Scissor doors

[jmarkbagley]

Has anyone installed scissor doors on a gt? I've seen several pictures of "Gull wing" doors but I haven't seen any scissor doors. Please help with "Pros & Cons" and any pics. Thanks

[spdkilz02]

are you talking about Lambo style doors? never heard them referred to as scissor doors.

[Phoenix]

They're refered to as a lot of things. They're also refered to as vertical doors or upright doors. It just depends on the company.

[Nathan Acree]

I have been thinking about this just recently as well. I have done some research into the kits available and not only are all of them expensive they vary greatly in quality.

The other problem is that some of them only swing up about 45 degrees which would be a huge problem IMHO. I would like to develop "butterfly" type doors (think Mclaren F1 or Mercedes SLR) where the doors swing up and then open out slightly. These allow much greater access.

The good thing is that the GT looks like it has plenty of room in the area where the hinges are for modification.

Have to find some very hight pressure gas cylinders to support the doors though-

Nathan Acree
Albuquerque New Mexico

[show no go]

I have just about finished installing them on my car but they aren't a project that is an easy bolt-on installation. I originally tried a couple of the "Universal" kits on the market and they will not work on the GT! After a lot of trial and error and a little I finally successfully made my own hinges that work. One issue is the lack of space on the opel and finding a lift cylinder that has the correct lift and throw but is small enough to fit in the fender. I will post a picture tomorrow of what the door looks like now.

[spamseptictank]

It would be nice if this style of door hinge were available to the aftermarket. I saw one of these at the Tampa Auto Show a few years back and the action on it is extremely smooth.

Koenigsegg Official Website

Enjoy!
Dave

[show no go]

As promised attached are a couple pics of the Lambo/Scissor doors. FYI the lift struts are 650lb and are 6 inches long compressed and have a 2.5 inch stroke. It balances the weight of the opel door just perfect with about 1 inch of leverage off the pivot point. The biggest problem with the fit is that the shape and thickness of the opel door makes upward movement difficult without hitting the fender. Many of the kits out there don't open to 90 degrees which means that if you don't open the door outward significantly you'd never be able to get in and out of the car. It's still somewhat tight at 90 degrees.


http://www.opelgt.com/photopost/show...ser/14242/sl/s
http://www.opelgt.com/photopost/show...ser/14242/sl/s
http://www.opelgt.com/photopost/show...ser/14242/sl/s

[Nathan Acree]

Very nice,

Do you have any details of the hinges you fabbed?

Thanks,

-Nathan Acree
Albuquerque

[show no go]

As of right now I don't have anything on paper that I could post. I will tell you that there are extensive modifications to the support as well as the door itself. The door's jam had to be trimmed a bit as well as inner door reinforcement to handle the stress of being held like this. The one problem with the opel is that the way the pillar sweeps back makes it very difficult for the door to stand upright without hitting the fender or pillar. It was easy to make the door open out a bit and then upward, but the angle had to be so severe to clear the fender it looked real dumb. Being that this car is going to basically a roadster and not have side windows my life was far easier than it would be if I had to retain the window track. Next time I take the hinge out I will take a picture of it and post it here. It took a couple weeks of swearing to get it to work so maybe others can start from there and make it less of a headache.

[jeff denton]

I can't say I'm into the scissor doors, but the body line mods to Show's car are neat, I want to see more of it, especially the rear spoiler, barely visible in the photos. Kicking the bottom out along the sides (rocker panels) gives the car a more modern look, these are out even more than mine, it appears.
Interesting project! Show more!!

[opelspyder]

I looked into the lambo doors and thought it would be pretty simple install, but then I realized the ease of installing them is when the front fenders are removable. If not it makes it tough to get into anything and line the stuff up. The pictures look good and I commend you on the effort, I just hope your doors will shut well and operate as smoothly as they should. Also do you have all the wieght in your doors yet? That will add some pounds when glass and all is back in
Keith

[show no go]

Making the hinges in theory was real easy, making them actually work correctly took about two months of tinkering. The first one wasn't very adjustable and I learned quickly that everything needs to be adjustable. I have added weight to make the doors mocked up properly and the action of the door is about 2 inches outward and then it goes up. The balance is pretty good and can be lifted or pulled down with no effort (10 year old daughter tested). If I do change anything that would cause my weight to change it won't be a big deal because the lift shock mount is adjustable too. The motion is real smooth and the kid can easily put the door through the entire motion sitting in the driver seat. There are no door handles and the opening will be operated with a remote "popper. When you pop the door it goes up nice and slowly.