Has anyone fitted electric releases to the bonnet or boot of their cars? I am interested in doing the mod but need some info. What release would be best suited for the bonnet cause the bonnet can be a tight b@$#%$d to open? I'm guessing i will need a strong release for it and the ones i have seen so far have all looked weak.
electric releases
Started by
_2doorterror_
, Jan 05 2006 11:36 AM
16 replies to this topic
#2
knoath
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Posted 05 January 2006 - 11:47 AM
Don't know about the legal side of an electric bonnet release....I'm guessing if you've got a fire under the bonnet, you'd risk the bonnet release being inoperative... 
Can anyone else shed some light?
If your bonnet is tight to open, it may need to be realigned...slap some neverseez on the catch too...
Can anyone else shed some light?If your bonnet is tight to open, it may need to be realigned...slap some neverseez on the catch too...
Edited by knoath, 05 January 2006 - 11:47 AM.
#3
_QIKSLR_
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Posted 05 January 2006 - 12:31 PM
I've set up electric boot release on my torry. It's a VL commo soloniod and lock, then i bought a generic choke cable and rigged it up from the solonoid to the lock. Solonoid is mounted to the boot side of the back seat. You'd gotta mount the lock on the oposite side to the normal torry one and theres some cutting and drilling needed. If I could go back in time i wouldn't have bothered.
#4
Toranamat69
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Posted 05 January 2006 - 06:41 PM
When I was at a show a few weeks back I was checking out that insane looking orange HZ ute with the NOS big block in it - he has fitted one of those statesman/commodore style boot releases to the original HZ bonnet latch and he said it worked no worries.
#5
_devilsadvocate_
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Posted 05 January 2006 - 07:06 PM
I have a solenoid release in my UC, the solenoid is mounted on the boot lid, I think it is important to have the solenoid as close to the catch as possible rather than working through a cable.. The previous owner of my car fitted it and it involved some pretty handy work on the existing mechanism so that the cable could be attached. My trip to the wreckers found no other lock mechanisms were suitable, as i wanted to fit it to my other torries. I looked at the mechanisms out of kingswoods, statesmans etc and they would not be suitable for the torry. But the report of the VL latch being suitable is worth checking out.
Re the electric bonnet release, dont see much pt to it really, the boot release is for those occasions where you want to let someone get into the boot to get some gear that you are dropping off, or for opening it when it is raining(so you spend less time getting wet while you avoid having to put the key in the lock) and other circs.
The bonnet? well you can pull on a cable from the drivers seat, whats the difference between that and pushing a button.
Most solenoids wouldnt have enough strength if they had to pull through all the cable at the dash end, but if the catch was well greased and the pin that holds the bonnet down is not under too much pressure then a solenoid mounted right at the latch could do the job.
Begs the obvious question, how are you going to open the bonnet with a flat battery.
Re the electric bonnet release, dont see much pt to it really, the boot release is for those occasions where you want to let someone get into the boot to get some gear that you are dropping off, or for opening it when it is raining(so you spend less time getting wet while you avoid having to put the key in the lock) and other circs.
The bonnet? well you can pull on a cable from the drivers seat, whats the difference between that and pushing a button.
Most solenoids wouldnt have enough strength if they had to pull through all the cable at the dash end, but if the catch was well greased and the pin that holds the bonnet down is not under too much pressure then a solenoid mounted right at the latch could do the job.
Begs the obvious question, how are you going to open the bonnet with a flat battery.
#6
_Flamenco_
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Posted 05 January 2006 - 07:35 PM
Agree with devilsadvocate ^
I have a remote solenoid for the lock on my hatchback.
Since there was no provison for a hole in the inner workings of the latch I ended up drilling the rivets and taking out the striker arm. I heated it up with a butane torch until red hot & let it cool, this allowed me to drill a small hole in it for the cable. After that I heated it up agin and quenched it in water to re-harden it...
I have a remote solenoid for the lock on my hatchback.
Since there was no provison for a hole in the inner workings of the latch I ended up drilling the rivets and taking out the striker arm. I heated it up with a butane torch until red hot & let it cool, this allowed me to drill a small hole in it for the cable. After that I heated it up agin and quenched it in water to re-harden it...
#7
rodomo
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Posted 05 January 2006 - 09:32 PM
I went to a Celica once that had an electric bonnet lock fitted by a car alarm mob so I would think it must be legal. Biggest problem was the car had a flat battery and I couldn't get the bonnet open therefore I couldn't help him.
RACV MAN
RACV MAN
#8
Toranamat69
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Posted 05 January 2006 - 10:40 PM
http://store.summitr...t=egnsearch.asp
Remote battery jumper terminals - a few differnt brands.
Chuck a couple of these under the back where you can get to them and you can jumpstart with no acess to the battery.
Remote battery jumper terminals - a few differnt brands.
Chuck a couple of these under the back where you can get to them and you can jumpstart with no acess to the battery.
#9
rodomo
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Posted 05 January 2006 - 11:00 PM
I even tried putting a surface charge on the battery for 5 mins through the cigarette lighter. No luck. Either the battery was stuffed or the terminals loose or corroded. On some cars you can power up the car from underneath at the starter cable but on a Celica the starter is near the top of the bellhousing and it wasn't the day for a BBQ
RACV MAN
RACV MAN
#10
_devilsadvocate_
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Posted 06 January 2006 - 06:52 AM
Applying some more thought to it, to safeguard against the flat battery have two wires going to the the solenoid(if one cant find the right connection on the fuse panel to jump), one that lives under the dash, or somewhere else accessible and can be used for "jump opening". But what if the solenoid fails.....
#11
_2doorterror_
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Posted 06 January 2006 - 11:05 AM
All very good points. I didn't even think about the battery going flat. I thought the idea was all over until Toranamat69 said something about remote battery jumper terminals. I really wasn't looking at doing the bonnet idea, it was a bit of a wank factor rather than a practical idea to make life easier.
#12
_Leakey_
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Posted 07 January 2006 - 10:00 AM
In my first car, a white sl hatch, I completely debadged the car, which meant welding the badge holes in. I also welded the lock hole in with a round patch, because I had an electric boot release. Good for security....nice clean look....Problems was that the gassless mig we were using required us to earth to the body, and to save the electrics we disconnected the battery.
We were welding quite late at night and noticed the boot light was on....
Problem was with no battery connected what was making the light in the boot area?
Bloody thing was on fire!!!!! could not release the boot with the switch, had to reconnect the battery, but by then she was well a blaze. When we opened the hatch, finally, the sudden rush of air just made her go up worse still.
Finally got her out, but not before much damage done.
Yeah, put an electric boot release in!!!!
Dooooh!!!
We were welding quite late at night and noticed the boot light was on....
Problem was with no battery connected what was making the light in the boot area?
Bloody thing was on fire!!!!! could not release the boot with the switch, had to reconnect the battery, but by then she was well a blaze. When we opened the hatch, finally, the sudden rush of air just made her go up worse still.
Finally got her out, but not before much damage done.
Yeah, put an electric boot release in!!!!
Dooooh!!!
#13
_2doorterror_
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Posted 07 January 2006 - 12:53 PM
Wow, give a bloke something to think about. Good thing is my hatch is completely stripped at the moment so any problems with fires and i'll be able to get to it no problem. Also, being stripped there is nothing flammable inside it, not even a wiring harness. But it was a good point to make.
#14
_QIKSLR_
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Posted 08 January 2006 - 09:26 AM
My reason for wanting to do it is that I'd like to fibreglass over the key hole on the rear spoiler as I personally think it looks ferral. But then i started having second thoughts when I went with the battery in the boot. But thoses remote mounts are exactly what I need! Thanks M@ you've done it again 
Oh yeh, the reason for me running the cable is that the solonid is massive and ugly. Kinda takes the class out of having a remote boot release. On the commodores they are hidden inside the skin of the boot. I mounted my solonoid to the back seat and I set it up so that the cable runs past one of the holes in the boot firewall so if the soloniod ever fails, I can remove the back seat and pull on the cable to get the boot open. Providing that I mount the cable well I don't see how it will be a problem.
Oh yeh, the reason for me running the cable is that the solonid is massive and ugly. Kinda takes the class out of having a remote boot release. On the commodores they are hidden inside the skin of the boot. I mounted my solonoid to the back seat and I set it up so that the cable runs past one of the holes in the boot firewall so if the soloniod ever fails, I can remove the back seat and pull on the cable to get the boot open. Providing that I mount the cable well I don't see how it will be a problem.
Edited by QIKSLR, 08 January 2006 - 09:29 AM.
#15
enderwigginau
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Posted 09 January 2006 - 11:42 AM
Best bet is to have a choke cable set up as an emergency in any case, coming out behind the back seat, kinda like QIKSLR's setup.
Grant..
Grant..
#16
_Torana482HP_
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Posted 10 January 2006 - 08:58 PM
HAHA, damn thats a funny story leakey, i was just wondering how the boot light would work with the battery disconnected. "Bloody thing was on fire", sad story but good for a laugh. 
#17
_Leakey_
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Posted 13 January 2006 - 09:41 AM
Yeah, we were wearing sunglasses as welding masks and it was about 8pm.
Great look!!
Sad story, but she looked good in the end. Happy ending.
- Leakey
Great look!!
Sad story, but she looked good in the end. Happy ending.
- Leakey
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