300c Suicide Doors...in Brampton

[cpracing]

had this posted in the exterior section, had a request to post it here....

we have recently undertaken a suicide door conversion for a customer’s 300c. Considering the global interest in this conversion we decided to post some pictures. Of all the vehicles we have put suicide doors on in the past, the 300 proved to be the most difficult. To add to the complexity of the conversion, the rear doors needed to be open to no less than 90 degrees to the body as per the customer’s request.

As with all of our conversions the vehicle needs to remain suitable for everyday use, meaning water tight, wind noise free and also the doors must open and close like they did originally and must NOT sag over time, additionally the doors must not appear "flimsily"(Must be a word) attached to the vehicle. The doors required complete reinforcing from within as did the quarter panel. Owing unto the additional reinforcement, the doors are bounce free and close and line-up like they did from the factory. Bare in mind in these pictures we are only halfway to completion. Meaning none of the sheet metal has been put back in place, there has been no finishing of any kind, not actuators installed etc....still very raw. When we are done the vehicle will appear as though it came from the factory with suicide doors...which in our opinion it really should have. Will post more as we progress. Enjoy

CP


Link



Video + Pictures of the Doors.



http://www.putfile.com/cpracing

[steve 300c]

Nice video on the 300c did you blueprint the entire process and are you going to have the door handles moved forward or are you going to shave all of them and use poppers. If you decide to make this in to a kit you should start here on this forum and offer us a group buy.

[teahead]

Looks sweet.

You gonna relocate the outside door handle or shave it off completely?

I say...shave 'em. I like the "touch" door handles from these guys:

http://www.lafranceautoworks.com/

How many hours do you think the whole thing, from beginning to end, will take?

[cpracing]

hello all..

we are flirting with the idea of offering a kit. As of now we are doing on vehcile only installations. The amount of reinforcing and custom work required to make the doors operate the same as factory is....considerable. We are hesitant to offer a kit that will be installed poorly elsewhere.

As for the door handles, our preference is relocte them. Customer says shave, shave it is- front and rear. Total time from through our door to out again including everything(paint etc..), about 125-150 hours. I will have some more video and pictures shortly as the car is nearing completion.

CP

[cpracing]

The 90 degree suicide door conversion is now complete. We have managed to achieve the 90 degrees we wanted for the rear doors and re-designed the front door hinges of the car also to open to near 90 degrees in an attempt to balance the visual appeal of the vehicle. The rear doorstops allow the doors to open up to within 3mm of the quarter panel without hitting. All the reinforcement in the doors and behind the quarter worked perfectly. The doors do not twist, flex or sag in the least. Leaning, slamming and general abuse have had no effect on the doors operation so everyone is very please.







We have opted to shave the door handles on the car and have made provisions for hidden hydraulic actuators to open and close the doors. The front and rear doors have remained full power-locks and power windows. Additionally, the weather seals are still in place and function as they should. Behind the hinge is also sealed (not shown) to keep the elements from entering the quarter panel while driving.



The car is now ready for the body shop phase, all the welds will be ground smooth and the car will be stripped even further and prepped for paint. Someone did mention a 3 inch chop for the roof…so we are considering it.



CP

[cpracing]

and here are some more pictures....

[300MAG]

Looks sweet, so is the cat out of the bag yet on what is planned for the interior is it still a mystery

[aspendog]

I see some framing for a rear center console...

Originally Posted by 300MAG

Looks sweet, so is the cat out of the bag yet on what is planned for the interior is it still a mystery

[Northern Rider]

Great work, cpracing.

Nice to see some good ole' Canuck ingenuity.

[cpracing]

as was noticed with the center console we have some plans for the interior also. We can not at this time disclose just what, it will be nothing anyone has ever seen before however...in any car.

CP

Originally Posted by Northern Rider

Great work, cpracing.

Nice to see some good ole' Canuck ingenuity.