How To Install Lambo Doors(or remove fenders)

[skeeskirt]

Hey guys. I spent alot of time getting this together for you all, so if you find my thread helpful to the community, please leave me some e-rep! Ok, today your going to learn what is involved, step by step, in the installation proccess of the "bolt on", scissor type, lambo door kit. (and removal of fenders!) Unfortunatly, this is not a direct "bolt on" unit, but its close. You need to have patience however, or you WILL end up ruining something on your car.
Lets get a list of the items that we are going to need. We're going to need: Chalk, soapstone, or sharpie to write on medal,
a phillips #2 screwdriver, a roll of blue painters tape, a roll of duct tape, a pair of tin snips, a ratchet, 8mm, 10mm, 12mm socket,
ratchet extention, paint stir sticks, electric tape, soldering gun, liquid tape, wire, large wire loom, and allen key provided with kit.



First thing we need to do is park the car on a flat, level surface. (the way the weight of the door is supported with only the one hinge, changes as the car sits at an incline or decline.) I'll explain more later.

Now that we're nice and level, lets get started!! To obtain access to the hinges, we need to get that bumper off, so lets begin with removing the headlight. As soon as you pop you hood, you will see the three bolts holding down the headlight. (to make installation a breeze, and to eliminate having extra or lost nuts/bolts, label and seperate your nuts/bolts as you take them off the vehicle! I used ziplock bags and a sharpie, but another great way is to use styrafoam cups. As you take off nuts/bolts, throw in cup and insert another one.all parts stay seperated,together,and are ready to put in the exact reverse order that you took them out!!!It also leaves the lip of the cup to label if you desire.)

Remove the bolts, unplug the wire harness from the rear of the headlight housing, and remove the headlight from the vehicle. The plug can be a bitch due to little room for your fingers, but just push the two release tabs on the ends and it should pull right out.

Ok, once the headlight is out, you will have expossed three bolts directly under where the headlight sat. Remove and label.

Now, before we forget, there's one more in this area that we need to get out. Its way in the back

To get to it, we're going to remove all bolts from the wheelwell plastic and the splash guards. Don't forget the little screw underneath the splash guard!



Now that we are all loosened up, we'll get that bolt from right here. You'll definately need an extention here.

We're moving along pretty well!! Ok, now for the last of the fender bolts. There will be three on top in hood area, one on top inside the door jam, and two underneath the car on the little section of fender between wheelwell and door.

YAHOO!!! Fender is off!! Ok, now I forgot to get a pic of this, but its simple. Your going to need to remove your door panels to access your wire loom that runs through your door. When you get the panels off, simply pull the hold down tabs loose from the bottom of the door to free up some slack in the wires. Remove the door support rail in between the hinges. This little guy here.

From this point on, be careful when opening your door. Besides holding the door open, it also keeps the door from opening too far!!!
Next, take your razor blade and cut the rubber sleeve that your wires pass through. Close your door and it should look like this.

Now, pull all the slack inside your door through the grommet you just cut in half. This will allow the door to raise without pulling out wires. (Note that I didn't do this step until later, as pics will show, but I'd do it now as I almost pulled some wires.) Ok, tape that sucker closed!!! You want to be sure the surface is clean and dry to ensure a good bond. If that door tries to fall off later while still hinged, it's likely that you'll not only mess up your door, but probably your jamb too. You do not want that door to move, so don't be afraid to overdue it. It was a little difficult for me since I have a convertable, but I got enough to hold the door on pretty well. The blue tape is expensive, but won't leave crap all over your paint and glass. So I Reinforced with duct tape after one protective layer of blue!!

See all the paint sticks? I pushed them in to help hold the door exactly where it is once those hinges come off. DON'T CRAM THEM IN!! you don't want it to lift the door once the hinges come off, just help support it.
OK, Ready!! Take the hinges off!!!


Holy crap, it worked!!!! Now, we need to hold those hinges where they're going to bolt to the door and outline where they lay against the frame. If the shocks are on the hinge, take them off. You want it as free and as light as possible while your getting everything lined up.

See how the bolt holes don't line exactly up with slots in hinge? Don't worry, you'll have to help it up slightly at that point. (damb aftermarket parts!!)

While holding it in position, observe how the plate bolting to the frame doesn't lay flat. It needs to. So, I'm sure there are better ways to get a flat surface for it to lay on, but I just beat the crap out of the high spots with a ballpeen hammer.

If you do that, be as carefull as you can to weaken the structure as little as possible. I wrecked after having this installed, and it held up just fine, so it's better to be safe than sorry. This will take quite a few times of hammering and holding the hinge to check your progression, as you don't want to go overboard. Once your satisfied, go ahead and bolt up your new hinges to the door and frame. I got all the bolts in first, before I worried about tightening any of them down. That wheelwell plastic is going to be in the way if it's not completely removed, but you can also elect to just push it over and pin it down. Make sure to tighten down everything evenly so everything holds its position.

Hinges are in!! Well, thats a relief. It may pull the door a little out from stock, but once again, aftermarket stuff will never fit as well as OEM. Just do the best you can. Once your all tight, the tape can come off. Now the boring part. Remember how I tried to use the extra wire I gained by removing the clips inside the door? I rolled like that for awhile, but upon full lift extention and also while rolling windows down, there would be substantial pressure on that wire loom. YIKES!! Scary!! So, I ended up adding a 12" or 14" piece to EVERY WIRE! Solder every connection and do one at a time. Cut one...solder both ends. And then, I wrapped with black tape and sealed with liquid tape.(auto zone,walmart,napa) Now, you can pull the stock wiring back inside the door and reinsert the holddown clips so the window track won't catch anything in there. Now, a little help is advised. Bolt the top of the shock to your hinge and then have friend lift door to max height while you guide the bottom of the shock into its slot. Then your friend can slowly start letting the door fall down until the bottom of shock completely seats in its little swiveling hole. Let go....Voila!!!! That bitch is up in the air!!! SWEET!! Now I just need to put this all back together and.....WTF!!! The fenders won't fit!! Now we need to roll the fenders. **I totally overdid the rolling and weakened my fenders more than I needed to. Take great care in figuring where you need to roll and leave all the areas you don't alone.
Here is what mine looked like after I was done.


I cut the slits using tin snips and bent them back with vice needlenose plyers. I tried to cut off the whole lip off at seam, on the other fender, using a dremel and the side was like a piece of tinfoil!!! Cuts will need to be deeper than shown, but just be patient, take your time, and keep test fitting as you go and double checking clearance as you lift the door. Once your done with that you'll need to hold the wheelwell plastic as close as you can to its spot and mark out where you need to cut. Hold away from the hinge and cut out using dremel. Go slow and work it, and you can get a nice neat fit.

WOW!!! Thats pretty!! You can hardly notice. Finally, lets get that sucker aligned!! Hear is your adjusting allen screw.

Now is why you want to be on a level surface. If you adjust it on in incline, there is more weight at the rear of the door. So when you level out, the door is a little lighter, therefore a little higher. Now, the same is true when you park at an incline or decline after setting it right. Uphill you may be a little low

and downhill maybe a little high. But it's a happy medium. You will get used to closing your doors and as you close the door. push straight in on flat ground, little up uphill, and a little down downhill and it will close perfectly.

Now, reverse the disassembly process, and your all done!! Sit back and enjoy your work!

Oops, I forgot, see how I used the big wire loom, electric tape, and a coat of liquid tape to clean up the wires??
That's it everyone. Been talking about doing this for awhile, but been busy as hell. Winter semester just ended, so had a little extra time. Hope you all enjoyed it and sorry it took so long!!

[v8eater801]

Nice job, looks great, e-rep to you.

[icemanrld19]

E-rep for your time

[daemonicus]

amazing writeup. where did you get your kit from?

[skeeskirt]

Originally Posted by daemonicus

amazing writeup. where did you get your kit from?

Lol! Thanks. I bought it from a member who sold his car.

[Jamie_Murray]

You make it so easy that even -I- could do it. Great job!! E-Rep