Gas Door Popper

[bravekozak]

Here is a pic of my Aro pneumatic drill. It takes 1/4"-20 threaded bits. I bought it for cheap on eBay. After I centerpunch the middle hole, I will drill it out in two stages.
This drill is perfect for drilling holes in very tight places (like in the middle of the two existing fuel door catch mounting holes).

[toecar]

I agree, pain in the butt having to unlock the gas door. Cabinet shops sell a 'push latch' that you push in a little and the door pops open. Just remove the old key lock, with a suitable adhesive glue, install the push latch.
What to do with the key hole? Get one of those phony plastic key locks to cover the hole.

[Christ]

Rubber firewall grommet works perfect. I don't remember the hole size.

If you want it to hold shut on it's own, pinch one of the hinges with vice grips. The extra friction makes it stay in place.

[bravekozak]

It's so cold out, I thought it would be a good time to do some prep work inside.
I have decided to install the popper in two stages. The wiring is installed and tested. I am going to install the actuator next. I have decided to cut a piece out of my fuel door retaining clip so that it will fit on actuator studs. The hard part will be to remove the two weld nuts from inside the fender. I only want to remove the inner plastic panel once.
After I have mounted the actuator, I will add the gas cap caddy to the inside reinforcement. I like having a place to hang the cap where I cannot possibly forget, while fuelling.

[bravekozak]

Here is a pic of the gas cap caddy (for my untethered red vented gas cap, not the stock cap) that I want to clip on the inside of my shaved fuel door. You hang the cap while fueling and replace it before closing the fuel door, otherwise it won't shut.

[greywolf200]

Here is a pic of the gas cap caddy (for my untethered red vented gas cap, not the stock cap) that I want to clip on the inside of my shaved fuel door. You hang the cap while fueling and replace it before closing the fuel door, otherwise it won't shut.

That's cool Brave, where did you come up with that?

[bravekozak]

Sorry, I forget which car it came off of. Just found it wandering through a junk yard.

[bravekozak]

O.K. I quit being lazy today and removed the rear panel. I used an 11mm socket and just torqued the weld nuts back and forth. I didn't get the result I expected. Oh well. I will have to proceed to plan B. I inserted the popper into the hole and popped it a dozen times. I enjoy popping (even if it's just thin air for now (at least it's wired properly). Now to finish working on the fuel door.

[bravekozak]

Uh oh. I make have to make a door tensioner out of some sheet metal. It is way to close to the ege of the door.
The door won't close at all with the 626 plate installed.

[bravekozak]

Great news. The Festiva fuel door hinge pin is exactly the same size as the Kia Spectra hinge pin. Since the Spectra pin is swaged to stay put, I will have to cut the pin in order to extract the spring tensioner. This is necessary to put some pop in the popper. I will have to drill a small hole in the Festiva hinge in order to locate the spring.

[bravekozak]

I have quickly removed the Sentra spring with a small cut off disk.
The best place to drill a 7/64" hole (actual size of Sentra hole) is right in the middle of the reinforcing hump in the center of the Festiva hinge. My new problem is that I need a 3mm pin punch to remove the Festiva hinge. I will continue this thread next week.

[bravekozak]

I have completed the surgery and am pleased to announce that the operation was a success. I ground the point off of a 3" finishing nail It is the perfect size for tapping the Festiva pin out. I used a mini round jewellers file to clean the rust out of the pin holes, both on the hinge and on the door. I pulled the cotton batting off of a Q-tip and put some nano grease in the pin holes. I wire wheeled the pin and nanoed it too.
Simple reassembly. No more squeaky hinge. Perfect tension. I can't wait to pop it with my 626 actuator.
I will cut the tension clip off of the 626 bracket and discard it. I only need to add a catch + three holes for the gas cap caddy to the shaved door and then paint it Cayman Green.

This could also be done by anyone who wants their door to pop open as they turn the key. Or, to just get rid of any squeaks.

[bravekozak]

Picture of tools used in the operation. Cut Spectra pin, cut 626 actuator mount, round Swiss file, finishing nail, nano grease.

[bravekozak]

Today I marked the location of the pin on the door. I will have to weld a new striker. Currently the hole in the striker is too far back and at the wrong angle.

Also, I will have to cut and weld the cap caddy to the fuel door bracing.

There is nothing except tension to stop inward movement. I may add a hook stop to one of the studs.

[bravekozak]

Now that the spring is in place (step 1), I can cut, hammer, grind and fit the striker support into the fuel door (step 2). I had to cut the strike plate off because it was on an angle.

Step 3 will involve drilling a U-hole into the replacement strike plate, in order to make a tang for the actuator pin to tension against. I will weld it on from underneath, before spotwelding the tabs to the edge of the door. The festiva fuel door latch is much closer to the front of door than on most other cars.