HOW TO - 'Vert door pillar removal

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Hijacker
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i agree with greg on the point of that upper latch. in the even of a crash where the body would move forward, it would pull on that pillar. The latch is designed to keep that pillar in its place to keep the body from having excessive movement.

I got to looking at the placement of the seatbelt in greg's setup, and my only issue I have with it now is the possibility of spinal compression. The seatbelt is below the level of the shoulder. Remember why a harness isn't supposed to be anchored so many degrees below the shoulder horizon?

In greg's setup, the seatbelt is kept at all times below the shoulder horizon, and I feel that in an impact, it would pull down on the spine once it begins to tense. It could be solved very easily by installing a harness bar of some kind and looping the belt over that.


MistyEyes
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I Love the calipers......it's like wearing the wrong shoes with a suit.....I want some of my very own.....

slipnfall
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AZ: first off, nice write-up. I don't own a vert, but those exterior pix make me want one something fierce! Without veering off topic, can you tell me what wheels those are, and what your current suspension setup is? From the photo's I can't tell if you've done a five lug conversion or not. Either way, *great* look!

Much appreciated,-Jamie

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Hijacker
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if i remember right, he has a set of racing sparcos on his car. he had a thread dedicated to them a while back, it should still be on the first page. those are the reason i got my wheels (enkei MM5s)

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AZhitman
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Bart -

Actually, I'll take a pic of myself in the car. I'm 6'2" and the belt actually sits higher than my shoulder. The pics without a body in the seats are somewhat deceiving.

I actually considered mounting the passenger side one somewhat lower, as my wife is 5'10".

Racing Sparco wheels, 16x 8 and 16x9, 225/50 and 245/45's, Tein S-Tech springs and KYB shox.

slipnfall
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Thanks for the clarification on the wheels... I'm on the hunt for a nice looking pair of 16's. While you'r out snapping pix, I'd love to see a good side-shot(the car, not you )

-Slip

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AZhitman
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There's a couple in my Mmeber's Rides gallery - check there.

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AZhitman
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ROUND TWO!!!!

Here's a pic of the first piece you need to cut off the doors.
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Notice that it's an EXACT copy of the door panel underneath.
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Tools of the trade:
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Removing the second "chunk" of metal....
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Removed!!!!
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The parts - HA!
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:owned: (by the grinder!)
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Nice new doorpanels, waiting for front speakers to arrive, then they're going in.
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Some interior pics (before cleanup)...
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Sleek, light, pillar-free and needing a BATH!!!
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One more pic - S14 rear seats (heavily modified) WILL fit, but only after 20+ hours of modification! :)
Image

Hope you guys enjoy the pics - Next pics will be of the completed project.

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KDashy
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tenkawa_akito wrote:after the deer accident, going to DC, and World of Warcraft's release next week, my resources are tapped. Maybe in the future when I have a bit more income to toss around.

I'm also curious to see how removing the doors affects the structural integrity of the car. I have a feeling that the doors themselves play a part in the car's rigidity.

EDIT: Where'd you get the carpet kit? I'm looking to do mine soon
wow, were you able to beta test world of warcraft? its addicting as hell... I'm going to the Blizzard signing at the Fountain Valley Fry's tuesday morning.

Sorry to threadjack. I knew the very pillar never really flowed with the car.

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themadscientist
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Geez Greg, you got a hairy arm

Looks kind of familiar

Ah alas poor rotor, I knew ye well.

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Dano
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does your wife know your using tools of destruction Greg? cuz i would bet on her wanting surpervision for u of some sort, and have the hospital on standby .... **thinks of home improvement**



-Dan

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Hijacker
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Greg's new nickname will the be 'Toolman'

KDashy, I only got a chance to play the beta at my friend's house since he managed to make it in. I will be purchasing the game come tuesday, and nobody will see me on NICO for a few days.

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AZhitman
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Amazingly enough, no injuries during this project (that's a first).

Got some tiny burns and scraped knuckles, but nothing requiring spousal intervention.

Nothing quite as "manly" as sitting among a shower of sparks while cutting through steel with a power tool. AAAAARRRGGGHHHH!

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Altiman94
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greg, are those s14 front seats as well? I need to get my hands on a pair for my hatch.

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AZhitman
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Yes, they are. Much more comfy than the S13 seats!

wayfastwhitey
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car is looking great man

quick question about the molded carpet... do our convertibles have the same floorpan as the coupes? i haven't seen carpet for the verts but i've seen plenty for the coupes.

thanks

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TrunkMonkey
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AZhitman wrote:One more pic - S14 rear seats (heavily modified) WILL fit, but only after 20+ hours of modification!
it looks much more comfortable than the stock rear seat, so spill it. how did you make it fit?

-demetrius


book-ends
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Hitman,

Are you sure you have Racing Sparco's on there, because they look like something out of Watanabe's factory!

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AZhitman
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Whitey - coupe and vert have same carpet.

Book - Wheels are Racing Sparco Speeders, straight outta Japan, 16x7.5 and 8.5.

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AZhitman
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By the way, I went to install the coupe door panels (the whole reason for this massive project) and found that there's one more piece of bracing that had to be removed.

Here it is:
Image

Total weight loss from this project: 79 pounds. Yes, 79. Amazing.

Got the front speakers installed, tuned the system, and it sounds incredible.
Image

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TrunkMonkey
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AZhitman wrote:By the way, I went to install the coupe door panels (the whole reason for this massive project) and found that there's one more piece of bracing that had to be removed.

Here it is:
ooops. my bad. i should have told you to take those things out. i'm not sure if those are technically considered braces. i believe those were put in so that there would be a place to attach both seatbelt spools.

-demetrius

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AZhitman
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Also, there were two metal "nipples" for lack of a better term, about 1.5" diameter, with threaded holes, that had to be lopped off to make the panels fit.

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amolao
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Thats a sweet mod, Hitman!! OK thats it!! Im getting a vert...(meditates about it... and he uses the excuse he is buying it for his teenage son...)....

PS. There was one for sale in the installation I was assigned to in Germany when I left last year, now I hate myself for not jumping on it...Arghh!!!!! Anybody selling one??

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AZhitman
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Always several on AutoTrader, and ebay.

Ebay ones are typically overpriced.

jdmfreak
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Nice and clean Greg. Just as smoth as the baldness on your head.

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spinout180
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Grrrr... can't wait to see the final photos!

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AZhitman
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OOPS!

Will shoot some this week....

Also, found a couple more doodads on the doors that needed to be removed to make the coupe panels fit right. Brings total weight loss for this project to 85 lbs.

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AZhitman
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Bump for the new guys...

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s14=pimpin'
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whoa, its been a long time since i've visited, GREG HAS A 240SX???

BUT THE BELOVED Q.......

Car looks sweet HITMAN, glad all my long winded emails from back in the day paid off!!!!

:P

the good ol' days

nab911
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I got a question... i love the way it was looking... but wtf... why dont you just buy some coupe doors and put the whole door on there??


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