Okay, I'm sure this will get moved sooner or later, but it really is a 1st gen thing rather than pure interior...

I just did a keyless entry and power doorlock kit install on my 85 GSL, and it will undoubtedly save my door handles.

I've broken the drivers' side twice, and as anyone else who has had to replace them - you know that it's a royal PITA to get the rod out of the plastic grommet on the handle. So yeah - lock the door and shut it, it doesn't unlock anymore. Or just shut the doors and press a button - viola - it's all good.

So those who have read the tutorials think that I must be mechanically inclined. As I've stated before, and will continue to state - I'm graphically inclined. All of the work on the tutorials is done by Carl - I'm not going to stand in the way of someone who knows what they're doing. Trust me when I say that if I can install it - anyone can.

Now the good part. www.kickyride.com

I am in no way shape or form affiliated with them - I didn't design their website, and I'm not married to anyone's daughter from there. I got prompt service, knowledgeable help from Mike (puaka@mindspring.com) and just wanted to give a glowing recommendation to anyone wanting to do this simple mod. This guy owns an 82 GS, and we all know he's sure to have installed it on his. He'll be able to help you with any questions and was pretty fast to respond (and this was a weekend).

Just wanted to share my experience. It's nice to be able to give someone a glowing review after dealing with them - especially in this day and age of ebay ripoff artists, etc.

Cheers,
--pratch

 

How are those other tutorials coming along, ie, "E-Fan installation" and "Insulated Cold Air Intake"?

 

Looks like http://www.kickyride.com is a Mindtrain dealer. Excellent find!

Where are they located? Their website doesn't say. Personally I don't like doing "Internet" business with anyone if I don't have a phone number, physical address or email address. None of those are listed on their site. Maybe you can recommend that they do that.

 

Ok Mr. Graphically Inclined, where are the pictures .

I thought about doing this, but just looking at the inside of my door panel was not a happy thought. I did it on a friends Miata and it was no problem, but looking in the door panels on my car just down right scared me...So I wanna see some pics of how you did it .

~T.J.

 

Haha, I like this place .

~T.J.

 

heh - I'd post a pic but there's not much to see since aside from the wires, it's all inside the doors. That being said, I suppose I could pull my door panel and do pics of the location - but I'm already past due on the tutorials for ICAI and the graphically documented DLIDFIS one.

The electric fan was waiting on parts money (secured) and now just waiting on a free weekend for Carl and I. I have a feeling that the Elec fan install may be a month or so till the tutorial is up...

Off to work on the ICAI one now before I get whipped

 

Oh yeah - I forgot to mention. The total price including shipping for the Power Lock and Keyless entry was $60. Again - a good place to deal with!

 

I did the same thing ages ago to my 85 rx7, it's def well worth it. As for the rods and locks, I totally sympathise with you... the rods are terrible to get to, the access holes are so small! but with some persistance it can be done.

While you had the trim off etc... did you clean out the drain holes in your door? as well as clean the dirt out the bottom near the motor, and lubricate the mechanisms? probably a good idea if you didn't.

 

Please give more details of this install..did instructions come with it? That's something I'd love to do to mine this spring!

 

I didn't find trouble with the mounting at all. 2 holes were drilled (one each door), and the rod actually fits up in the door lock **** itself. One hole was already there (did any 1st gens come with stock power locks?) and its location was damn near perfect to place the rod at a position almost directly under the **** (which just makes everything easy). I'll take the door panel off tomorrow and snap a few quick pictures.

 

I had some trouble with mine because who ever installed a central locking kit prior to when I got my 7 did some really dodgy **** with the rods, but with a little persistance it was all good. I guess with doors you cant really make it that easy to get to anyway due to the small size and with the power window motor and stuff in there.

 

Even with my power windows, I found it an easy install. Just leave the windows up when threading the wires through the rubber grommets, and once you have them into the door, reach in and move them in front of the front window guide. From there it's pulling them straight across into where the actuators mount. Again - expect pics sometime tomorrow.

Also, kickyride is based in Atlanta - Mike said if I were local he'd install for a fee.

 

Looks like a good place... too bad I'm in Canada... *sigh*

 

well we all can't be Australian

 

Cant wait for the pics . Like I said, I wanted to do it, I was just worried about it interferring with my window regulators, and it being such a small area to work in. Also, are there any added switched on the inside for locking or unlocking? I dont want those. I can do that myself . Also, does it unlock both at once, or just drivers, then press again (or another button?) and its passenger? Can it be wired like this?

~T.J.

 

You can have options.... you can get some setups that unlock both at once, or if you push one button it will open the drivers door, then if you hold down that button for a few seconds it will unlock the passenger door. You can also have it wired to release the hatch, etc...

I got mine setup to unlock both doors at once, and the 2nd button unlocks the rear hatch.

 

I contacted the guys at kickyride using their web form and they got right back to me! They're gonna put some further contact info on their website soon as well as a full 1st Gen Mindtrain catalog. They seem like good guys I hope they do well.

 

I got a kit that locks and unlocks both doors at once. There were no locking switches, but manually locking or unlocking one lock, will do the same to the other. Since I got the keyless entry at the same time, I had no reason to get anything with door lock buttons. Plus, the keyless kit has neat functions like lock doors 90 seconds after ignition on, lock doors 90 seconds after doors remotely unlocked, etc.

 

Okay, as promised, here's the pic.

The sun was shining DIRECTLY behind the door, so I had to mess with the levels on the image to keep everything from being dark (yes, that's the panel sitting on top of the door. I haven't yet put the 45 degree bend in the rod to keep it straight per directions, but at 12 degrees, I figure it's close enough to vertical to be fine for now.

Highlighted in red is the mount point for the acutator (just slid it in the opening where you see the 5 wires entering) the bottom one was there before my adventures in drilling. There are no clearance issues with my install, but yes - I've lost my plastic door lining. I suppose if I feel motivated I can always install a new one.



So yes - I maintain that the installation was painless and easy, and there were no access issues (I have pretty large hands). Good luck!

 

Thanks! Looks easier than I thought. Maybe I will be investing in that soon .

~T.J.

 

Hey guys,
Mike from kickyride.com here. Again, I must thank pratch for the kind words. I must say, in regards to the 1st gen, it's a breeze to do install work. Adding doorlocks to one is about as rudimentary as it gets. As mentioned, if anyone has any questions about this stuff, let me know. I'm a MECP ceritified security specialist and I've put doorlocks in many RX-7's (all generations too). My '82 actually has doorlocks, keyless, alarm, 2-way pager, hatch release, fuel door release, and even remote start though it only really works when the car is warm thanks to my Yaw street carb. It's almost pointless but when I go EFI and turbo, it should work great .

Later,
Mike