First, I understand why the doors on these cars are built the way they are, thus, why they are so heavy. But man, they are heavy! There has to be a way to lighten them up some while still keeping them safe for the street. Any ideas what the weight difference between manual and power window doors are? How about Lexan glass? Any way to replace componets with lighter materials?

quote Originally posted by Bridgetown: First, I understand why the doors on these cars are built the way they are, thus, why they are so heavy. But man, they are heavy! There has to be a way to lighten them up some while still keeping them safe for the street. Any ideas what the weight difference between manual and power window doors are? How about Lexan glass? Any way to replace componets with lighter materials?

HUH just take all the things that make the window move out and use lexan glass and make it permanet mounted windows LOL

idk man sorry but maybe got a laugh outa ya

No. Anything you do will make them unsafe in a side impact, or decrease function (like the above window suggestion).
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

If you haven't seen the future, you're not going fast enough! - Christian Von Coenigsegg

you could remove the steel and add some tubeing but that would take foever and be incredibly difficult tho lighter and stronger then stock

quote Originally posted by Bremertonfiero: you could remove the steel and add some tubeing but that would take foever and be incredibly difficult tho lighter and stronger then stock

Nope: The steel is made thin to barely clear the window. Unless you use very small tubing.... I actually did this on my solo project but it's not going to have *any* glass (or roof).
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Seal and fill with Helium? Wash them with Red Bull? That's a tough one hombre. Aside from fabbing up completely new doors or some funky mod that completely eliminates part or all of the door's functionality, I couldn't tell you. Perhaps you could be the first to make a mold of the door's frame and redo it in carbon fiber?

The fact that doors are so heavy makes me think of a couple of things:

Are they done that way strictly for safety? Beefier steel and more braces?

Are they that heavy to bring the weight ratio more towards the front? Maybe Pontiac was having a problem with understeer or inadequate braking caused by the lack of weight on the front end?

I sold an 88 Formula to a guy a year or so ago. He had it for about a week when a lady runs the light when he is crossing the intersection. She's going 50 mph when she T-bones him directly in the driver's door. The car still stays on the ground and is hurled across the intersection. He's a big guy (6' 5", near 300 pounds) so they do have to get the jaws of life to cut him out. He gets up and walks out of the car, goes for a full medical check-up and suffers nothing more than a headache. Seems like 100 pounds for a door that can keep you alive in that situation is weight pretty well spent.

I know where you are coming from, I have some nerve damage in my left arm and opening and closing the door from inside is pretty hard. I have to reach over with my right hand to get the door closed.

They are heavy doors.....


Oh and yea.....What a drag it is getting old.

I can add my opinion to this by telling you what we did on the racecar.

This is on a pretty serious weight reduction program. With the Northstar and 5 speed installed we weigh 2150#. Rear window replaced with lexan. Full cage with doorbars. I still left the door structure intact, even though I could probably knock 75# of weight off pretty easy by gutting them. I'll chop the weight, but not at the expense of safety.

John Stricker

Yes, they are heavy, but if you are opening and closing the door and having problems, then you need to look at the hinges and make sure they in working order (brass bushings are good). Check the latch to make sure it isn't hanging up. The hinge spring will make it difficult to close the door also. You could remove the spring (careful there, maybe a bad idea). Also, When the window is up and you close the door, the window must seat into the weatherstripping. Try open and closing the door with the window down (then roll up when closed/open).

J.

You could try fabricating an aluminum replacement for the door "guard beam". Make it corrugated like the original. Better yet, get some military grade aircraft titanium and make the beams out of that. When I was in the Navy (years ago), I was on an aircraft carrier. A clumsy hanger bay deck hand parked an F4 Fantom jet with the tail just a bit too close to the aircraft elevator. Well, the elevator came down and lopped off a bit of one rear stabilizer. I got a piece of it and was able to see just how strong that aircraft titanium was. It wasn't any thicker than an aluminum pie tin, but extremely strong -- much harder to bend than you'd think.

just a thought... have you tried spraying the hinges with PB or some other penetrating oil or grease? if you want an easier to open/close door, grease those hinges... just be careful on windy days...

I do that to all my vehicles, even the ones that aren't rusty, you'd be surprised what a little lubrication on those hinges can do

[This message has been edited by cujoe_da_man (edited 02-23-2009).]

I'm not having trouble opening and closeing the doors. I am having trouble lifting it! My drivers door is off right now. I put it back together while it was off the car just to see how heavy it really is. I didn't put it on a scale but, WOW! They are heavy. The last door I handled was for my '84 Rabbit GTI. I would love to have doors that light on my fiero.
Still hopeing someone can tell me how much I can save by switching to manual widows?

The power window motor weighs less than 4 pounds. That is all you will gain by changing to manual windows. The weight of the door is not in the window channels and regulator/motor. These parts are made of light weight metal and I believe the entire window setup without the window is less than 10 pounds. The weight is in the metal part of the door, mostly located in the impact bar and in the upper part of the door. I don't see where you could save any weight without compromising the integrity of the door. I know your doors on your VW were pretty light but I would not want to be t-boned in one. The Fiero door is heavy for a reason. I would leave it alone.

[This message has been edited by katatak (edited 02-23-2009).]