240 Suicide Doors

[Sinbad the Sailor]

I'm getting ready to try to convert the rear doors to suicide doors, but first I wanted to get some feedback on what I plan to do. Here is what the car looks like now

<img src=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/hormone83/door1.jpg>
<img src=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/hormone83/door3.jpg>

Here is the suicide door brackets that I am going to be useing

<img src=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/hormone83/suicidedoors.jpg>

This is where they will go on the body side. It will need gto be cut to allow the door to swing properly


<img src=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/hormone83/door4a.jpg>

This is the door side
<img src=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/hormone83/door2.jpg>

This is what it will look like with the brackets in.
<img src=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/hormone83/door3c.jpg>

And here is how I plan to brace it because the hinges are so close to gether and will have to hold up the entire weight of the door
<img src=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/hormone83/door1c.jpg>

The doors will have shaved door handles so no relocation of the latching mechanism is required. The doors will latch by a spring loaded deadbolt.

So what do you guys think? Does this look like it will work? Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks

Spencer

[olov]

i've wanted to do this same thing for over a year, but i dont' have the tools/etc to even attempt it. and the close hinge thing was a big problem area in my mind

take pics, and good luck, i think it'll be hot

[77240dl]

as a body man, i can p[ersonally tell you htat if your going for tyhe old school lincoln continental look, its not worth it, its harder than it looks

[SwedishBrick242...]

Looks like a solid plan. Major props to you if you can pull it off. Good luck!

[92 jimmy]

i have been thinking about doing that to a volvo for some time like most people

hope it works out

[310]

Love the idea, would be orig. and cool. Are you going to move the door handles to the other side or shave them?

[ElPiloto]

Looks great. I like suicide doors and am going to do the fronts on my 78 245. If I were doing the back doors, I would fabricate one giant hinge instead of 2 smaller ones.

As was stated above, it will be a lot of work. Please keep us posted on your progress.

[kahlua240]

If you do it, i suggest shaving the front doors too, and installing poppers. and then painting the car some super sexy sweet colour that a car with suicide doors should have.

Go for it. if it fails then you try to make it better. gl hf

[Sinbad the Sailor]

The only real problem that I see is the hinge side edge of the door that sticks out having clearance issues. That and alignment of the door. But for simplicity I am going with shaved doors and a spring loaded deadblot for the latch. With enough bracing the two close latches should have no problem. The door isn't that heavy and the latches are made out of 3/8" metal. I think that this can be done with out too much fab work. Thanks for the help guys.

Spencer

[PreteristVolvo]

:gulp:

[CAPT_BLOTTO]

damnit you beat me to it!

i still ahve a trick or two rolled up my sleeve rolled

[cst805]

If you want my opinion, l think that would be money better spent in some performance enhancements.

[pooprah]

i still ahve a trick or two rolled up my sleeve rolled
:???:

[Vee_Que]

Have fun getting the latches off of that side, I know I threaded the bolts trying to remove it off a spare door.

[Three Fat Tigers]

Have fun getting the latches off of that side, I know I threaded the bolts trying to remove it off a spare door.You just need an impact driver or impact wrench and a proper bit, usually a T40.

Looking forward to seeing the results, I know I'd like to do this to my 245.

[James564_15]

i had suicide doors, or "london cab doors" on my 240 and i was driving with them open, one april evening and a telegraph pole tore them off, taking chunks from my frame and seriously damaging my baby.

[CAPT_BLOTTO]

:???:


you'll have to wait

I'm gonna be rollin' out something crazy some day

[Sinbad the Sailor]

Thanks guys. I don't think that this will be all that expensive. I can find the kit for $170 and autoloc is a very good brand. All the work will be done by me or very cheaply. As long as I don't screw something up majorly this sholud be done by summer. Also if I have to I can just cut off the latch and the hinges as I wont need them.

Would anyone be interested in a kit and instructions after I finish this?

Thanks

Spencer

[Three Fat Tigers]

i had suicide doors, or "london cab doors" on my 240 and i was driving with them open, one april evening and a telegraph pole tore them off, taking chunks from my frame and seriously damaging my baby.Hmm, maybe next time drive with them closed and steer around the telegraph poles :e-shrug:

[rom]

that makes me warm in the pants.. i love suicide doors.

[ZyreX]

Would love to see this! Get a lot of pics!

[Unregistered]

I'm getting ready to try to convert the rear doors to suicide doors, but first I wanted to get some feedback on what I plan to do. Here is what the car looks like now

<img src=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/hormone83/door1.jpg>
<img src=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/hormone83/door3.jpg>

Here is the suicide door brackets that I am going to be useing

<img src=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/hormone83/suicidedoors.jpg>

This is where they will go on the body side. It will need gto be cut to allow the door to swing properly


<img src=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/hormone83/door4a.jpg>

This is the door side
<img src=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/hormone83/door2.jpg>

This is what it will look like with the brackets in.
<img src=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/hormone83/door3c.jpg>

And here is how I plan to brace it because the hinges are so close to gether and will have to hold up the entire weight of the door
<img src=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/hormone83/door1c.jpg>

The doors will have shaved door handles so no relocation of the latching mechanism is required. The doors will latch by a spring loaded deadbolt.

So what do you guys think? Does this look like it will work? Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks

Spencer





might be interesting, but remeber Volvo door are heavier then most, and you want to make sure that the componets that you will be useing will hold up to the weight of your doors. Also, you might practice this on a parts car before you do it to you nice looking car, just in case something goes wrong. Good luck and happy bricking.

[Sinbad the Sailor]

The only holes will be in the door frame, and those can be fixed if it doesn't work. I realize the doors are heavy, if necessary I will get more heavy duty parts made.

[BabyBlue242]

if you havent yet purchase the kit, buy mine. i used to work @ autoloc and need to get rid of my suicide kit as im selling my minitruck soon and dont want to take the time to mount them. the part # is HDHINS which we no longer carry. it has 1/2" plate verses the 3/8" plate that came with the HDHIND or HDHIN. pics can be seen @ autoloc.com. this kit is brand new in box and i am selling it for $250 shipped. paypal accepted. kit sells currently for $399 not including shipping which is quite expensive since the entire packages weighs around 30+ lbs. IM me if you are interested.( pics can be taken if you are serious)

[Vee_Que]

Make sure that you do use the stock hinges, makes it easier for engineering.

[barefoot]

Make sure that you do use the stock hinges, makes it easier for engineering.

a) Getting a car "engineered" is an Australian thing. I don't think these guys have that pleasure.
2) Chances of getting a suicide door mod engineered in Australia would be approximately zero. The hinges would be the least of your worries.

[Sinbad the Sailor]

What is engineering in the Australian sense:???:

[ashvolvo]

What is engineering in the Australian sense:???:

When having a car 'engineered' after modification, a third party or qualified person looks over the car to ensure modifications have been carried out to some sort of standard and that they are safe.

Ie. if one was to fit a different engine to a car, it needs to be mounted, etc safely and the vehicle needs to have brakes which can stop it.

The engineer writes a report to say that modfications have been carried out to a reasonable/safe/strong standard and then you can register your car.

If this hasnt been done, your insurance company can potentially deny a claim based on un-engineered modifications.

Thats it in a nutshell anyway.

[barefoot]

If this hasnt been done, your insurance company can potentially deny a claim based on un-engineered modifications.

More importantly, a modified car can't be registered without an engineer's certificate.

If you're pulled over and the cop sees (or suspects) that the car has been modified without documentation (ie is not "engineered"), he can issue a defect notice, and the onus is then on the owner to prove that the car is stock, or to get an engineer's certificate to verify that the mods are legit.

An engineer's certificate costs $400 minimum. Most of that is liability insurance for the signing engineer. On a cheap play car, it's a big hit.

I've had modified cars insured, with all modifications declared to the insurer (so they can't deny claims based on non-disclosure), but not declared to the registration authority (so I didn't have to fvck around getting the car engineered).

tim

[1TUF CAR]

Good luck with it. I was also considering doing this until I understood what's involved. And as uncommon as this idea sounds, with the proliferation of kits out there, I gotta feeling this is going to go the way of the Lambo door,
http://images.cardomain.net/sites/cardomain/event/2006/02/19/DUB/0/139.jpg

[gockpunch]

Good luck with it. I was also considering doing this until I understood what's involved. And as uncommon as this idea sounds, with the proliferation of kits out there, I gotta feeling this is going to go the way of the Lambo door,
http://images.cardomain.net/sites/cardomain/event/2006/02/19/DUB/0/139.jpg

whoa that chevy suburban thing has a hella wierd hood

[Vee_Que]

Hasn't anyone played NFS U2? they have those weird bonnets too...

[Obeharskad122s]

They're called "Split-hoods" and there are kits out there...

Obviously NOT engineered by a mechanic!

[1TUF CAR]

Looks like it should be named "Jaws"...
http://images.cardomain.net/sites/cardomain/event/2006/02/19/DUB/0/140.jpg

[KLowD9x]

Looks like it should be named "Jaws"...
http://images.cardomain.net/sites/cardomain/event/2006/02/19/DUB/0/140.jpg[/IMG]
Why does it have giant fork heads on the wheels?

[ElPiloto]

Show cars, trucks and bikes aren't meant to be practical or even driveable. They are eye candy, nothing more or less.

Suicide doors are practical and doable. They have been factory standard on many cars from the 1930s and on.

[CAPT_BLOTTO]

thats so much bling!!

[240sleeper]

did anyone else notice what is hanging on the hood?

[Sinbad the Sailor]

So this weekend I was going to start on this but upon getting closer to actually doing this I believe that I am going to go a different route. I just came across this web site ( http://www.streetdreamsbyross.com/sui_inst_XLG_300M.php ) in my search for pictures of a suicide door install and it looks like this would be the best way to go. It's simple (aside from the welding) and I believe that I could do this on my own. But I think that I would fab my own hinges as these are wayy steep for my taste.

[manbeard]

link doesn't work for me

edit - http://www.streetdreamsbyross.com/sui_inst_XLG_300M.php

[CAPT_BLOTTO]

just make sure that the hinges can handle the weight of the doors. I can;t wait to see results on this.

[JohnMc]

Go a step farther and eliminate the B-pillar and window frames! Put the latches for both doors down on the sills. (J/K)

I'm just a troglodyte, but it just seems like a lot of work for a very meaningless tweak.

[Gene_GaTech]

shut up all of you, except for the guy doing it. DO IT. It'll be hot, different and badass. If you don't want it on your car don't do it, but let the man dream and modify. Not everyone wants to break transmissions and rear-ends. He wants to do something cool. DAMN.

[Morley]

I was first. L@@k:

http://www.turbomorley.net/Gallery/Vraking/DSCF0779.JPG

[CAPT_BLOTTO]

did that buff out?

[Lord_Athlon]

Dude, its turbobricks. It ALWAYS buffs out.

[JohnMc]

shut up all of you, except for the guy doing it. DO IT. It'll be hot, different and badass. If you don't want it on your car don't do it, but let the man dream and modify. Not everyone wants to break transmissions and rear-ends. He wants to do something cool. DAMN.
So this post should just be him talking to himself?

Or only possibly including positice encouragement? Is there a lower limit on the positivity of a response? If you don't gush enough, should you withold your modest eoncouragement?
:)

But really, why leave that B-pillar there? Do it pillarless, like those extended 2+2 cab pickups. So when you open the front door forward and the rear door rearward, you have a gaping huge honking hole in the side of your car. Now *that* would be cool. Add sill and ceiling latches to the rear door, add the catch for the front door on the front edge of the rear door, extend the rear door forward slightly so the front can seal against it.

[CAPT_BLOTTO]

but if you take out the b pillar you're skimping on saftey. What if he has a rollover?

[Gene_GaTech]

because its not people giving advice...they are saying spend your money here or spend it here. thats dumb, let him do what he wants

[Lord_Athlon]

I say he tries it. Whats the worst that could happen. Out a few hundred bucks? Life goes on.

[ElPiloto]

Are you going to shave the door handles? If you do, nobody will know you have suicide doors. If you move the rear door handle to the front. everybody will know you have suicide doors.

I say definitely do it. It seems that whenever somebody wants to do something to make his car different from everybody elses car there are many negative comments. I say that it's your car, build it to suit yourself and ignore the naysayers.

Keep us posted. If it works out well, a lot of us will have suicide doors. If it doesn't work well, you have saved a lot of us a lot of trouble.

[CaptainWhoosh]

can't wait to see how this goes, could be fun on a 242 :badboy:

[Tick]

Suicide doors are the ****. I'd love to slide the back seat back about a foot and put shaved suicide doors in the back on my 745. The plan looks solid. Pave the way.

[Sinbad the Sailor]

I want to hear the negatives as well as the positives. The main reason that I'm doing it is because:

1) I have yet to see it done to a Volvo

2) I've been talking about it since I got my first car

3) I want to see if I can do this on my own and start something.

4) It would look PIMP

I'm going to shave the door handles. I don't care if the casual observer can tell that I have suicide doors. How many casual observers could tell you have a 400+ hp redblock before you roast the tires and leave them in the dust. It's about doing things for yourself.

While the B-Pillar delete would look cool that is way beyond the scope of this project and would be a structural nightmare that I don't want to have to deal with. Thanks for the comments. This project will be started within the month!

Spencer

p.s Thanks for getting me thinking about the B-Pillar because that will simplify the wiring for the rear doors...