OnlyOnThurs

I personally think the FB would look amazing with this door conversion.......but i have a feeling i am gonna be the only one who thinks this.....oh well......I know this company that will make a custom vertical door kit for the FB but we need to get 10 (ten) orders togerther first....anyone intrested?

Rx7carl

First thing you will be asked is price.

OnlyOnThurs

oh sorry......1599.00...yeah its kinda steep...but at least it will be a bolt on kit...

thafox

i've heard it's not hard 2 do for less than 2grand....but that's wha i heard i dont know/have details

rotarygod

iTrader: (1)

$1599 holy crap! I only paid $300 for the car itself and it was in great condition!

Got any pictures?

Manntis

I looked into true gullwings (a la Delorean or Mercedes) - but that would run about $8,000

OnlyOnThurs

no i only have pictures of different cars with lambo doors....hmmmm i have been researching info on universal fit lambo doors but obviously they are not strictly bolt on (there is gonna be some welding involved and drilling for sure). I wonder how much a good shop would charge if i bought a universal fit kit and had them install it?

cosmicbang

How were you going to do it? What was going to open them? How far did you get? Were they actual gullwing doors opening from the middle of the roof like this:

thafox

gullwing door's look pretty cool an all but what happens if your in the middle parking spot trying 2 open your door's? that's the only real reason i hate gullwing door's is thier lack of practicallity....sorry if i bursted your bubble or ne thing but that's just my opinion

Manntis

Actually, gullwings take less room to open sideways than conventional doors do. Remeber, the hinge is in the middle of the car. The door only comes out a few inches as it swings up on its arc.

I've tried this with a DeLorean, BTW

And yes, cosmicbang, like the Bricklin doors. The contractor I went to would have used the DeLorean cryotwist spring as opposed to the heavier and bulkier Bricklin mechanism.

tjgosurf

I think you should go for suicide doors. And make sure they can stay closed.

rotary emotions

A friend of mine (in Germany) has done a real gullwing (as Delorean etc) conversion on a first gen once. Unfortunatly, I've never seen that car. He did build a nice convertible (TuV approved, so very proffessional) though, so I have no reason to doubt that story. He claimed that apart from a lot of work, it also didn't look half as good as he expected it to look. The raingutter was the main problem with looks, and you can't just remove it.
Anyway, for the scissor doors (Lambo-style) I'd guess a photoshopped pic would help us a bit to imagine the looks of that on a FB. I sure wouldn't buy it,as it'd be 100% illegal in Belgium, and therefor not something I can use much. But I also wouldn't really like it, I think.

85slvrblt

I like the idea of a Lambo Style Door kit for a 1st gen, it adds a cool whiz-bang sports car feature without altering the original classic looks of the car, at least with the doors closed :-).

I'd be interested in a kit like that at a lower price point. $1599 seems very steep. I seem to remember watching them do this same type of conversion on a Honda on MTVs "pimp my ride" a while back and as I remember the kit consisted of a set of hinges and some bolts, which broke and had to be replaced with stronger bolts, but still just bolts.

What exactly are folks getting for $1599 as part of this kit?? Again, I like the idea but thats alot of money for custom hinges and a set of bolts.

comradegiant

Of all the unnecessary appearance driven add-ons for a car, Lambo doors are the only ones I have ever considered. Coupe doors are just so damn long, you always end up scraping them on a curb.

Manntis

I was going to delete the rain gutter, as the roof opening would become a gutter anyhow. However I was concerned how that would look. As dated as the rain gutters are on our car, they actually add a bit of character IMHO. Sort of like the 'brow' on a stormtrooper helmet.

mar3

iTrader: (8)

SuperStreet was in town two Thursdays ago to kick off their 2004 tour. They held a mini-event at the Enkei warehouse next to Alliance Airport North of Fort Worth. I saw a really nice red FD that had the Kombat front end and...the vertical door modification. I had been wondering what kind of clearance you would end up with since 98% of the kits out there do not open the door 90 degrees. I know of only one company, so far, that offers a true 90 degree door mod, but again, we're talking $1300+....as it turns out, having seen it in action in and opened for careful observation, 90 degrees is not necessary for easy entry into the car unless you're grossly out of shape. With that observation, here's the good news....the Decah kit for the '92 -'95 Honda Civic will work for the '79 - '85 Maxda Rx-7s "with a little modification." I take that to mean a little grinding, but I've seen the actual kit go out on eBay with a "Buy It Now" price of $999........

Manntis

the kit is just the start of it. In terms of automotive integration design, the dash is the most complicated piece, what with all the wiring harnesses, HVAC controls and piping, heater,A/C core, plumbing for the heater rad, steering column, pedals and associated cables, instrument lighting and cables, frame structure, etc. all competing for space.

Now try to take all that out, install a thick metal tube, and put it all back together.

ApG Spaz

howsabout suicide doors? =P

cosmicbang

That is true. It requires less clearance than a regular door, for both a Bricklin and a DeLorean. The biggest challenge with gullwing doors is getting a fit in two planes; it is nearly impossible to do on a production line.What was he planning to use for torsion bars? The DeLorean doors used torsion bars specially built by Grumman and I hear they are getting scarce.

I'm definitely interested in the gullwings. I think the gullwing doors might look better on an FD than a FB. Do you think your contractor could gullwing-ize an FD? Do you have any sketches of a gullwing FB? Thanks.

Mr BiG G

maybe if u chopped the FB gullwings would look even sweeter

capri93

Somebody photochop the lambo doors so we can see what it will look like.

Manntis

As I said, he was going to use the cryotwist springs. Those are the torsion bars. DMC (the new one, not the original DMC) has quite a few of them in stock - but being the only game in town, they charge for 'em like they're platinum.

cosmicbang

Who knows? The driver's side is not even listed on his web site and the passenger is $400. I will look into it further. I would be reluctant to make the effort of converting an RX-7, only to compete with DeLoreans for a finite supply of torsion bars. The advantage of torsion bars would be no interference with the back seat. But other than that, the Bricklin air doors are fine with me. Air doors are also easier to adjust and can be remotely operated.

Ironically there have been gullwing FC, but not FD or FB. I am interested to see the gullwing FB from Germany, if anyone has pictures.

EfiniGirl

Wow, I can't even imagine a lambo door on a 1st gen. Or any gen for that matter. haha

rotary emotions

Don't have pics at all. The car was destroyed not long after the build. I do know he had cut the doors and put a piece in to make the sill higher.