I know you guys are probably gonna laugh out loud about this but, Does anyone think its possible to get verticle lamborghini door hinges for an 80 elky? Or, maybe its possible to fabricate some hinges. If this has ever been done before, plz show me some pics. If you know where to get such hinges let me know please. :?

I believe it's possible to do that, but no one has raped their car to that extreme before, so there are no pictures. I highly advise you don't, because you would probably piss of a lot of people. On the other hand, I will probably piss off a lot of people with this rant against stuff like this to old cars. The only problems would be it has to go out like normal, then up so it can clear the latch. But you could make a new one on the bottom of the door that is vertical.

Could always try some suicide doors. and lower it to the ground

I was wondering about this also, thought it would be neat. If you fabricate your own hinges your going to have to have a killer lift assist system because the doors are very heavy.

I really dont mean to piss people off, I just thought it would be a new twist on an old style. I may try to experiment on a beat up 83 that I just got for 100 bucks that way I wont screw up my project. If it works ok i may do it on my car. I dont really think any customizing is a bad thing as long as you keep your love for older cars. If nothing was ever different we wouldnt be able to get a monte ss front end for out elkys and I cant think of a better customization. Anything you do to a car that you think is cool in your opinion is your choice i think. I think people do things because they get some enjoyment out of it, if you lose the enjoyment, whats the point of doing it? Thanks for the reply though.
Steven

I'm probably too opinionated when it comes to people doing things like this to older cars. If you do try it, I would suggest trying the vertical lock latches. That way it goes straight up, and not out then up. It would work on Elkys because of the way the rear of the door is curved. It's the same kind of latch used on convertable tops.

I think that as long as you do a good clean job and you don't make it look like a hack job you should do what ever you want

It may work if you want to work at it enough. But, bear in mind these doors are HEAVY. If you want it bad enough, go for it, as it will definitely be a one of a kind. I think your time and talents would be better utilized in shaving and suiciding the doors if you want them custom. Just my.02 Best of luck in whatever you do, and let us know how it turns out!

I'm not sure because I don't know if a lambo has a frame around the glass, but it would be pretty tough to put that hinge on a door that has no supporting frame around the glass. I think it would cool if someone would do that and couldn't care less about who got pissed.

sounds kinda nifty. only real problem would be wight factor i think. they make kits for this type of stuff but im not sure it they'll hold them up, since i was thinking of trying soemthin but im leaning more torwards suicide doors...maybe, or not. but if youre amazingly rich and a notorious non-caring money spender u could try some custom hydraulic job?

you can check out places like california customs, westcoast customs, and places like that would in truckin magazines. i remember seeing ads for them. i know on that show pimp my ride on mtv the did it to a civic.

Sounds unique.. and definately like something i'd like to see. .you'd probably have to beef up the door hinges like other people are saying.. weight is against you


WROR

It'd be pretty hard to run hydrualics unless you already had it installed, plus you'd have to have some sort of backup in case you lost pressure and got locked in/out or with the door in the up position. You can't lighten the door up too much because of all the junk in the door that keeps the glass in place. I suppose you could cut away the inner door and replace it with a fiberglass panel, but that wouldn't save much. One way to do it would be to remove some of the "A" piller, roof and "B" pillar, attach it to the door to support the glass, gut the door and replace the window lift mechanism with an aftermarket power unit. That would lighten the door considerable.

Another possibility would be to scavange the upper door frames (probably need two per door because the elky door is longer) from a 80's caprice or something like that, weld it in place, remove the glass weatherstripping and retainer from the elky body and adjust the added door frames to fit. The glass should just roll right up to the new frame and the OE seal on the caprice should seal the body to the new frame. Again, gut the door and use an aftermarket power window unit.

Of course, you still have to figure out the geometry of the hinge etc.

The real problem centers around the glass. Any glass that is tempered cannot be cut, and to have a company design a piece of glass, bend it and temper it would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $1200 per window. Ouch!

Why not just put in military surplus ejector seats and a large sun roof?
Eric

Why not just put in military surplus ejector seats and a large sun roof?
Eric

By all means, you just go right ahead and install those in your ride.

That wouldn't be a bad thing for the passenger seat :lol: !

Maybe it would be easier and cheaper to just buy a Lamborgini, chop it up and put an Elcamino bed on it. Do those things have rear engines or front engines? Whatever, if it is a rear then you will also have a motor mounted inside your bed, which would be unique anyway.

I'm not saying it can't be done, because anything is possible as long as your willing to get divorced and quit your job to devote time to it. If I was going to attack this project I think that I would investigate possibilities of lightening the door up significantly. Maybe it is possible to have the door remade using a lighter material like aluminum or fiberglass, even if it is just for the lower portion of the door. That way the top portion of the door wouldn't have to be braced quite as much and you'll only need a 10 horsepower motor to lift the door instead of a small diesel engine with gear reduction pulleys mounted onto the roof with guide wires running through a boom like a fishing boat to lift nets out of the water. It sounds like a project and a half, good luck. Let us know what obsticles you run into so we can make fun of you and give you rediculous suggestions such as the preceeding comments. And I mean that in a kind and supportive mannor.

There are many kits that you can find and they replace you existing hinges.
They did this to a Honda on MTV's show "Pimp My Ride". it looked nice but a little wierd on a car other than a Lambo.

My $.02 is that your time would be better spent putting on suicide doors.

Let's just hope that a few of these Elkies can be kept in stock condition for posterity.
Eric

Ha I knew I wasn't having DeJa Vu!

Topic on Lambo door conversion from a few months ago. (http://www.elcaminocentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2657&highlight=)

ACtually there's this El camino out there that's been claimed to be the world's fastest at like 7 seconds in the quarter. Thing is almost the entire car has the sheet metal replaced with fiberglass including the bed panels. Now if you went fiberglass route you could have doors that sprung up like a Delorean and maybe even spin around a couple of times.. 8-)

autoloc makes a kit that will work on any car. to hold the doors up they either use a 200lb phenmatic rod. however there is a motorized verson avalible. these kits are very expensive and start at 1500+ dollars. however i am working on getting plans on a set so I can make my own :cool: i am very intrested in doing this to my 79 el camino and plan on makeing no significat changes ( in case I decide I dont like it) maybe if you can plans I can whip up a set of hinges and we'll have on crazy ass customized el camino! 8-) so keep me in mind if you find any info

chris

Wow, what a reaction. Some posotive some negative. Both interesting. I would never try this on my main car. I bought an 83 elky, for parts. I will do all of my experimentation on that one. Just in case I hack the $#!t out of it. I dont see any easy way of doing it. I think Im going to have problems with the door hitting the fender. I will have to make it so it swings out and then up before it will miss the fender. This may be too much work for me if I want to finish before they make an el camino diablo in the factory when hell freezes over. My new screen name may be changed to "in over my head". Thanks for the input folks.
Steven :?