Shaved doors...

[creeg]

Another solution is to put a door lock back on the door. It would be easier to re-drill the round door lock into the door than to add handles back in.

In theory, all you would need to do is drill a hole in the EXACT right spot, install the lock, and then you can use the key to open the door, and the door poppers would open it the rest of the way.

The only problem is that there is a filled hole, possibly that has a piece of metal welded (and bondo'd), right where you need to drill- so it could be tricky.

Not an ideal solution- it kinda messes up the "smoothness" of not having handles, and you should probably look into getting the mechanics in the door fixed by a pro. But it's possibly the easiest solution.

One other thing: make sure the poppers are actually popping open the door. They may be too weak, and that might be your problem (you would just need to get stronger poppers). Or, the motor (or is it a solenoid?) to the door lock might need to be replaced. And lastly, re-lube everything. Its amazing what a little grease in the right spot can do.

good luck!

[johnnyapollo]

Any cutting that would need to be done to restore the handles and locks would require repainting and some finish work - I still think it would be less expensive to locate doors (the labor would equate out to the cost of the doors in my opinion, but I'm no expert).

-- John

[Petos]

Thanks for the replies, gentlemen..
Well, the passenger door does not pop up at all at the moment - I press the button on the remote, and nothing happens.. I guess the electric lock just does not engage for some reason...
John, can you please comment on the "Some people with shaved doors adde a contact switch on the bottom so they'll have a backup if the remote doesn't work".. pardon my stupidity, but I'm not sure what the "bottom" refers to?

And even if I get it fixed somehow, there is still a problem with closing the door with the key (and the remote I use to pop the door) in the ignition..
Also, in Russian climate I may have the door freezing issue (rain + cold night later), unlike Texas where the VX used to be before...
Also, every time I want to let the passenger in from the inside, I have to lean to reach out for the inside handle and open the door..

referring to Wormgod's question, how are the doors shaved? Do people just put another sheet of metal on the doors??

thanks again for your support.. I promise to repay with some Russian drinks/food in Moab

[nfpgasmask]

What kind of labor does swapping doors require? How hard can it be?

I would opt for junkyard doors. Cart-part.com shows that Veldman's has both left and right doors. I don't know what color though. They are priced at $450 each, so you are looking at about $1000 to get the doors, plus labor to put them in and a possible repaint.

All that said I still think this is the best option. Veldman's is about 1.5 hours from Chicago. Its an easy place to deal with.

Bart

[Chopper]

Getting someone to swap is by far the easiest answer, but these have been repainted, so the tradee is still stuck getting the doors shot. Changing them out is physically easy, not challenging at all. And yes, metal is welded into the openings, then bondoed over ...the handle and mechanisms are then discarded the skins are a loss....so....a couple of door skins, whatever mechanicals that are gone, some paint, and the shop to put it all together is all you need. Trading or used doors are the only two reasonable answers I think

[johnnyapollo]

People will put a contact switch somewhere on the vehicle so the doors can still be opened without a remote. This can be a hidden button or whatever - sort of like adding the popper switch for the rear door, only it's accessible. The only issue is that the alarm still needs to be disarmed or it'll go off - but it does get one around a failed transmitter for the door actuator itself.

-- John

[creeg]

Yeah, trying to deal with these solenoids in the russian winter sounds like a big problem- my money is on swapping the doors with ones with door handles.

I'd be happy to do the swap with you if I lived closer.

Good luck!