Door Popper Spring (optional component)

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Major System Category: Body (Door)
Task: Install door popper springs
Parts: Popper spring assembly and angle aluminum
Prerequisite Tasks:
Additional Costs: $5
Time Requirement: 3 hours
Date Started: November 8, 2015
Date Completed:  November 8, 2015

I am working on the punch list of things that need to be fixed, before I pull the car of the lift and prep her for paint. One item is working on the doors and everything that entails. The car has shaved door handles, and this requires door poppers to be mounted inside the doors. The popper is simply a solenoid that releases the latch when the circuit is fired. However, you need something to push the door open. This is where the spring comes in.

The popper spring is a strong spring that needs to attach inside the body shell and push through a hole to open the door. 

This turned out to be one of those visualization things that I didn't foresee until I was holding the popper spring in my hand. I poked my head inside the door and looked at where it should be attached. The only problem is there was nothing to attach the spring to. Oops. It was metal fabrication time again. I chose two pieces of angle aluminum that was 1 inch wide. I cut two pieces, then cut tabs on the ends so I could bend the metal over and rivet it to the chassis.

This is on the passenger side next to the seat belt hooks. (mine have been modified to handle the 4 point harness system.) These are held in using  

The placement here is a bit tricky. The spring projects a pin past the plane of the door into the cockpit. This is hidden by the seat and there is a opening to accommodate this. I fashioned the bracket so a flat side is against the inner body shell. This allows me to "trap" the spring assembly between the bracket and the body shell.

This is the hole drilled into the body shell. I started this with a 1/8 inch pit, then switch to step up bits. This ended up slightly larger than 3/4 inch.

I marked the popper on the inside of the body shell, drilled a pilot hole, then opened it up to the correct size.

This is the spring pinned in place  from the inside of the body shell.