Lambo Door Install SkyDoor Kit w/ **pics**

[rmjjensen]

Updates
08/03/2005



I finally got started today at work. We barely had anything to do but I still got interrupted from time to time helping customers. I think I can definitely have the passenger door up and going by tomorrow! It's quite exciting.

About the kit:
This is a liteglow SkyDoor kit, also known as the GT Factory lambo door kit. This is the hardest kit to install (only comes in "universal" form factor) and generally is only put on show cars. For the consumer looking for a lamborghini door kit we push the VDC (Vertical Doors Conversion), Decah, or AutoLoc kit (motorized). Like I said - the SkyDoor kit is a pain and not worth it for a shop to install on a customers car. The kit is not designed for lowered vehicles or vehicles with 19" or bigger rims on them. However, it is the only kit available that can make the door open a full 90 degrees (so that the door is now perpendicular to the car - in the air). However, I don't think this is going to be possible on the SVX. The clearance between the fender and the frame is not big enough to allow the hinge to open to a position so that the door can raise 90 degrees ............but I'm going to shoot for that 90 degree mark so people know it's NOT a decah or VDC conversion.

SVX Concerns:
Woah, the SVX sucks. We've done lambo doors (again VDC/Decah kits) on other cars that had GOBS of room in the fender. Now the SVX, different story.

...Hinge Mounting: The actual frame of the car leaves very little room for a hinge to sit on. The Decah kit as well as this SkyDoor kit encroached into the wheel well area. It doesn't look like it will be anything major but the wheel well will have to be slightly modified (looking to cut out the encroached area and fiberglass a bubble like cover.

...Strut Placement: On both the Decah and SkyDoor kit the strut ALSO gets into the wheel well area. The SkyDoor kit is much worse (hence no wheels bigger than 18" and no lowering springs) but both have issues.

...Fender Clearance: You can take a LOT away from the inside of the stock fender but there's still some issues. The VDC/Decah kit will have NO issues with fender clearance (guarenteed). You'll still have to cut away and roll the fender but that's simple. The SkyDoor kit will also fit in the stock fender space. However, my preliminary install leads me to believe that for the SkyDoor kit to open 90degrees the hinge must first open normally about 30-40 degrees (which I don't think is possible with the SVX's clearance ....bummer but we'll see.

...The Door is HEAVY: we'll see how the struts hold up

To the pictures:

8/2/2005:

Stock door harness boot and wires removed

Ghetto door jig. This is important so that the door doesn't shift it's position or sag. you don't have to worry about it falling off because the latch will hold it but this is my car, the door is heavy, and this is not a bolt on kit

Hinges removed and the door hasn't moved - thank god. It shifts slightly over time but nothing major. The silicon glue really hold the hinges on there even with no bolts ...impressive stuff

Hinges removed, silicon removed, wires removed (except one added to fish them out later)

The SkyDoor kit is universal - so this piece is fixed to the door, and then the hinge gets fixed to this piece. I made a template out of wood first so that I can contour it to the SVX's bolt holes. I lined up the two bolts that would fit best to the SkyDoor hinge. The wood is exactly the same shape and size as the metal counterpart. However, the ends have been shaved and holes drilled. The bolts to hold this piece on are temporary. Remember, this is a weld on kit and welds will be added for safety - but this is good to make sure it works.

After making a cardboard template, one hole was drilled (the others marked) so as to check position/placement of the lambo hinge. Everything looked on the mark so the rest of the holes could be drilled. Now check out the problems talked about earlier. You can see that there's no much surface area to weld the hinge to on the car. Also you can see how much the hinge encroaches into the wheel well. It looks worse then it really is. It's only about 1/2" at the biggest point

All three holes have been drilled into the hinge assembly. The stock hinge is sitting on top

The bolt holes are way too close to the inset of the actual moving hinge. The head of the bolt and washers will not be able to sit in the inset so I had to bore out the area around it. Can't really disassemble the hinge for this so I just took the grind wheel to it. Next is that top bolt...same procedure. Of course, why would this be easy

Rolling the fender. The hinge has to move up and down and the fender will get in the way. To easily roll it relief cuts were cut and bent in by hand. But before that the guts of the fender have to come out to allow for clearance of the hinge

Scraps of metal cut away from the inside of the fender ...guess I just killed some structural integrity but the fender is still solid.

The completed fender ...guts removed and fender rolled (by hand of course ...with some dowel assistance)

The metal piece is ready to be cut to the proper shape. The wooden template is aligned on top and the metal is marked to be cut and drilled

Metal door plate fixed to the door and hinge mounted to the car. The struts were placed on the hinge to check the best way to mount these bad boys

Another look at the struts ...note - that's not going to be their position ....right there they're just resting on the plastic wheel well.

The welding begins tomorrow. Time to affix the hinge to the metal door plate ....The end for the day


...not bad for about 4-6 hours of work on it so far. I should have this door up and going tomorrow and god knows when I can start the driver one....hopefully we don't have a busy week. But yeah - the SkyDoor kit is not for everyone ...not for anyone really.

Hope you enjoyed the show!

[SVXRide]

Mike,
Very nice! Can't wait to see the finished product!
-Bill

[Khalil]

Cool 123

[SilverSpear]

GR8 work RMJ !!! You realized my dream... I wish i can get my hands on those exact measures of the hinges so that i can manufacture them over here. they wouldn't cost me much...

[berger]

mmm. cant wait to see finished product, thats just jawsome

[GreenMarine]

I can't wait to see it too.... However, I think I am forever turned away from doing that myself.... Just looks too complicated.... If I got someone to do it for me, I might be interested...

[rmjjensen]

Well, today WAS going good. Overall there was a good amount accomplished but no where near what I expected. We were pretty busy at work today so I didn't get much time to work on it until about 5pm.

I was able to TACK weld the hinge to the door to check clearances and make necessary adjustments before welding the entire assembly in. I found out the following with the SkyDoor kit and the SVX:

The maximum angle for the skydoor kit (normally open) is only about 30-40 degrees. Not much but good. However, not possible on the SVX. Not enough fender clearance. Get this - the door will only be opening about 5-10 degrees!!!!!!!!!! But this is cool in the sense that the door is straight up and rather looking like wings, it looks badass.

The maximum verticle angle is not going to be 90 degrees. I'd have to change where I placed the struts and again - not going to happen with the SVX. A new plate would have to be welded above the tire and it's not all that serious. So, I think maybe I have a 75 degree verticle.

Since the door opens so little horizontally there's an issue with the door itself. There's rubber behind the mirror (don't really know what it's for - weather stripping?). It's huge and hits the fender on the initial rise. I'll wind up triming it down so it clears the fender. There's still weather stripping in that area so hopefully I won't get a lot of road noise. We shall see.

So ....Accomplishments:
-1) Welded hinge to door piece
-2) Trimmed the heck out of the hinge so it would clear the fender
-3) Took even more guts away from the fender
-4) Welded two plates above the tire so the struts had a home
-5) Adjusted the door for final fitment

Where the day shot to hell
...my coworker got real excited and decided to put the struts in place (keep in mind these are about 300 lb strongarm struts). Needless to say the strongarms broke my tack welds and the door shot up into the rear glass and was wedged in place. We had to totally remove the door. This is bad. Now the door isn't in the PERFECT place that it was. And when I say perfect, I mean perfect. The door shut JUST LIKE STOCK and the hinge was perfectly adjusted. The seams between the door and the quarter panel - perfect, the seam between the door and the fender - perfect ...........well no more. We got the door back on the car, but now is going to need some massaging to get it back to perfect. Needless to say I was pissed ...upset too ...so upset I just stopped the project for the day and said, "tomorrow's a new day." There's good news though - no damage, aside from a nick in the rear glass (hopefully doesn't spider web), and the kit is still in it's "temporary bolt on" status. Meaning if the holes aren't lining up - the door isn't perfect ....try again. So I'll know where the sweet spot is.

But all in all - good progress. The kit is doable and has an extreme vertical...the horizontal is a little depressing but again, gives more of a lambo appearance and less of a wings look. I know the strongarms will hold the door up (they did for a good 5 seconds before it broke the tack welds). The plate has been fabricated for the struts to the car. Assuming all goes well with the welds - this door should be verticle on it's own tomorrow.

so far est project time: 10-12 hrs.


Picture of the door opening normally all on the SkyDoor hinge. Unfortunately the door will not be able to open this far outward because of the fender.


Holding the door up on the SkyDoor hinge. No other kit can go this high ...hence the pain in the assness (that is my boss in the pic)

[mbtoloczko]

Nice. Interested to see how things go.

[Matthewmongan]

so the door opens out (like it would normaly) a few inches to clear the latch and frame than it lifts?

how do you shut the door from the seat?

[SilverSpear]

Originally Posted by Matthewmongan

so the door opens out (like it would normaly) a few inches to clear the latch and frame than it lifts?

how do you shut the door from the seat?

Minor details... I wouldn't worry about such a thing, RMJ did it !! and excelled in it, we wanna see now if the door opens without disturbing the wheel fender...

[rmjjensen]

Originally Posted by SilverSpear

Minor details... I wouldn't worry about such a thing, RMJ did it !! and excelled in it, we wanna see now if the door opens without disturbing the wheel fender...

Thanks, but so do I! This is kinda trial by error. Put it on - see what happens. I'm finding minor problems so far little by little, which is fine, I can fix those. But if it turned out the hinge didn't fit behind the fender - I'd be F-ed - that's a major problem. I still have my concerns though - wheel travel breaking the struts, door interfering with the top of the fender, might have to roll the fender even more, and I'm hoping to god I don't have to modify the wheel well too much.

Closing the door when it's up so high is awkward. You have to bring it down to your level AS you're entering the vehicle.

Here's a video on opening and closing the door with the SkyDoor / GT Factory Kit

I'll keep you guys posted - let's just hope work isn't busy today and no more incidents occur.

[94svxred]

MAN THAT IS A MAJOR PROJECT . Take a deep breath and count to 10 and tell yourself I WILL DO IT !! . All I can say Is AWEsome

[SilverSpear]

Originally Posted by rmjjensen

Thanks, but so do I! This is kinda trial by error. Put it on - see what happens. I'm finding minor problems so far little by little, which is fine, I can fix those. But if it turned out the hinge didn't fit behind the fender - I'd be F-ed - that's a major problem. I still have my concerns though - wheel travel breaking the struts, door interfering with the top of the fender, might have to roll the fender even more, and I'm hoping to god I don't have to modify the wheel well too much.

Closing the door when it's up so high is awkward. You have to bring it down to your level AS you're entering the vehicle.

Here's a video on opening and closing the door with the SkyDoor / GT Factory Kit

I'll keep you guys posted - let's just hope work isn't busy today and no more incidents occur.

I wish i can be there with you now, i would have helped you with it, maybe a fiberglass fender modified for that purpose? the important thing is you keep yourself cooled, when you get upset just leave the project and go out... go sleep and then come back when you are on a clear mind. what you are doing is an accomplishment by itself, maybe it will be the first successful Lambo door kit on an SVX... MAKE US PROUD !!!

[rmjjensen]

Originally Posted by SilverSpear

I wish i can be there with you now, i would have helped you with it, maybe a fiberglass fender modified for that purpose? the important thing is you keep yourself cooled, when you get upset just leave the project and go out... go sleep and then come back when you are on a clear mind. what you are doing is an accomplishment by itself, maybe it will be the first successful Lambo door kit on an SVX... MAKE US PROUD !!!

Thanks man! I'd definitely take some help, but so far so good. Today's a new day and I'm not touching a dam thing at work today except for my car. It's been two days since I've touched it and the weekend's coming ...i need my car.

That's true about leaving the project when you get upset. I was pissed off and just stopped - u can't work on ...you wind up messing stuff up. I was considering modifying the fender with some sort of wide body stuff, but if it works good stock then I'll take it.

There's been other lambo door installs on the SVX. njboys was right near me and I caught a glance of his car once. the only problem I saw was the seams ....they were all different sizes and that would really bother me because it just doesn't look right. Mr.Pwrlite has pics of lambo doors on an SVX in his locker as well ...I'm guessing that would be 2 lambo door installs on SVXen

These kits are easy to put on - just tedious

[94svxred]

I just watched the video! WOW how cool .Looking forward to see the final pics!!