Question about shaved handles and poppers

I really like the look of shaved handles and have a body shop that will do the work for me. I was just wondering for those of you that have them, do you have any problems with them? I know my friend has a cavalier and has problems with them when it is cold out. He has problems shuting the door until it warms up a little. Also there was a few times where he had to pop the passenger side first before the driver side would work. Is that normal or did the body shop just do a bad job?

Thanks for the help

[Cyber Knight]

How much would a mod like this cost (parts & labor)?

[King Asoka]

I remember a while back there was someone on here who was going to get it done. One thing he said was to get the poppers installed first before you shave your handles. you should do this to make sure the poppers are installed correctly. or else you might have a tuff time like your friend. Another thing he said you have to consider is where to place your emergency release. Like if your battery dies or something.

Im sorry I dont recall who it was.

It was AleroSS who has his poppers installed. I know that he's got a good backup system, incase his battery dies and all, but you'll have to ask him about it, because I forget right now.

1. they are extremly illegal
2. If your car is your daily driver dont do it!
3. if you have winters dont do it!

im sure lots of people on here will disagree with what i said but watevr. They are illegal because if you get in a car accident and how the hell are rescue crews suppose to open your door and save you?

[Cyber Knight]

Originally posted by nex@Mar 16 2004, 10:11 AM
They are illegal because if you get in a car accident and how the hell are rescue crews suppose to open your door and save you?

Smash the window and open it from inside, rotary cutting tool, jaws of life, C-4...

But yeah, if you were knocked out and your door was still ok, then Eddie Punchclock wouldn't be able to get you outta there, you'd hafta wait for the pros with their big tools and by then it might be too late.

Sorry to say nex, but you are wrong on all accounts with your last post. Firstly, poppers (atleast in my area - Winnipeg, Canada) are NOT illegal, and I would imagine that many other places follow the same view. Basically in my area, it doesnt matter whether you have door handles on the outside or not, as long as you have a mechanical method of opening the door from the inside on each door, you can pretty much do whatever the heck you want with the exterior handles. Nex does bring up a good point about accidents, however what most people seem to forget is that when you engage the car, or most cars, the doors will lock automatically, and it aint gonna matter how hard the emergency crews work if you get into an accident - cuz if your doors are locked or shaved - they WILL break the glass. Secondly, I live in an area that with the windchill this winter (which I went with poppers the whole time on my DAILY DRIVER) I had ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER. I believe that the reason that I was able to avoid such problems was because I did a LOT of research, and shopped around for a LONG time before I had the whole procedure done. I am willing to venture that I spent the good part of a whole year researching it, finding out others opinions, and coming up with the most fool proof backup system for our vehicles. I have yet to have on incident, whether it be a dead battery, or a key locked in the car, that my backup plan didnt get me out of so far. Make sure you are not looking to get the cheapest service done to have the poppers/solenoids installed, and make sure who ever does it has experience, and you feel confident with their service. YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Also, it is a very good idea to have the poppers/solenoids installed before you shave your handles so that if you find that you dont like the way poppers work on your car, or you find you have some troubles with how they work, you can always just forget about shaving, and cut your losses on just buying/installing the mechanical part of the whole deal. Once you shave the door handles, I doubt you will find anyone who will be able to reverse the process later on and re-install door handles. You WILL have to buy new doors to put on, if you want handles back on the car, or if they are required to pass a safety inspection in your area. I hope I have given you a pretty good insight into what to consider and look into when thinkin about shaving your handles/installing poppers but feel free to hit me up if you or anyone else have any questions about the whole ordeal. The last thing I will tell you is that in order for you to have a foolproof backup plan, DO NOT SHAVE YOUR TRUNK KEYHOLE. This will be a vital part of the backup plan, and if infact you do decide to go ahead with this, I will dig up the couple of pages that I wrote up for the install shop that explained how I wanted my backup plan setup. Again, feel free to contact me or, pm me, and I will be glad to help anyone out with any of their problems.


Landon

SS do you have any pics so I could check out how it looks on our cars.. I was thinking about doing it this summer after I get my kit on and some pics would definitely help my decision.. thanks

[BLK03GXS]

Any Idea on the aprox cost? for a 2 door... wouldnt mind getting this done

[Rubered00]

If anyone has some pics of this post them up so i can see how it looks.

Go to cardomain.com and check out aftermath's car. His is shaved and suicide.

If anyone wants to post a pic of their ride, I may be able to photoshop their handles (not positive, because Im not sure if I can get access to Photoshop anymore for a while) but if I cant, or dont get to it in time, Im sure someone on here would be able to do it for you... Post Away

[sound_xtreme]

1. they are extremly illegal
2. If your car is your daily driver dont do it!
3. if you have winters dont do it!

all wrong:
1. i have been pulled over many times and have never had anything said to me about it.

2. mine is a daily driver, whats wrong with that? make sure you have a good battery that aint just gonna die, have a jumper cable pre hooked to your car just in case, and for full assurance dont shave the trunk lock.

3. i actually have LESS problems getting in my car when there is ice on it. it cracks it likes it is its job.

Hey Sound, if you have a system setup so that the wiring runs into the trunk with an inline fuse holder, you can use someone elses battery to hook up with jumper cables and even if the battery is dead, it will allow you to pop the doors, thus allowing you into the car, and able to pop the hood (to boost the battery). ALTHOUGH, if some people considering this are willing to throw down some extra cash, I believe you may be able to run CRAZY THICK guage wire off the two terminals on the battery, and run it into the trunk, mounted on a wooden block or what have you, so you could therefore boost your car from the trunk

hey i said everybody will have diffrent views on it. In my area i know for a fact they are illegal. I have a buddy with a dropped sonoma who got his car towed for it. Like i said everybody will have diffrent opinons on it. But i think its retarded. :rolleyes:

Hey Nex, did he have door handles inside the car too, or did those get shaved/modified as well, just wondering, cuz sometimes thats where they become illegal...

I dont have interior door handles either. and have been messes with over it.

[sound_xtreme]

alero SS, i have my jumper cable 2 gauge hidden up inside the black plastic poop underneath on the front of my car.

PS- i am also running a 1 gauge and a 4 gauge off my battery, so anything can be done.

I wouldnt ever think about shaving the interior door handles. lol

[Ghadsphi]

Yeah I'm new to auto modding/mechanizing. But I'm a sharp tack. I've figured that shaving the doors means filling in the door handles and putting in some remotes. This rules, looks cool, and provides vehicle security. I understand the need for secondary entery if the battery is dead. I also see why the trunk would be the place to do it. My main concerns would be the remote, and battery concerns on a 2.2L. I imagine our battery and alternator would be a bit less than optimal. I plan on putting in a nice sub system in trunk that would be removable(Probably a couple nuts 6-12), mainly since this is my primary vehicle, and sometimes I need that room. If I shave the handles should I start worrying about my subs, my audio system runs till open my door and I tend to use this for like 20 minutes or so at a time during lunch each day.

[MixtapeMessiah]

new gm's are like that they have a voltage goin to the stereo for a certain amount of time but this aint gonna drain ur battery. if u have a bad battery with sulfated plates or low charge rate then just get a new battery. I imagine that the poppers wouldnt take a lot of amperers to pop, just dont shave a piece of sh*it thats all I gotta say. Im gonna do it to my 4 door tho after I get my body kit. And also whoever shaves ur interior door handles are retarded, they just askin for something to happen haha :lol2: