I am intrigued by pantograph doors. Used primarily on Saoutchik classics like Delage, Hispano and Talbots. I'm considering the idea on my 39. Anyone got a close up of the mechanism?
i like it, and it will be a mechanical feat. i guess the advantage to these are you can get really tight door gaps?
That second pic messed with me for a minute. But basically, you want to put the side door of a mini van on your car. No.
A lot of high end yachts have them on the pilothouse doors.....you could check for the mechanics there - Google images has pictures and drawings too just search pantograph door
I cant help you with mechanical pics but i love the idea for a custom . Dont let the nerds get you down. Pimpin aint easy
No drama intended in my post Two types of builders might do that modification... One of them wants to impress other people. He is like the guy you saw that did suicide doors on a bellybutton type auto, and hogs two parking spots at a show, because he parks with the doors open,.. he does that for attention, not realizing he really has low self esteem. the other builder does it to impress himself, no matter if he realizes that, or not. That builder will give it a go, at all costs. I'll bet the finest customs were created by this personality. JMO
When I started reading your thread title on this thread, I did finally realize that the car was not in your avatar, and it was the older Cadillac custom that I read in that build thread... to be honest, I was pretty amazed at what body style you created, but I had doubts about the lift deck at first. Then at some point, I started to "get your vision" of that feature. But in the first few minutes of thinking about these new doors, I thought it was "trying too hard" or "too much overboard"....but real quick, I can now see it all flowing with the deck, but not garish. I think this car might well be one of those great customs at some point in time....but don't screw it up LOL.
On that car, properly done, a set of those doors just may work. Definitely the right style of a car built in the Art Deco period. A set of those doors on that car to me, would say late thirties, early forties hollywood movie star type custom. I say go for it.
He cites high end 1930's classics that would have everyone at Pebble beach foaming at the mouth and you slam him with images of mini trucks with sad "Lambo" doors designed for second rate pimps??? Whatthehell?? Anyway, the Mechanism of the hinge part seems simple enough...a sort of false door behind the main door, with primary hing at body behaving pretty much as normal and a secondary hinge near middle of the outer door. Dimensions needed could probably be worked out in 10 minutes using cardboard mockups of inner and outer door hinged by duct tape... The part that isn't obvious from the photos is a mechanism to hold the outer door parallel to the body so it doesn't need close attention and manual control to stop it from swinging into the body. I betcha HAMBers could come up with 10 different workable ideas, with the neatest probably coming from ElPolacko. If I had to come up with something, I would notice the word "pantograph" in the title and start examining pantograph lamps and telephones and pantograph bren gun mounts...or just find the book I have entitled "engineers's illustrated thesaurus"...
The door handle in the middle of the door would throw everybody off a bit. This thread peaked my intrest before anybody responded. Never seen the concept until now. Now you can get rid of those ugly door hinges.
I like what you have done to your car to date. It is quality craftsmanship with a huge dash of artistic creation. The question & answer ultimately lies in your court as to whether the pantograph doors suits the character of the car. Everyone has varying viewpoints. Part of being creative is information gathering, research & seeking respectful feedback. Classic customizers like Barris, Roth, Winfield & many others used their craftsmanship & artistry to create amazing cars. Not everyone agreed that some of their more oddball creations made sense. Hot rodding is creating & breathing new life into an old car to make it a personal statement. Look forward to see the direction you go on your journey to complete a great car. All the best,
Your 39 is a magnificent car already! The pantograph doors would add another interesting aspect to the car. Someone earlier on in this thread mentioned making the stable when open to avoid damage from wind, bumps etc, I guess that could be a challenge. That said it seems to me that they'd fit nicely with style and nature of the car. With or with these doors, it'll be great to see the car when it's finished.
You have an engineering and skills based challenge should you chose to accept it. I think you enjoy these kind of challenges, and if that turns your crank I can see no reason why you shouldn't carry on. You don't need it to make or break your car, but as I say, you have the skills and will enjoy the process and that's the important thing. Or you might decide it's too much fucking around for no real gain. That's another good thing about the hobby, because you are not confined to restoring a car for Pebble Beach, even if those cars can be a great source of ideas and inspiration.
I had no idea that this could be such an emotive subject. But I thank everyone for their viewpoints. Just for interest sake, yes it is madness, but that's what my call name is what it is. I just got some cardboard strips and thumbtacks and in moments had a working prototype. It's simple as. I 'm gonna build a working model in steel for no other reason than to challenge myself. What have I got to lose?
This thread seems a bit derailed. Bottom line it would be a custom if it had doors the swing out in a custom way. Im pretty sure i have seen this done in the littlebooks someplace. Either way your ride, do what you want. Make mockups and make sure it works really good and the latches lock or grab good. They are just fancy opening doors afterall so they still have close good and line up.
Not exactly what I thought the linkage would look like. Just half a 4 bar laying on its side. LOL Might be cool to use the older Caddy trunk latch idea, that reaches out and pulls the latch closed electrically.
It's not. And I've cleaned the thread up (for the second time)...too much talking and not enough doing. I'm not a "customs" guy, but this subject interests me. Am hoping documentation/discussion will uncover other like-minded builds from the past - and also interested to see if CadMad can pull it off. All the other drama really needs to stop...
Is that one of the cars from the start of the thread? I wonder if the door is fully open or left out that far just for the photo? Interesting structure to the hinge, the diagonals must be to keep the door from sagging hwen open, right?
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