Project Outline and Goals
Dorian George
aka dragnlo
11-2-2001
Option 1
Remove the door - I was seriously considering this option, but a few
points made me find another way.
1. Although the door could be removed and reinstalled with one person,
it is really a two person job.
2. Not the easiest to get realigned. If not realigned properly the door
could leak water inside the cabin ofthe vehicle.
Option 2
Remove the fender to gain access to the door wiring. This was better
for me because:
1. It only requires one person to do the total install.
2. If not aligned properly, no major down falls like water in car (see
above)
I want to go over a few notes before we start, this information is for a 94
del sol SI. It should be similar if not exact for the other models. This is
not a little 15 minute mod it took me close to 8-12 hours to do. If I had to
do it again I could probably do it in around 4 hours. If I didn't have any
interruptions.
Let’s get started!!
Step 1
Remove the inner fender on the side you want to start on.This is fairly straight
forward, but here is what I did.
1. Remove all the screws and screw plugs from the outer edge.
2. Remove all screws from bottom edge toward the cabin of car, these
are screws going into the side skirts.
(Pic of screws by side skirts)
Step 2
Remove the side skirt
There are 6 screws left holding the side skirt on, they are located on the
underside of the car. If you look under your
car right under the door you will be able to see them. They are located about
3 inches from the outer edge of the car.
1. Remove the screws and snap plugs (Pic of 6 screws)
2. The side skirt should now be loose. To remove it simply slide it
toward the front of the car, some force may be
required to do this. I hit the side skirt in a forward motion from inside the
rear fender well.
Step 3
Disconnect front bumper
You should have loosened the inner fender from step 1. There is a notch in
the front bumper located toward the top by where it connects to the fender.
This is so you can remove the screw between the fender and bumper. Once removed
you can push the bumper out some to get to the first nut on the fender.
(Pic of notch in fender)
Step 4
Remove the fender
At this point you should be able to get to all the bolts holding the fender
on.
1. Remove the bolt located in between the bumper and fender.You should
be able to reach it by putting your hand through were the inner fender was
attached.
(Pic showing about where the bolt is located)
2. Remove the 2 bolts located behind where the side skirt was.
3. Remove the front parking light. there is 1 philips head screw holding
it in. then it slides out toward the front.
(Pic of where screw is located)
4. Open the door and remove the bolt in the door jamb.
(Pic of bolt in door jamb)
5. Remove the 3 bolts located inside the engine compartment.
(Pic of 3 bolts)
The fender is now ready to come off. I would leave the door open so the bracket
where you removed the bolt from in the door jamb can come out easier. Gently
pry loose the bottom of the fender by
the door. Next pull out fender by the front bumper to clear its mounting bracket.
Lift up on the fender and it will come off. Place in a safe area till your
ready to put it back on, it is easier to warp/dent the sheet metal when it
is not installed.
A lot of work but we are finally to the doors wiring harness, now would be
a good time to take a break if you need one. The next few steps will take a
while and require some thought.
Step 5
Let’s start on the wring harness
1. Gently disconnect the rubber boot from the plug on the door. The
boot is held on by little nipples sticking out from the plug.
2. You should now have found all the grease I forgot to mention up till
now. This is where you will want to take a towel and remove as much of the
grease as possible. Under the grease are two plugs that unsnap. I stuck a small
flat head screw driver in to the plug lock, and pulled on the wires, snap and
they come out. One plug at a time of course.
3. You will have to remove the door panel from the inside of the car.
a. remove screw by door handle
b. remove screw by top front of door
c. remove snap and screw located by grab handle on door
d. pull at bottom of door the only thing holding it on now are snaps.
e. once all snaps are released, pull up on door and it will come
loose from the door.
f. disconnect power windows, power mirrors, power locks, etc..
4. Disconnect wiring from door it is held on by zip ties and tie plugs.
5. Push plug into door from inside. There are 2 snaps on each side holding
it in. Once unsnapped you can push the plug socket into the door.
6. Pull wiring out of the inside of the door
7. Reconnect the plugs outside the car. and start connecting the wires.
You want to take your time here do the wires 1-3 at a time, so you do not get
them confused. I HIGHLY recommend your solder and heat shrink them. Crimps
can come pulled loose and some tugging and manipulating is required in later
steps. The chances of a properly soldered wire coming apart is slim to none.
You should be to this point.
VERY IMPORTANT!
Test your wiring before we go any further! Reattach the power window/mirror
switch and make sure it all works.
8. The plug you pulled out of the inside of the door is now ready to
be modified.
I used a dremel and cut it right where the male plug starts, then cut the center part out, this is so the plugs will go back through it.
9. Snap the cut plug (left side of image) back into the door. Make sure
it is fully snapped in. I used some JB weld just to make sure it didn't pop
back out.
I gained this much space for extra wire on the drivers side.
10. The top part of the rubber grommet just pulls out of the body. this is when you are going to run all your extra wires.
GROMMET NOTES:
The rubber grommet is a 2 piece grommet. It is taped at the top and disconnect
into 2 pieces.It is required to disconnect them so wires can be run, because
the bottom part is taped to the wires. So you can’t push wires from the
top to bottom of the rubber grommet without removing the tape. I had quite
a few wires so I took a razor blade and slit the bottom part from the top to
right above where it goes to an accordion shape at the bottom. When done I
just wrapped the cut part in electrical tape. Then connected the 2 pieces back
together and wrapped that with electrical tape like it was before. The simplest
way to get the rubber back in on the cabin side is to use a flat head screw
driver. Get the bottom corner in then use the screwdriver to snap it back in.
The bottom part will require a very small flat head screwdriver. It takes some
fiddling but the grommet will snap back on the nipples. I tried to line up
one hole, press it on with the screw driver and work my way around the plug,
till your back where you started. Don't get frustrated!!!
At this point it is down hill, go in reverse order and reattach the fender.
Do not tighten the top bolts all the way just yet. Shut the hood and make sure
it is not going to hit the fender. Adjust as necessary and tighten. Another
point to align is where the door and fender line is. Reinstall the bumper to
the fender, reinstall the side skirt, and reinstall the inner fender lining.
Install whatever you added wires for and reinstall the door panel.
Enjoy in the fact that you probably just saved yourself a couple hundred dollars
spent at a stereo shop to run wires in the door.