Gas Door Popper

[bravekozak]

got it

I went to the junk yard this morning.
It was very quiet after the "all you can carry" insanity for the last two days.
I found the Millenia and promptly removed the actuator. I think it will work O.K. That is a manual retract pull in case of failure.
I paid almost as much as on eBay.
Except for the fact that I got a bunch of other stuff with it.
A nice orange fog light and power mirror switch from an RX-7 console.
A glove compartment light + switch + black speaker covers + red fuel cap from an RX-7.
Some Protege mirror parts.
Some Protege power door lock actuators and switches.
And a neat rod connector for the rear hatch.

[bravekozak]

DB door

I wonder if the gas door on a Mazda 121 DB is the same size as a Mazda 121DA?

http://cgi.ebay.de/Mazda-121-DB-/120635099781?pt=Autoteile_Zubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item1c16698a85

It may be cheaper than trying to fill in the lock hole, and welding the tensioning / catch mechanism on the back.

http://cgi.ebay.de/Mazda-121-DB-1-3-Tankklappe-Tankabdeckung-/150442670566?pt=Autoteile_Zubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item230714f9e6

I know they are awfully close.

[bravekozak]

Pride

While reading the 96 Kia Pride shop manual, I came upon this page:

http://bwbronze.com/festiva/fuel_filler_lid.pdf

Apparently, there is a fuel filler door without a lock on it.

As for the rear hatch release, I cannot figure out the picture.

[Safety Guy]

What can't you figure out?

Karl

[bravekozak]

rear hatch release

I cannot orient the picture 14-7 for the cable to pull the rear hatch open. I presume the release is on the body? or does the cable pull go all the way into the Pride hatch? This is a sister car. I would imagine the release is in the hatch because that is where the key goes.

[walth]

I cannot orient the picture 14-7 for the cable to pull the rear hatch open. I presume the release is on the body? or does the cable pull go all the way into the Pride hatch? This is a sister car. I would imagine the release is in the hatch because that is where the key goes.

don't know about for the pride but on the aspire the cable goes through the backseat floorboard and to the passenger side piller and around and back over to the drivers side near the lights and then attaches to the body on the left side of the latch.

I've got a hatch popper from an aspire and a hatch/gas popper from a 626. The aspire, 323's and 626's front floor rail is pretty much the same thing in the festiva and they are exact matches in the cut out for where that popper mounts. If you pull those poppers they'll fit directly. I may soon go back to the yard and get at least 2-3 more (from 323 & 626) if people are interested.

has anyone looked into the 323 gt-r/gtx for poppers? hmmm...

[walth]

apparently escorts and tracers also work. according to Festiva GTX in this thread http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5758

[25Horseplay]

^^Yep Tracer ones are practically a bolt in!

[bravekozak]

I have decided to continue this thread because I have pulled wiring on both sides of my passenger compartment. Red and green wires for the rear hatch actuator, and gray wire for my 626 gas tank popper. It's exactly the same as the RX-7 actuator, that they want $40 for on eBay. The actual colors on the actuator pigtail are black and green/black. The hot wire is the black, and the green/black goes to ground.
The actuator only pulls back 5/16". The hole centers are almost identical. The problem is that someone stole my 45 degree drill. Now I have to use a Dremel.
The second problem is the offset for the cable pull. That actuator pin is a lot stronger at holding the door closed with a different catch welded in, than with that spring catch. If you really wanted to get in, a little pry with a screwdriver is all it takes to be able to fill your tank with sugar.

[bravekozak]

I was walking down the street and saw my first Tesla with green lettered licence plates. Apparently if a car is 100% electric, you qualify for them.
I also noticed a VW Jetta. It had a rather small fuel door with rounded corners.
I did a cursory measurement on the length and it is identical to a Festiva. I will take my Festiva gas flap on ny next walk to verify the height. It looks like an older Jetta model. I will check the VIN next time. I dissected the Aspire fuel door but it would take a lot of work to make it fit the Festiva door. I just looked on eBay and this door has no metal frame inside. Time to check some other Kia cars.

[bravekozak]

The 2001 Kia Rio fuel door looks like it has guts that might fit the Festiva fuel door with minor modification.

[bravekozak]

Should I bother using a relay? I can save nyself about $30.

[Christ]

I just pulled the lock out of all mine and left the hole there. I suppose I could have bought a $1 drawer pull from Lowe's to complement the cheapness of my car... but something told me the hole would function just fine.

[Christ]

And no, for something as small as the solenoid to pop a fuel door, a relay would be not only completely unnecessary, but total overkill. It can't use more than a few watts, so directly wiring a momentary contact switch of the very lowest quality and ratings would still more than likely operate it just fine.

[bravekozak]

OK. I have the switch and the wiring in place. Now, I have to mount the popper.
It looks like I will have to chisel or twist off the two weld nuts inside the body.
I will practice on a junkyard Festiva first.

You can see from the photo of the piece of Mazda 626 body, the kind of 10mm hole I will have to drill in between the other two holes. Thank goodness for my Aro right angle pancake air drill.