Adding a remote (electric) trunk release to your Del Sol
10-13-2005, 09:23 PM
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Adding a remote (electric) trunk release to your Del Sol
This is the revised version 
This will come in handy for those of us with aftermarket alarms with the option for a trunk release or for the few Sol owners without the remote trunk (cable) option to get into the trunk 93-94 I believe?
I decided to make this how to after I actually did it on my car so I don't have to many pics this was kinda spur of the moment and I used things I had laying around the garage so my total cost of this project was $0 which is right around where I like it.
First thing your going to need an actuator of some kind. I used one from a caddy I worked on last week. You can use basically anyone you want or even a solenoid either one will work. The actuator has to have a pull function to it BTW.
Your also going to need a long length or wire to go from the dash to the trunk
Misc electrical connectors, Relay, Fuse link, Momentary contact switch if your not using the alarm method 93 - 94 Sols for example.
Alright here's were we actually do some work:
Step one remove the rear carpet from the trunk, you need to remove the little pop connectors, to do that you unscrew the center pin and pull them out. Now there's a few tabs that hold the top of the carpet to the trunk. The easiest way Ive found to get these out is to twist them 90' in either direction with some pliers and then pull them out.
Now set the carpet aside.
To get the left side carpet out its basically the same as the rear unscrew the pin and pull the connector out and set them all aside.
Ok now you need to get the wire from the trunk to the dash, if you ever added an amp before you know the routine, if not its not all that bad but Im going to recommend a helms for this because there's a lot of screws to remove to get the passenger area panels off and you'll need to know which wire under the dash to tap into for power etc.
Once you have your wire run, we can work on the actuator, or you can do the actuator first like I did it really doesn't matter.
You need to remove the rear plate where the license plate mounts to.
There's a total for 4 I think 12mm nuts you need to remove and two nuts that are perfectly round. I used a vise grips to get those off. (You'll see what I mean once the carpet is removed)
Now once everything is out of the way you need to pick a spot to mount the actuator. I used the flat area as seen in the pic below. I choose this spot because it was flat and ran parallel to the rod for the key release.
Your going to want to use rubber washers on the outside part of the car to make a weather tight seal and to prevent rust from forming. I made a card board template of the actuator and ussed that to make my holes because only one was acceasable from the inside of the car in the spot I had picked.
Now we need to get the actuator to move the rod, I used a connector used by electricians found at any hardware store. What its intended for is to make ground block connections. (Seen in next pic)
Now to get this on the rod I removed the rod from the lock side because it was easier. I slide it on and then reattached the rod.
Now at first I used a stiff rod similar to the one shown in the pic but it turned out to bind up to much and required me to shut the trunk with more force then I cared for and cause the trunk light to light up even tho it was shut.
So in the end I went to a steal cable similar to the ones used by department stores to lock down expensive jackets and what not.
This should be your end result:
Your going to need to play with the positioning of the cable to get it to close and open just right, it may take you a few times but what your looking for is for the trunk to be able to close with no more effort then before, and having enough movement in the actuator to be able to open the latch.
Now for the electrical connections, I simply grounded it to one of the bolts it was mounted with, and ran the positive wire to the drivers side of the dash to a relay. Your asking me why aren't you? Its because most alarm box's only out out 250ma to power the trunk release, so its not enough to power the actuator so that's where the relay comes in.
If your not using an alarm to activate it this is where you hook up your switch to in its place.
So there you have it. This is just meant to be a general how to and not a complete step by step you WILL need to know how to run your own wires and make some simple connections and what not and be comfortable with power tools and drilling holes in your car. Enjoy
Modified by nocturnaldragon at 1:49 AM 10/14/2005
Modified by nocturnaldragon at 1:51 AM 10/14/2005
This will come in handy for those of us with aftermarket alarms with the option for a trunk release or for the few Sol owners without the remote trunk (cable) option to get into the trunk 93-94 I believe?
I decided to make this how to after I actually did it on my car so I don't have to many pics this was kinda spur of the moment and I used things I had laying around the garage so my total cost of this project was $0 which is right around where I like it.
First thing your going to need an actuator of some kind. I used one from a caddy I worked on last week. You can use basically anyone you want or even a solenoid either one will work. The actuator has to have a pull function to it BTW.
Your also going to need a long length or wire to go from the dash to the trunk
Misc electrical connectors, Relay, Fuse link, Momentary contact switch if your not using the alarm method 93 - 94 Sols for example.
Alright here's were we actually do some work:
Step one remove the rear carpet from the trunk, you need to remove the little pop connectors, to do that you unscrew the center pin and pull them out. Now there's a few tabs that hold the top of the carpet to the trunk. The easiest way Ive found to get these out is to twist them 90' in either direction with some pliers and then pull them out.
Now set the carpet aside.
To get the left side carpet out its basically the same as the rear unscrew the pin and pull the connector out and set them all aside.
Ok now you need to get the wire from the trunk to the dash, if you ever added an amp before you know the routine, if not its not all that bad but Im going to recommend a helms for this because there's a lot of screws to remove to get the passenger area panels off and you'll need to know which wire under the dash to tap into for power etc.
Once you have your wire run, we can work on the actuator, or you can do the actuator first like I did it really doesn't matter.
You need to remove the rear plate where the license plate mounts to.
There's a total for 4 I think 12mm nuts you need to remove and two nuts that are perfectly round. I used a vise grips to get those off. (You'll see what I mean once the carpet is removed)
Now once everything is out of the way you need to pick a spot to mount the actuator. I used the flat area as seen in the pic below. I choose this spot because it was flat and ran parallel to the rod for the key release.
Your going to want to use rubber washers on the outside part of the car to make a weather tight seal and to prevent rust from forming. I made a card board template of the actuator and ussed that to make my holes because only one was acceasable from the inside of the car in the spot I had picked.
Now we need to get the actuator to move the rod, I used a connector used by electricians found at any hardware store. What its intended for is to make ground block connections. (Seen in next pic)
Now to get this on the rod I removed the rod from the lock side because it was easier. I slide it on and then reattached the rod.
Now at first I used a stiff rod similar to the one shown in the pic but it turned out to bind up to much and required me to shut the trunk with more force then I cared for and cause the trunk light to light up even tho it was shut.
So in the end I went to a steal cable similar to the ones used by department stores to lock down expensive jackets and what not.
This should be your end result:
Your going to need to play with the positioning of the cable to get it to close and open just right, it may take you a few times but what your looking for is for the trunk to be able to close with no more effort then before, and having enough movement in the actuator to be able to open the latch.
Now for the electrical connections, I simply grounded it to one of the bolts it was mounted with, and ran the positive wire to the drivers side of the dash to a relay. Your asking me why aren't you? Its because most alarm box's only out out 250ma to power the trunk release, so its not enough to power the actuator so that's where the relay comes in.
If your not using an alarm to activate it this is where you hook up your switch to in its place.
So there you have it. This is just meant to be a general how to and not a complete step by step you WILL need to know how to run your own wires and make some simple connections and what not and be comfortable with power tools and drilling holes in your car. Enjoy
Modified by nocturnaldragon at 1:49 AM 10/14/2005
Modified by nocturnaldragon at 1:51 AM 10/14/2005
10-14-2005, 12:47 PM
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Re: Adding a remote (litterbox)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by litterbox »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Very cool sir! Don't you love actuators!! I know I do. ****, if I was gay, I'd use them for sex 
</TD></TR></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TABLE>
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10-14-2005, 12:53 PM
#8
I am a (Trial User) Army
Re: Adding a remote (JCracer723)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JCracer723 »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
</TD></TR></TABLE>Yeah, i know. I was like wtf. I retract that.
IM NOT GAY
</TD></TR></TABLE>Yeah, i know. I was like wtf. I retract that.IM NOT GAY
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