Doors Opening Wider

[gump]

hey everybody hows it goin? i'm new to the board.. been a long time lurker but decided to register and join in. i'm hoping i'm posting this on the right board if not would an admin move it (like i said i'm a noob).

heres my trouble...

i own a 2000 gt coupe automatic with a few mods nothing major. i am also a quadrapledgic which means i'm paraylzed from the chest down. my problem is that the driver's side door doesn't open wide enough to do a transfer from my wheelchair to the seat. i didnt realize it was that far when i bought the car until i got her home. i was wondering if anyone could give me some advice to get the door(s) to open further? i've looked at vertical door systems but they dont offer any more opening. thanks in advance... any advice would be appreciated.

 

[twogts4us]

Contact Carol Hollfelder of www.tiger-racing.com @ [email protected]. Carol and her ride, a SCCA Trans Am SN95 Gen2 were featured in the Dec 2003 issue of 5.0 Mustangs and Super Fords. Carol is also wheelchair bound, but in spite of this, she is able to race competively.
Of course, I'm sure she doesn't cart her wheels around in her Trans Am Racer, but I'd bet she'd be able to help or has some friends, contacts, info, etc.
Best of Luck and Welcome to StangNet!!!

 

[Venom_Nitrous]

doesn't quadrapledgic mean your arms and legs are inoperative. Hence the prefix quad > 2 arms, 2 legs = 4 (quad) appendages. If you are faking being handicapped, then, dude, that's lame. If you aren't lying, how do you steer?

 

[GinoGT]

doesn't quadrapledgic mean your arms and legs are inoperative. Hence the prefix quad > 2 arms, 2 legs = 4 (quad) appendages. If you are faking being handicapped, then, dude, that's lame. If you aren't lying, how do you steer?

 

[Jake795]

doesn't quadrapledgic mean your arms and legs are inoperative. Hence the prefix quad > 2 arms, 2 legs = 4 (quad) appendages. If you are faking being handicapped, then, dude, that's lame. If you aren't lying, how do you steer?

When see or hear the term quadrapledgic i don't sit and think about root meanings of words. I just know it pertaining to someone who is pretty much wheelchair bound. Get your head out of your @$$ and cut a new fellow board member some slack. Welcome to Stangnet Gump. Ignore the ignorant a-holes on here that love to give someone a hard time just so they can hear themselves talk

Jake

 

[gump]

thanks for the info i'll see if they modified her car.

i wish i was faking being disabled. the medical field diagnosises quadriplegia as an injury that affects all 4 limbs. i am "classified" as a quadriplegic because i can't move my fingers and have limited use of my arms. i steer using a bracket that screws to the steering wheel and i put my hand in it and steer. gas and brake are operated by hand controls that attach to the gas and brake pedals. hope that clears everything up.

thanks for the welcome

 

[Venom_Nitrous]

Dear gump,
I am very sorry for my comment last night. I was having a bad day and sometimes my attitude gets the best of me. Again I am very truly sorry and I hope that the board will forgive me as well as you. It is great to see you overcome your disabilty in such a profound way and I admit that my comment was 100% wrong. Please forgive me and my god bless. I should never doubt, but sometimes people on this board can be liars. I suppose I just called the wrong person on it. I hope I didn't ruin your hopes for this forum. Keep on.

 

[gump]

hey venom no harm no foul

 

[Venom_Nitrous]

Thanks, it takes some off my mind knowing that all is better. I really felt badly about this.

 

[GDawg]

Hey Gump, are "Lambo" doors out of the question? Those would open to the point of you having basically no door in the way at all.

Welcome to the board!

On Edit: Here's the link to them.... Click here...

 

[gump]

hey gdawg thanks for the welcome...

yea i have actually emailed that company but i never heard anything back. from the pictures i don't think they would help any unless i could figure out how to make the doors go higher. i wish they'd just let me borrow one for a few days and see if i could benefit from it but i kinda doubt they would. if someone has a set on i'd like to see a bigger picture and get some measurements that way i could tell.

 

[huesmann]

Maybe PMP could let you know if anyone in your area who's got them and that person might be willing to let you try it out and see if it fits you.

 

[jamathi]

Hey maybe you can look into a shop that can make custom hinges for you. Or order some hinges from a car that open up wider and see if they can be installed on the mustang.

Here are some pics of one of my favorite mustangs. The mustang as well as the pictures belong to Sabraj Najjar.

Hope this helps and by the looks of the second pic, like gdawg said, looks like no door blocking at all.

 

[gump]

dang that is one sharp car. i would like to get beside a car with those installed just to see. i'm going call pmp and see if someone around here has a set.

i've been looking for a custom shop that could design a set of hinges but not much luck. its hard to find somebody around here because theres not a huge demand for custom cars. i have a friend who has a machine shop that said if i found some kind of design he could build them pretty cheap.

thanks for the comments guys.

 

[drexebo]

yeah... those lambo doors would be functional AND PIMPIN!

 

[gump]

update on the hinge trouble...

found a guy through a friend that could design some hinges for me that would make the doors open up at 90 degrees. (which was what i was needing) this was great news just what i have been waiting for. so this past weekend me and my dad went to install my handcontrols and get it ready for me to drive. we where having trouble figuring out how they were going to mount on the steering colum and still be able to shut the door. so i get over in the drivers seat to check the clearance and a huge problem came up. the controls won't fit! the bar that controls the gas and brake doesnt have enough room to push the pedals. it'll work with me out of the car but my long legs get in the way of everything moving. so my options are cut the dash out some where the controls can tuck back under more or cut my left legg off. i talked with a guy that does interior work and he said it'd cost somewhere between $1500-$2000 to redo my dash so they'll fit.

i had no idea it'd be this way when i bought this car. i knew it'd be tight be not this tight. so after thinking on the past few days i'm just going to sell it. barely owned the car 2 weeks and am having to let her go.

i just wanted to thank everybody for you comments and ideas they were appreciated. thanks again

 

[cold96snake]

Someone here should be able to help. Don't give up so quick.

 

[AirWolf87]

update on the hinge trouble...

found a guy through a friend that could design some hinges for me that would make the doors open up at 90 degrees. (which was what i was needing) this was great news just what i have been waiting for. so this past weekend me and my dad went to install my handcontrols and get it ready for me to drive. we where having trouble figuring out how they were going to mount on the steering colum and still be able to shut the door. so i get over in the drivers seat to check the clearance and a huge problem came up. the controls won't fit! the bar that controls the gas and brake doesnt have enough room to push the pedals. it'll work with me out of the car but my long legs get in the way of everything moving. so my options are cut the dash out some where the controls can tuck back under more or cut my left legg off. i talked with a guy that does interior work and he said it'd cost somewhere between $1500-$2000 to redo my dash so they'll fit.

i had no idea it'd be this way when i bought this car. i knew it'd be tight be not this tight. so after thinking on the past few days i'm just going to sell it. barely owned the car 2 weeks and am having to let her go.

i just wanted to thank everybody for you comments and ideas they were appreciated. thanks again

sorry to hear that man, i hope you can find another way, they are great cars but they are very tight. Its sometimes a pain in the ass to do simple mods.
About the hand controls for the car, i first saw them last summer at Englishtown ReacewayPark, NJ, there were 4 guys there that had them installed in their WS6 trans Ams and i was just amazed how much control they had over the car. some of the guys were autocrossing faster times than other guys with the normal steering. I dont realy know where im going with this.lol. just amazing how far technology has come. way cool. How do they work if you dont mind me asking.

 

[gump]

those are very close to the set i have. push that bar down for gas and forward for the brake. there is another type that you can twist that would probably work, but i can't grip anything so i'm out.

 

[myponyrocks]

A guy I used to work with had a Camaro and he had electronic doors that opened mini-van style (you know the sliders) any how it detracted from the car until his trunk opened and the wheel chair came around (monster garage/house style) and then it was like WHOAH, I wish I still had contact with himI'd ask where he had it done, but he died a few years ago. Any how that was in Vegas and I'm pretty sure the comapny did it there. All gas and brake control was done VIA the same setup as the cruise control is on the newer mustangs. Maybe do a search in Vegas? GoodLuck!!!

OH and I know anothe guy that has a 67 but his chair fits in the trunk and his wife drives with him, he just had a swivel? added to the hindge so it opens all the way but doesnt hit the hood area.