> Back in the "stone(s) ages" the ones I saw used a 12V solenoid through a
> lever arangement to release the door latch. It was triggered by a hidden
> push button switch.
> I;ve often wondered though, what happened if he left the lights on and
> drained the battery? Was he "locked" out of the car? Maybe you just
> jumped the car to open the door?
> One of life's little unanswered questions, I guess
> Rick Morrison
> On Mon, 27 Oct 1997 16:28:28 +0000 "Scott Gardner" <gardner@lwcomm.com>
> writes:
> >This is for the older members of the list that were around in the
> >1950's. I was watching a show on Speedvision about "Lead Sleds" and
> >other cruisers, and most of them had the door handles shaved off. I
> >know that today, a handle-shaving job is usually done in conjunction
> >with the installation of a remote-control electronic actuator, but
> >how did you open the doors without handles back in the 50's when this
> >first started becoming popular?
> >
> >Scott
> >
Rick,
Thanks for the reply. I guess they just used the same arrangement
used today, only with a physical switch vice a remote-controlled
relay.
I can answer your question about locking oneself out of a car with
shaved door handles. In hatchbacks, such as some Mustangs, the hatch
lock is left alone, so that the owner can crawl through to the front
seat to open the hood for a jump. Other arrangements I've seen
include a back-up battery wired to a hidden switch such as the one
you described from the "stone age", or modifying the hood so that it
can be opened while the car is still locked. (Of course, this last
one is only necessary if the hood is normally open via a cable inside
the car.)
Scott
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