[Zoomspeed]

Has any one ever done this. A friend and I will attempt this in about a month or so. I was told bondo would be to heavy and may fall out, so are there any recommendations on how to do this or what meterials to use?

We don't know what we're doing but we have a month to learn, mess it up, redo a few times, and hopefully get it right in the end.

Thanks for any help.

 

[cullen]

i saw a "YSR" car in an old Options magazine that i have that has no side moldings. it looks like they welded a plate over the gap not bondo. it didnt look right to me though

 

[obmk3]

I've wanted to do this for a while, but I'm waiting till I get a paint job. Post some pics and let us know what you did. Good Luck!!

 

[MrBoost]

on a related note, I saw a shaved-handles MkIII at a Dayton meet once. That was pretty cool too. He said it was pretty easy. Removed the handle assembly, place a pate, bondo, paint. Had some solenoid w/ remote to pop the door.

 

[cullen]

that sounds like a good idea. i have cracked 2 door handles already

 

[DoUgotB00ST]

shaved door handles

my side moldings will probably get shaved off soon....the reason being is when i added the nsx vent.. they had to shave off the back side molding... now i figure, hell , might as well shave the all off....

But since i am starting on my hood this weekend, im gonna wait...
There is a black supra out here in california with shaved side moldings and shaved door handles... loooks verrrry clean........gives the car a sleek look...

 

[FuzzyHead]

You've got a couple of options.

1 . Lots of bondo. Pretty much it turns out looking like crap later because bondo can crack or fall off.

2. Fiberglass that area. 2nd best way and is the best way if you want to do the work yourself.

3. Have a sheet welded into the area. This is the best way, IMHO

If ya got the money to have that kind of stuff done, have it done. It'll really suck if you screw up and it's very easy to do that. I remember someone told me from the mini truck scene that shaving trim like that is a PITA.

 

[Zoomspeed]

Can anyone post pics of an MK3 w/ shaved moldings and/or chaved handles? We actually plan on doing both before we repaint the car.

From fuzzheads post we'll probably try the fiberglass approach, so how would a do-it-yourselfer learn how to work with fiberglass?

Like I said my friend and I don't know what were doing, but we'll have a month off from school between semesters to learn. I'm sure we'll mess it up the first few times, but we'll have enough time to redo it if we mess it up.

We'll be taking before and after pics so I'll post them as soon as were done.

Thanks for the info guys.
Keep it coming.

Hoainam

 

[DoUgotB00ST]

heres your pic

here is the only supra i know of with shaved handles and moldings....

by the way... go with the fiberglass........

MAKE SURE YOU SAND DOWN THE ENTIRE AREA TO THE METAL SO TAHT YOU CAN GET STRONG BOND WITH FIBERGLASS.

for the door handle i would have a welder take on a piece of metal in that area...i do not recommend filling it with fiberglass only....

 

[MelloYello]

I was going to shave the molding when I got my car painted, but I don't think it looks right. The sides come out fine, but the front and rear molding tie the bumper in with it if that makes any sense. In that pic, the guy left the rear molding on, which is kinda pointless IMO. It's going to be hard to make it look clean.

 

[LordSpinal]

shaving door handles is illegal man!!

at least in california... i started reading up on... pretty funny eh?

 

[Enraged]

most places are only illegal if theres no other way to get into the car, ie a button under the edge of the car to pop it open in case of emergency, or something similar. there are several cars in socal that i know that are fully registered and have had no problems. as long as its done right, so its safe, there shouldnt be any problems. accept when your battery dies, then its time to install remote battery terminals

 

[LordSpinal]

I just thought that was some funny shit..

I think the supra looks good with shaved handles and moldings..

I haven't looked at front bumper or anything like some others said.

pic here looks good though.. may shave my car in photoshop see what i come up with

 

[FuzzyHead]

I once heard that you can pull a mkIII's window out enough to be able to reach the lock or other parts. I don't know if this will work or not?

Coming from the whole mini truckin thing, my fav door handle body mod consisted of this. Shave the handles and have electronic poppers install. Somewhere in the new shaved section put a small round lock, similar to ones found on older ford pickups. This lock when turned should complete the circuit to pop the lock from a 2nd battery. This can be used in emergencies.

Otherwise run a pair of wires off the battery to some type of terminal, so you can jump your car with out having to pop the hood. I guess if you had hood pins you wouldn't need this, but how many of you use hood pins.

 

[MelloYello]

Yeah, what're you going to do if:

1) Your battery is dead
2) Your battery in your remote goes dead
3) You lock your keys and remote in the car

Never thought about these....

 

[DoUgotB00ST]

idea

you know what you might want to do... just in case things like mello said might happen..???? welll you have two options.... you can put one of those manual switches installed somewhere hidden (like fender well or wherever) that will unlock car.. or you can just shave the handle and leave the keyhole.....



or..... ,funny as it may seem, shave everything off and if a problem occurs, just go through the trunk........

In most cases you will be alright.... i say go for it...

 

[LordSpinal]

I like the trunk idea myself

or rather just have handles.

 

[Zoomspeed]

Yeah, what're you going to do if:

1) Your battery is dead
2) Your battery in your remote goes dead
3) You lock your keys and remote in the car

Never thought about these....

hmmm....good point.
Were going to have a stereo/security shop install the door pops. We'll talk to them and see what they can do about it.

Any ideas on how I can learn to do fiberglass?

 

[Keithh]

I've been thinking about shaving my handles for a while now. It seems that when my drivers door was repaired - before I bought the car - they used bondo to fill in the hole around the door handle... Well... now I have two serious cracks forming on either side of the handle. As long as I have to have that fixed anyway I figured I might as well have a plate welded in there and then repaint.

I've been toying with installing the solenoids and running them AND the door handles for a while to make sure everything works OK before actually shaving the handles. I am also planning on NOT having a remote to open the doors (am I still paranoid about remote grabbing? YOU BET!). Actually there is a kit available to use a magnetic key to open the doors (there's also a kit to allow you to tap your door open - tap the body in the right spot and presto the door opens). In the case of the magnetic key... you simply wave the key over the correct place on the body and the door opens. I would of course leave the stock handles inside the car as that would be much more difficult to shave.

I've been running a solenoid from AutoLoc in my car to pop the gas door for several months now without a problem. My factory cable stretched so I installed a nice pushbutton version. I'm also running a window module to add Auto Up/Down to the passenger window. That one is the best. You can get the same function on the drivers window by cutting the plastic tab out of the switch - see tech tips - but for the passenger window the easiest solution is the window module. Sure beats holding the switch up or down when you want to roll the window up or down.

Keith H
89T

 

[LordSpinal]

can you put the magnetic keys anywhere? why not use remote?