. Do a google search on it and look at the pictures, the doors are paper thin compared to a third gen's.

TheGreatJ

Setting up a 3rd gen with gullwings is going to be a nightmare. You'll not only need to lighten the doors, you'll also have to frame the windows in with a pretty thick frame to support the door. That means basically fabbing new doors, and doing some work on the A- and B-pillars of the car. If you're not VERY experienced with fab-work and custom bodywork, you don't have a chance. Nothing personal, just my

89V6FBIRD

I think the gullwing doors could be possible, if you had a t-top car...

TheGreatJ

Sure, anything is possible. It'd be easier with a T-top car than it would with a hard-top, but you'd still have to pretty much fab new doors.

I'd love to see it done, but it's a lot of time and money to invest.

firbird

From what I read the main concern is being able to make it open by its self and no discussion about being able to close by its self. Its all you want is it to open by its self, put new struts in. pop mine and it rises by its self all the way down. I only have a firebird wing which is pretty light but if you have more weight and were not able to find stronger struts could you change the position farther out on the glass to were it is easier to lift, or get small springs in there to make it easier for that initial boost upwards. The shocks I have are for the Ta with a Wing and soon as I pop it, it opens all the way up, been like that for over a year.

With an actuator it would be an inconvenience also having it in a solid fixed position to were ever it is stopped. Any problems with it, it stays were it was last.

The position of were it would be at would probably not be anywhere close to were the position of the struts were because at that angle it could not pull down good enough at that angle with out causing too much stress. So it would have to be moved out ward to more of a straight up and down to provide a strong pull down force to keep the hatch from moving around. This would cause more of an inconvenient in location of the actuators. Another thing is if there is one on each side, they would have to be moving perfectly together, if one doesn’t go the same rate the glass breaks and they are independent motors and I doubt that they will wear EXACTALLY the same or even come in new the same rate. That leaves one place the middle. Even worse place for convenience.

LG4KNIGHT

a self lifting hatch.... I've been kicking that idea around for a while, I was thinking about wiring an actuator to a power window switch and puttting a new hatch strut on the other side to help lift

MikeS

Realize that the only important specs for your actuators are the force they provide, and the 10" of extension (as measured by somebody previously). The length does not matter, as long as it is short enough to fit into the "closed" space of 29" including any adapters needed to mount the ends of the actuator to the car.

Of course, I'm not sure exactly where to source an actuator with an approximate 10" stroke...

Morley

If you go the pneumatic route...you make the actuators from old struts.

Cyfun

The next time I'm out at the junkyard, I'll grab a couple of old struts. I'll take them apart and see how hard it would be to thread a small connector into one end.

Edit: After a bit of Googling, it looks like its fairly easy to build your own pneumatic piston using PVC pipe. http://www.llund.com/pne_cyl.htm

Morley

Question is why would you want to for this application? The factory type struts have the right mounting points, correct stroke & length. Not to mention the piston is already there with seals and all. Just drill a hole near the bottom, get a threaded fitting to fit your hole, install it and weld it to the tube also.

Cyfun

I was just thinking how the struts have a really small bore and it might take a lot of pressure to get them to jack up the heavy glass. If I made them out of PVC with bigger bores, I could probably get by with a tiny compressor. Plus, I know the seals in my struts are shot to hell, anyway.

I'll probably give both a try.

Morley

The PVC will bend, too great of a span and too much weight. And if you made them bigger around to support the weight...they'd be too big to fit in the stock location.
Your strut seals are probably ok, they will always leak some, no seal is 100%.

Anyone know off hand the pressure that is supposed to be in the hatch struts?

Cyfun

That's a good question. I kinda doubt anyone would know off hand. Anyone remember the alegbraic formulas of hydraulics from their high school physics class?

I just had another idea about this. I wonder if it would be feasable to use the vacuum pump already on the engine to power this. Anyone know what kind of pressure it gets up to?

MikeS

Shouldn't need too much in the way of formulas...

Force = pressure x area

IHI

iTrader: (1)

I cant remember the vid clip, but the '57 with the 8 turbos has a motorized hood on it. I wanna say they were electric actuators, it was very slow going up and down, but looked cool watching it none the less-it did'nt sem to open fully either so maybe the short stroke was the limiting factor.

Without seeing my car for reference, why could'nt one make a scissor type hinge for the hatch to acheive the needed amount of travel using the shorter stroked electric actuator? Also using the electric actuator I would think you could almost get completely away from a locking mechanism since the actuators themselves when extended/recessed (however you devise the scissor lift hinge) would hold it down tight after the amount of travel is established.

Cyfun

Hmm yeah, a scissor with a motorized screw would work.