RE: door openers

[Darryl Tinnerstet <darryl@xxxx>]

> There are 2 seperate versions of the automatic door openers from what
> I've seen. When you disarm the alarm, the doors are unlocked. To open
> either door individually, you simply push the coresponding button on
> the remote. A solenoid is mounted in the front portion of the door,
> and is connected to the lower portion of the bellcrank via a braided
> cable. When the solenoid is activated, it will pull the cable to
> rotate the bellcrank to unlatch the fore and aft striker pins. Here's
> where both versions vary:
> Version 1: A "kicker" solenoid with a rubber pad is installed into
> the fiberglass underbody. Located at the rear-lower portion of the
> door, it will activate to push the door out as the door unlatches.
> Version 2: The torsion bars are adjusted, and then over-torqued by 1-
> 2 notches. As soon as the door is unlatched, the force of the torsion
> bar will naturally force the door to rise.

The best and easist way is to mount a gear-driven actuator, not a heavy
solenoid, in the rear of the door, connecting it to the bellcrank with a
short linkage rod. You don't need a "kicker" if your doors open properly
already. As for over-torquing the torsion rods, there is no reason to do
that unless you need to lift the weight of a heavy solenoid instead of a
light-weight actuator. In the 10+ years I have been using and selling
remote door openers, I have had few problems with their operation. Just
remember that they are not a cure for a door which does not already open
smoothly and glide all the way to the top. They just unlatch the door.

Keep an eye on my web page (delorean-parts.com) - I hope to soon have door
opener parts and instructions featured, along with my bolt-on water pump
pulleys, steering column bushings, braided stainless speedo cables, and
other unique items. Be patient as I'm a little slow at getting started on
the web stuff (even though I'm not as old as Les H.).

Note to moderators - See, I'm getting more civil. I was going to start with
"So Robert, how many have you actually seen?" but decided that there was
nothing to be gained by pointing out that there are more than "2 separate
versions" of ways to do this. And I'm not trying to say other ways don't
work, just that this one is time-tested.