OK so for those of you who want to see the steps of installing these hinges from GT Factory this is the page for you.

I guess I will jusmp right into it.

I forgot to take a pic of the passenger side before I cut into it, so here is one of the driver side. Just imagine a mirror image, haha.

So now that we know what the are looks like, more room needs to be made, and FLAT room at that. The back of these hinges are flat of course.

So you cut, and cut. Anything that is bulging. So that you can make a flat surface. Here is what I did.

OK now that we have a flat sureface we are getting closer. Now to fill in the hole that the bulge cut-out made. I used a piece of flat steel that I picked up at a local shop. Just ask around any industrial park kind of area. While I was at it I also decided to weld any seams of sheet metal in the hope that I make the flat surface a bit stronger.

Test fit

Fully welded on.

Now that the car is prepped for the hinge, the door is next in line.

start haking away at the UPPER hinge. Till it is pretty much all gone.

And here it is all gone, and the tools I used

Door And body Ready to Rock.

Pick the door up and line it up with the body. I then picked it up and placed it on the sill. Opened the handle, pushed the handle side on with my hip while holding the hinge side with my arms. Sounds harder than it is. Just get the striker to bite the door, and hold it there. Now bend over and put the one bolt in the only available bolt hole in the bottom hinge.

Now the door is on the car and ready to have its first fitment test for the hinge. (Sorry about not having any pics of these few steps, but there is really nothing to photo document about it)

Have a friend push the door up against the car, so as to simulate the other hinge being on there.

Now you just hold the hinge in the best posible location, so that the body (big part) is flat. And the arm (door part) is flat as possible, and tack weld. Thats it. Test the movment of the door, and try not to be too amazed when you are able to lift it up. It is quite a sight in real life the first time.

-quick side note, when measuring and tack welding, I took off the opening "safety" adjuster. You will kow what I am talking about when you get the hinge. It is the only part that comes off the hinge with 2 bolts on the bottom.

If the door is not moving right, cuz and re-tack weld. I got it the first time, so I believe it can't be too hard.

Now that the lower hinge is not needed, the door can be preped for its final install.

Disconnect the door from the car, by opening the hinge and sliding it off. Be carefull on the step.

Fully weld everything. Hinge on the door and the body on the car. Also cut the lower hinge off. Totally. This takes a long time.

reassemble and it should look something like this

Now you have a hinge that can open up and out. But it is way too heavy. Thats what the struts are for.

To figure out where these go, raise the door all the way up. 100% till it just sits open all by itself. Then attach the struts in the holes of the hinge and see where they want to land on the fender "horn". Find some thick steel to reinforce the area and weld it in place. MAKE SURE NOT TO PUT THEM TOO CLOSE TO EACHOTHER. The space between them will change as the door opens and closes.

Here is what I did the first time.........WRONG

I ended up cutting this off. lowering it about 1/2 an inch and rotating it a bit so that there was more space between the 2 struts. With this tack welded you can really start to see it all come togeather.

Since the attachment point for the struts is hanging low, I had to weld a flet piece of metal horazontally from the lower part of the reinforment to the wheel well. Anyplace under there. This is because when I tried to open the door when everything was tack welded, the strut reinforcment wanted to rotate and pull itself under the car.

Then you are done. After you test the mosment and all is fullt welded. You can paint/undercoat it all. (I have yet to do the final step of coating. I have to get more POR-15. Great stuff.

Here are blurry pics of the car done on the passenger side.

Random one of the front, need to toss this pic up somplace

Door up !!!!!!!!

Door up as far as it will go when there is a fender on the car.

And finally

a really nice shot of the profile. This is as vertical as you can get, in terms of being up and close to the car.

Door acts like it weights 15 Lbs. not super light but definetly doable.

There are also Many other struts you can buy. Just call GT Factory and they can help you order the right part straight from their supplier. Great company and customer support.

Hope this page helps someone, anyone.... :)

Next month....The 500 HP 383 stroker that has a 200 squeeze up its sleeve. hehe. (also buying my T-56 tranny tomorrow)