Just as the topic says, I am shaving my door handles, I want to know if I can use the stock door lock solenoid to pop the door open?

I am shaving mine also, & thought the same thing....

I decided to use an aftermarket set to be certain that they will "pop" both the door catch & the door (since there is no door handle).

That is if I understand you inquirery correctly..

Are you looking to use the solenoid to just unlock/open the the mechanicals of the door which latches to the pillar, or to push the door open after the catch has un-latched?

Popers are just spring loaded rods to open doors after the latch has opened.

No, it's not strong enough. You can get "trunk solenoid kits" that you can use, however.

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The Raven :Under Construction
"James" 1985 GMC Jimmy, 3.2L turbocharged intercooled hybrid 13.873 @ 99.08

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quote Originally posted by The_Raven: No, it's not strong enough. You can get "trunk solenoid kits" that you can use, however.

Yeah I was afraid of that. I guess they would be around 9lbs... where 15 would be the least I would want I think.

You DON'T need 'popper' as the top of the window that seal's against the top rubber has ene\ough pressure to push the dorr open an inch or so... You have probablly read that somewhere here, but I thought I would mention it for other's that may not have seen it. Good luck with the door's... Are you shaving JUST the handles or ALL of your side-trim..??

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New Name.... New Attitude....
AKA. SmoothGT....

Custom Built SHAVED~WIDEBODY~GT!!

I just finished shaving my moldings but chose to leave the handle in for now,as I did not want to rely on the solenoid only.What I did was to leave the round moldings on but ground them down to near flat then molded them in and they are looking much nicer now.

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Tuners of the Quickest 4.9
12.51@118 mph

4.5 (RSR)Hi Perf. Caddi-V8
In place and running.

im going to be shaving all the trim... it will be one giant body piece.. hope i dont get in an accident

Id get aftermarket custom ones. You can get them up to 30 or more pnds. Id go for a little overkill. A weak battery or cold temp may leave you unable to open them. If the doors dont pop out far enough to get past the 2nd catch (one opens, other is a safety) you may need to put a short spring in one of the jams to pop it far enough when you engage the solenoid.

Some things about doors....

In general... the latch assembly in Fiero is in kind of a bad place. Quite a bit of water can get to it even on cars with good dew wipes. This means it isn't dificult to get frozen out of the car. Mine did this just the other day when the lock arm on the latch froze. I was able to get in thru the other door but even the interior lock button on the frozen door was dificult to move. The key would have broken before the lock opened. I'm not sure electric locks would have opened.

My point is Normally it doesn't take a huge amount of force to work the latch. Don't count on Normal operation, especially in an old car.

They make kits specifically for this type project. Use them. Whatever they cost is worth it in terms of having reliable access.

If you are eliminating the deck lock, which I rally do not recomend... To prevent lockout when the battery is dead... find some place to craete an externally accessable accessory Positive terminal for the battery. Then you can connect jumpers w/o needing to get at the battery.

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