I have shave doors on my 37 Dodge street rod. Since the battery is inside the car I worry about a dead battery. Some one told me that I could run a separate wire from the popper relay to a second battery. Then install a battery isolator between the two batteries so the primary battery would charge the secondary battery but would not dis- charge the secondary. Would this work? Thanks Sam
Just run extra terminals to somewhere accessible from the outside of the car (underneath the rear for example). Then you can energize the battery if necessary and don't have to have a second battery. You can pair it with a keyed battery shut-off for extra safety and security. 99% of the issues I've heard of from guys I know with shaved handles getting locked out are during storage.
On my Buick I have a hidden cable that opens the doors, plus hidden power connections if the battery goes dead.
Just put handles on the door. My wife’s last car was designed with only one way into the trunk. Key fob button and that’s it. What a dumb idea. No cabin button either. My new truck has only electronic tailgate, no latch and it’s absolutely dumb. Just over complicated a tailgate on a damn pickup truck. My buddy has shaved handles on his 34 but it’s a roadster. His trunk WAS on a popper too, had a safety cable underneath in case something went wrong. He switched it up to linear actuator with no way of getting in should they screw up without taking 1/2 the car apart. Nothing electrical or mechanical ever screws up, ever.
We tried to install a cable but it did not work. Thanks for the other reply on the external terminal.
My dad had shaved handles on his 53 studebaker and ran a small single power wire from the solenoid to a small post under the rocker along with a small ground post If the battery died all he did was throw a pair of jumper cables to the small posts and a quick touch to a separate battery posts the drivers door would pop. With no other draw on that post but just the door solenoid he could have probably even popped it with a small lawn mower battery.... ..
Put both doors on separate fuses. In case one blows, you still have access to the other door. And ditto to external charging posts. I`ve installed a few on customers cars. Because they just needed them.
Go to a bicycle shop and get a long segment of bulk brake line cable and run it through the door jamb up to the grill. It's important to secure the cable at the termination inside the door. I have pictures of how to do it on my website if you're interested just let me know I'll send you a link
In addition if the door popper issue is one of the linkage from the solenoid to the tripping mechanism any amount of additional batteries or wiring or terminals won't get the door open. I also added an additional bicycle brake cable configuration from the inside door handle so that when I pull the handle up the mechanical linkage pops the door first and then the electrical switch energizes the solenoid.
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