HOW-TO: install vertical doors kit

bigdunndizzle · 02-04-2008, 01:20 PM

Ok here we go..... My friend and I did installed the VDI kit on my magnum on Friday. Total time was 6 hours. The first door took 4 hours to complete. The second door only took 1 hour and we were taking pictures of the procedure. Then it took us another hour to get the wire harness in a good position. The kit comes with instructions but i find that the picture are small and not as detailed as they should be. So this how-to is to be used along with the instruction booklet that come with the VDI kit. One a scale of 1-10 i would say this was about a 5 and i have never installed anything on a car besides simple things like a deck and amp. Just take your time with it. You will use the tools they have listed in the instruction booklet (locktite red, dremmel, 10mm and 13mm socket and extension, etc.)

bigdunndizzle · 02-04-2008, 01:27 PM

First step is to disconnect the battery. I didnt do it but its up to you.
Next you have to remove the fender. Start with the 2 10mm bolts inside the fender underneath the hood:

Next remove the clips holding the splash guard in place. I didn't completely remove the splash guard. Instead I just moved it out of the way like so:

Pull back the splash guard and remove the 10mm bolt connecting the fender and the front bumper:

Pull the bumper back and remove another 10mm bolt:

bigdunndizzle · 02-04-2008, 01:36 PM

Pull the sideskirt towards you and LOOSEN (trust me everything lines up a lot easier if you loosen these instead of removing them) the 2 10mm bolts that hold the bottom of the fender in place:

Remove the big foam piece that is behind the fender. You can throw this away:

LOOSEN the 2 10mm bolts close to the door. You have to go through the wheel well to do this but this angle shows where the bolts are located:

Remove the fender carefully. Easiest way is to have one person standing up lifting the top of the fender and another person by the sideskirt slipping the fender out of the brakets down there. Lift up and toward you while slipping the bottom out.

Now that the fender is off, remove the inner fender brackets. You can throw these away as you will not need them any more:

bigdunndizzle · 02-04-2008, 01:42 PM

Next step is to cut the trim. Also notice the fender brackets are gone:

No trim:

Sand it down so it is flat against the firewall:

Next, you have to unplug the wire harness. I forgot to take a picture of this but if you made it this far I think you can figure it out. After that add the spacers and tape the door real nice and good:

bigdunndizzle · 02-04-2008, 01:54 PM

Now, you remove the factory hinges. There are two hinges each with 4 bolts (2 on the car itself and 2 on the door):

Now the hinges are removed:

Now you instal the VDI hinge. You will use the same nuts and bolts that the factory hinge used (smaller ones on the door) The instructions say to install the bolts and nuts on the door first and we did this on the first door and ran into problems. What we did for the second door was put all of the nuts and bolts in and tighten the car first and the door second. No problems that way:

bigdunndizzle · 02-04-2008, 02:10 PM

Next step is to adjust the nut and screw to keep door at factory height and then install the shock. Follow the instruction booklet closely because you have to add locktite to one part and grease to another for the shock. To install the shock put the rod mount in the spot and raise the door. While the door is raised tighten the screw with the allen wrench. Then insert the pin at the bottom to secure the shock in place:

Next add grease to certain spots described in the instruction booklet.

The next part is the hardest part in my opinion. The wire harness gave use the most problems because it would get in the way of the door closing all the way. Pull the harness from the firewall side so that there is enough wire to reach the door. Use the wire cover to protect the wire. We also wrapped it in electrical tape. We used only one zip tie to keep the harness in place where it was out of the way but to give it enough freedom to move so it doesnt get caught when closing the door. I took a few pictures becuase like I said we struggled with this for over an hour:

Next, you have to cut the inner lip of the fender. We left about three inches at the bottom and about 3/4 inch to an inch from the edge of the fender:

All that's left is putting the fender back on. Do the same thing you did to remove it except backwards. The rubber insulation thing between the door and fender kept getting in the way so we removed it also. After that everything fit perfectly:

bigdunndizzle · 02-04-2008, 02:14 PM

And after all that work you can enjoy the finished product. If you have any questions feel free to PM me with the question or for my number. I will try to help out as much as I can. A very big thank you goes out to Justin who helped me with this and Jay who was a big help over the phone.

More picture of my car here:
finally some pictures of my magnum

The finished product:

1sickmag · 02-04-2008, 02:59 PM

thats sick!! I can't wait to do mine!

krewkut125 · 02-04-2008, 03:00 PM

Very nicely done! Did taping it like you did (around the pillars) help at all then what they show in the install booklet. I ran into some problems too but I will fix and finish hopefully this comming friday. Again man good job and looks sweet!

bigdunndizzle · 02-04-2008, 03:05 PM

i figured it couldnt hurt anything. I rolled down both windows and wrapped around the pillars. It makes 20 times easier if you keep the door aligned right because you wont have to adjust the door after.