HOW TO - 'Vert door pillar removal

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ishkabibble
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vertbish wrote:I think im going to give this a shot tonight or tomorrow night. about how long does this take?
I would guess anywhere from 6-12 hours total for both the seat belt relocation and the door panel mod. (depending on skill level, tools available, etc.) It took me 10 hours including breaks.


masterteque
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I think a solid 8-10 hours sounds about right......

le_ryan
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I finally started this .........


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ishkabibble
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vroom-chirp wrote:I finally started this .........
Cover that mirror and door glass up!

le_ryan
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ishkabibble wrote:
Cover that mirror and door glass up!
CRAP !

I just went out and looked, theres bits of metal stuck to the window

... well, ill try to get it off with a razor blade and see the damage tomorrow.

but the mirror is good

kick_it_sideways
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are you just using a grinder to cut those pieces out?

le_ryan
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kick_it_sideways wrote:are you just using a grinder to cut those pieces out?
yup, with these the 4.5 inch cutting disk .




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Danrc30
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WOOHOO!!!! I FINALLY had some time this evening and made some progress!!! Check out the pics... I made a metal plate, welded on a hardened steel nut to the one side, drilled a hole in the body, and then welded that plate with the nut to the body. That was so I could mount the retractor part of the belt. I love my tig...

I also drilled a new hole on the top loop part so the loop would be a bit higher. It's very comfy now...








le_ryan
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that looks great.

Im wanting to keep the rear seat belts in for when i bring the kid for a cruise, so im thinking about mounting S14 manual seat belts in .

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S-13
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those pics look great! This will definetly come in handy when it comes to do mine later this week. However If I could request pics of how you plan to put the belt through the hole on your rear body panel it would be much appreciated. I know others have mentioned what they did but I cant visualize how its done. good job

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Danrc30
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S-13 wrote:However If I could request pics of how you plan to put the belt through the hole on your rear body panel it would be much appreciated. I know others have mentioned what they did but I cant visualize how its done. good job
I plan on making a hole right where the loop is so the belt material doesn't hit the panel. It MAY not look as clean as Hitman's since I won't be using the filler piece from the front doors, but I think it's safer to do it this way since the top loop is higher. You can get into an accident at 5-10mph and that force will send you face first into the steering wheel. I want to make sure that belt will hold me in my place. I believe it will.

I was going to reinforce the upper area where the loop is, but I don't think it's necessary. I think an important part is to secure the retractor to the body really well.

I'd also like to mention that I really like how the lap part of the belt secures to the body of the car now. I feel so much more comfortable with it this way. One problem I noticed is that the end piece is bent slightly which makes it hard to affix to the body. I came up with a neat solution. I have a coupe parts car, and I used the bolts and spacers that hold in the rear belts on that car. This keeps the bend off the body. It seems to work great! See below:


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Danrc30
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S-13 wrote:However If I could request pics of how you plan to put the belt through the hole on your rear body panel it would be much appreciated. I know others have mentioned what they did but I cant visualize how its done. good job
Here ya go! I just got it done today. As you can see, there's a nubby thing that needs to be cut off and ground down... it's on the back and it's not a big deal to do. I think it's just an injection mold point.

I didn't cut the hole as cleanly as I would have liked, but it's not a big deal... nothing a lil sandpaper or a custom trim piese can't fix...




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S-13
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thanks for the pix guys! Im gona be doing this mod from a different angle and just swapping the entire door from a jdm 180 keeping full power options and the super cool jdm folding power mirrors. Has anyone tried using the front seatbelt from hatchbacks to see if it will work or fit better than the rear seats? and to anyone else out there, is it a pita to do a door swap? Ive never done one before so should i just bring the doors to a body shop and get them to do it? otherwise Id rather keep my money and do the door swap myself

le_ryan
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you cant use a hatch or coupe seat belt they all have power, you'd have to use S14 manual belts, like im gonn do .. as soon as i find some

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S-13
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I dont think canada came with power seatbelts.

le_ryan
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S-13 wrote:I dont think canada came with power seatbelts.
i did not know that .

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ishkabibble
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I finally got around to pulling the seat belt light bulb out (it stays on after you do this swap, even if you short the under-seat harness).

Instructions on how to remove the gauge cluster to get at the bulb can be found in these threads:zerothread/228752http://forums.nicoclub ... ead/236398
Modified by ishkabibble at 8:37 PM 7/12/2007

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Danrc30
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Well, I finally got to swap the pass door today, and I'm totally wiped! I don't know about others, but this was a MAJOR PITA!!! The worst part is there are 2 zip ties that hold the door harness in the car on the support tube under the dash. One is easily clipped and removed, the other is not easy at all. It's fixed to the tube on the top by way of an anchor in a hole in the tube. You can't even see it from below!!! I had to use a mirror! The glovebox needs to be removed and the bracket holding the HVAC duct also needs to be removed. All of this is obvious... The hard part was removing that anchored zip tie. I had to get a carbide bit and drill a hole in the bottom side of the steel support tube, then use my uni-bit to make the hole big enough to stick a screwdriver through to release the anchored zip tie. Then I had to pull it around the back of the tube to cut it. Then I snaked it through the car and out it came! Getting the new harness back in was almost just as hard.

Now, it's all done... the pass side at least! Took me 6 hours. I just put up my window only to find out that it needs to be adjusted... doesn't meet the weatherstripping entirely. So, more work to do tomorrow...

I also gotta add that the vert door is VERY HEAVY! It's so heavy, that I can't even lift it to move it now (partially cause I'm exhausted)... I'm gonna wait till tomorrow when I have some help...

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ishkabibble
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Wow.

Could you just unbolt the vert door, thread the door harness out, thread the vert door harness into the new door, then bolt the new door up?

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Danrc30
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ishkabibble wrote:Wow.

Could you just unbolt the vert door, thread the door harness out, thread the vert door harness into the new door, then bolt the new door up?
Yes. And I was seriously considering doing that but I know it's also not so easy to thread the door with the harness. It's also not easy doing it with such little slack with the door so close to the car... I guess I could undo the harness from the vert door, remove the door, put in the new door, then install the harness. But when it's just 2 simple connections, you'd think it'd be easier to do it the way I did. BOY WAS I WRONG!!! I'll try the same way with the drivers side, but if it's 1/2 as hard as the pass side, I'm gonna go the alternate route with removing the harness from the door. I just hate taking off those freakin' vert door panels... what a PITA!!!

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S-13
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What a coincidence! I just finished my passenger side too. I had the past few days off tinkering here and there. It was quite a bit of work swapping out my old mechanics from the vert to the 180sx doors but a perfect opportunity to get in there and clean them out and relube them power window tracks.
Danrc30 wrote:
...I could undo the harness from the vert door, remove the door, put in the new door, then install the harness....QUOTE]

this is how i did mine. i had both doors side by side and did the entire clean/swap minus the wiring harness and then bolted it back on. I found that re-using your old door hinges makes it a little easier to align the new door since you can tell exactly where the sealant chunks line up around the hinge, it probably wont be perfectly aligned but be pretty damn close.
Danrc30 wrote:Well, I finally got to swap the pass door today, and I'm totally wiped! I don't know about others, but this was a MAJOR PITA!!! The worst part is there are 2 zip ties that hold the door harness in the car on the support tube under the dash. One is easily clipped and removed, the other is not easy at all. It's fixed to the tube on the top by way of an anchor in a hole in the tube. You can't even see it from below!!! I had to use a mirror! The glovebox needs to be removed and the bracket holding the HVAC duct also needs to be removed. All of this is obvious... The hard part was removing that anchored zip tie.
Before I started this swap I decided to try and add to this write up by going the door swap route. I took a few pictures here and there but there were times where I was just on a roll and couldnt stop working so a huge portion of my "write up" is pretty much screwed. Fortunately for the future vert members thinking about attempting this feat. I will be kind enough to post pictures of what Danrc30 was talking about with the passenger side harness if someone can host them for me???

As of now i currently have my driver door off and the harness is a piece of cake to take out. So Danrc30 if you dont have help when it comes time to take out your driver side door dont worry about it

P.S. I agree that the vert door is heavy. Feels like a workout and a half moving it around but I dont mind since it helps give me manly muscles while i drink some man juice



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Danrc30
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S-13 wrote:but I dont mind since it helps give me manly muscles while i drink some man juice
MAN JUICE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!??

masterteque
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ishkabibble wrote:I finally got around to pulling the seat belt light bulb out (it stays on after you do this swap, even if you short the under-seat harness).
FYI.....There is a 2 pin connector in the door that you just solder the wires together and it turns out the light...

94_240sx
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Danrc30 wrote:MAN JUICE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!??
Did he mean man yogurt????? Man... it's not right...

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S-13
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i was refering to engergy drinks HAHAHA thanks for the smiles

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ishkabibble
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masterteque wrote:FYI.....There is a 2 pin connector in the door that you just solder the wires together and it turns out the light...
I'd need a 100ft extension cord to do that (the car is in the street). I was already in the cluster anyway for something else.

Man juice? Man, those Canucks sure talk funny.

masterteque
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ishkabibble wrote:
I'd need a 100ft extension cord to do that (the car is in the street). I was already in the cluster anyway for something else.
I use a butane powered soldering pencil....No electric needed.....

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Danrc30
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Ok, I finally got the driver's door done this weekend. What a difference... it's soooo nice having the door open smoothly and it's so light!!! I love it...

The bad part was the installation... I decided to take my chances again by disconnecting the harness. It seemed easy enough since it was right there by the wall of the door... only problem is the connectors on the drivers side are different. D'oh! I noticed this AFTER I mounted the new door. So, I had to swap harnesses... got it done and all is well...

The passenger side window is giving me issues though... it doesn't want to line up properly and I don't know why... I'm wondering if the door is a smidge too far forward... gonna try to get this done tomorrow...

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S-13
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If you installed your door and aligned it properly I would leave it as is and try re-aligning the window instead. Now having said that I have a similar issue on my driver side window after doing the swap as well and after an hour of trying to adjust the glass Ive decided to take it out completely and re-install my old power window off my convertible door.

le_ryan
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Finished ... I used 95 altima front seat belts with big washers behind the wall.





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