How To: Making Door Locks Flush

[Elderain]

This "How To" will explain in detail how to make your door locks be flush with the door, when in the locked position. The final outcome will look something like this. It should let you rest your arm out the window, without the pesky lock in the way!

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/doormod1-sm.jpg

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/doormod2-sm.jpg

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/doormod3-sm.jpg

First off, a few details before you get started. I did this on my 03.5 Mazdaspeed Protege`, so I don't know what other vehicles it will work on. Your door locks will not be able to be unlocked manually, you will have to use the power door lock button to open any door that you modify like this. It took me aproximatley 30 minutes for one door. The cost per door is about $1.50. All the things I used were bought at the Home Depot, and the tools I just had laying around the house.

Tools:
Phillips and Flat Head Screw Driver,
Bolt Cutters (or something else able to cut the rod)
Permanent Marker
Epoxy
Plastic Connector

When I went to the Home Depot to find the afore mentioned "Plastic Connector", I searched around, and found a suitable canidate in the isle with all the screw, bolts, washers, nuts, etc. Here are what they look like.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/plasticpiece-sm.jpg

They are about 1" long, and the ID is slightly bigger then 1/8". The package had no actual markings of size on them. They cost $0.48 for a package of 2.

The epoxy used, I did't take a picture of, but anything should do that will bond plastic/metal together. Usually a small tube costs about $4.00 and should be more then enough to do this mod to every car on your block. I used a lolipop stick to stir it together with, and put it on wax paper. It comes in 2 parts and you should mix it right before you use it.

[Elderain]

Once you have all the parts you will need, its time to start taking your door off. The pictures to follow are all of the passenger door, so yours might look different. You need to remove a few screws, a retaining clip, the arm rest/handle, the tweeter (if a front door), and a few small plastic clips. The pictures below show the locations, and how to remove them.

First I removed the tweeter. I put my fingers where the pink arrows are, and pulled twords me, until a metal retaining clip popped out, it took a little bit of force. There is plenty of wire behind it that you wont rip the speaker wire out of the speaker. Once the first half is out, just get a better grip, and pull the second clip in the corner out.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/pullspeakerhere.jpg

This should give you an idea of how much wire there is also, so you know how hard not to pull! Also you can see where the two pink arrows point to the clips that hold it on.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/speakeroff.jpg

Once the tweeter is off, I just hung it over the door to keep it out of harms way, so I didn't break it, and so it didn't get in my way.

Next I took the Arm Rest/Handle off of the door. There are 2 screws (for this particular door), and underneath it are 2 more screws. Once the 2 screws come off, you have to pull the Arm Rest/Handle off with a little force. I will show a picture of what the back looks like, so you know what way to pull (this took me a minute or two to figure out the first time).

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/screwlocationcloseup.jpg

After those 2 screws come out, the handle has to be pulled away from the door, and twords the front of the car. There is once clip on the backside, and if you dont pull twords the front of the car, it makes it alot harder to come off.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/backofarmresthandle.jpg

If you push twords the back end of the car, the clip the arrow is pointing to wont let it come off. It took me a minute of pulling around to get it off. I put it back on, and when I pulled out and forward, it popped right off.

Once the Arm Rest/Handle comes off, there are 2 screws underneath it that you have to take out.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/doorhandleoff.jpg

Once those 2 screws come out, there is a screw with a plastic cap over it, located just underneath the tweeter. I used a Flat Head Screwdriver to pry the cap up, you can use your finger nails also if you have any. Once the cap is up, take the screw out.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/popcapscrew.jpg

Next there is a screw inside the Door Handle, remove this next. Once the screw is out, the Door Handle should pop right out, there is a small clip on the back that dosen't really hold anything in. It practically fell out once the screw was removed.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/doorhandlescrew.jpg

After the Door Handle is removed, there is one more plastic retaining clip, on the side of the door. You can pry the center of it out with your finger nails, or the Flat Head Screwdriver. Once you pop up the center piece, it comes out about 1/4" inch, pull the whole clip out from the base.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/sideplug.jpg

Once that retaining clip on the side of the door is removed, you have to pull the door panel away from the door. There are about 5 or so white plastic clips on the backside that just pop out when you pull.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/doorpanelwhole.jpg

I put my fingers under the door panel where the pink arrows are, and gave a gentle tug and one or two of the small clips popped out.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/doorsnaps.jpg

Here you can see 2 of the white clips that held the door panel on, they snap out very easily. From there, just tug around the outside of the panel and unclip the rest of these.

[Elderain]

After you get all the white clips unsnapped, you should be able to grab the whole door panel and lift up, and it should be completley unhooked from the door. There are still lots of wires behind it that I did not remove. I just let the door panel hang there, but if you so choose to mess with wires, you can unplug it all and move the door panel elsewhere while you work.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/dooroff.jpg

This is the part we will be focusing on, and cutting. There is a little bit of plastic in front of it which you can pull down. Be careful not to get the tacky tar stuff that holds the plastic to the door, all over stuff.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/lockassemblydooroff.jpg

Now is where you will need the marker, and your bolt cutters, or other means of cutting the rod. What I first did was mark the rod in the locked and unlocked position, after the small clip that holds the rod to the door. I did this so that I did'nt cut the rod in half, to close to the top, so that it wouldnt be able to go up when unlocked.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/marklockunlockspots.jpg

The top mark is when the door is locked, and the bottom, is when it is unlocked. I made the mark parallel to the bottom of the plastic clip so I know where the clip would hit, when in locked or unlocked position. Next I took the bolt cutters, or tool of your choice, and cut the rod about 3/4" above the point where it curved.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/cutrod.jpg

Now you want to figure out how far down the plastic piece of the lock has to go, to become flush. Fortunatley this is easy. The bottom part of this piece, should slide down as far as it can into the clip, so the top of the clip and the bottom of this piece meet.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/makeflush.jpg

Once that is in position you need to mark on that same piece, where to make another cut in the rod. To determine this location, move the part of the rod that is still conencted to the door, along side of the piece that is in the clip. Draw a line across where they would need to meet. Your going to cut this rod just a little above that line, to give your self enough room inside the plastic coupler.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/cutroddrawline.jpg

Once you cut that piece of rod shorter, its time to mix your epoxy. I took a lolipop stick and a piece of wax paper. The eopxy I used had two tubes and you mix equal parts together, stir, and apply. I didn't get shots of me applying the glue, but it's not needed. Apply the epoxy to the bottom half of the rod, still attached to the door, then slide the plastic coupler over top. Next put epoxy on the bottom of the rod that isn't attached, but is in the clip, then slide that into the top of the coupler, and then snap it back into the clip.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/plasticpieceglued.jpg

Make sure the coupler is as far down on the rod as it can go, but that it has enough of the rod inside that it will not fall out. If you did it right, the coupler should be down far enough on the rod, that when you unlock the door, it does not hit the small plastic clip holding the rod to the door. Basically your done now, you can wait a small while for the glue to dry while you do the other doors, or just close the door up and let it dry inside. Put all the panels back on the door in reverse order of how you took them off, and if all went well, when your door is locked, you now have a door lock thats flush!

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/doormod1.jpg

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/doormod2.jpg

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/doormod3.jpg

[Matthew]

very nice write up, though the pics are a bit dark...if you want, send me the files zipped (i know i can save them from here but im too lazy to save every idividual file) and i can lighten them up in photoshop if you dont have it...i think you said you had PSP, and if you do i would suggest lightening the photos...BUT enough negative, excellant first write up!

[Elderain]

I use PS7 also, I just wanted to write it up and draw some pictures before I forgot what I did :) Ill brighten em up in a few.

[FrigginGLI]

Nice write up , very detailed. Thats for the how-to.

[Matthew]

Originally posted by Elderain
I use PS7 also, I just wanted to write it up and draw some pictures before I forgot what I did :) Ill brighten em up in a few.

(werd)

[AZDriftR]

Wow, good job, Even better idea! this is on my list of Future mods. Thanks alot!

[ATLskate]

Loved the writeup, definately in my future. Good job!

[Elderain]

better pics should be up now :) hope you can see em alright. I did em at like 8pm on a rainy day lol. I was going to video tape the whole thing by my dad wouldnt help :(

[derrick1623]

excellent write-up...and not only is it a mod, it's kinda a security feature.i likey

[Elderain]

keeps girls from running out of the car too :) LOL

[zumi]

looks good!

but what happens if, hypothetically, you are in your car and your battery dies, and all the door are locked? maybe you should have some little tool to help snag it up on these emergency situations.

cars that come with this feature, the locks pop up when you pull on the handle, right?

[Midnight22]

wow, im def doin this, i just dont like the fact that i cant manually unlock them now, u know what, im gonna take a look at them and my rents car and see how i can make the door unlock when i pull the handle, cuz if i got that then i wouldnt have to manually unlock them... sounds like a project, but once again great how-to and itz a mod i do see in the future

[zumi]

well i guess if you didn't do this to ALL your doors you would be okay =)

[Elderain]

Well, If that ever happens where I get trapped in my car :D Because the lock has a slight indent for your finger near the top, it offers enough room for me to get a key in there to pop it up :) Im not worried. Maybe I can arrange that getting locked in the car thing to happen when I'm with a certain girl I like, and we have to wait hours on end for help *innocent grin*

[girth]

Good write-up and nice pics. It'll come in handy for many.

I just wish there was a way to leave them exactly as they are but allow them to recess fully if you press down on it -- my Dad's 92 Ford Pickup had this feature and it was the best of everything --
- a lock that can be unlocked manually (no full recess)
- a lock that is visibly easy to determine whether it's locked or unlocked (as opposed to many of the damn "switch" locks on a lot of today's cars)
- a lock that fully recesses when you want it to and doesn't fully recess when you don't want it to.

Of course Ford was too stupid to keep those locks on their newer trucks. Sigh.....your write-up is the next best thing though, so good work.

[PaulMP3]

How is the plastic lock piece conected to the road??? it wasnt threaded on?

Looks good though, and functional.

[Elderain]

I didnt really take a look at how the rod was connected to the lil plastic lock piece. I originally figured I would just take the plastic part off and chop it down but it didnt want to come off when I had the door apart :(

[Elderain]

Eventually, I am going to see if i can find another power door lock set, and install it in the passenger side up front, so that he can unlock his door also, althought I dont often have passsengers.

[IcedMp5]

very clean! i now have a weekend project!

ice

[Elderain]

LOL ok just a suggestion, make sure the small plasic connector DOES NOT DRY TO THE DOOR PANEL :D This morning I had to give it a small love tap to break it loose hehe, other then that, all went according to plan :P I didnt think to check if it would glue it self to the door!

[smithers_0990]

I didnt use the plastic part. I just took the knob part off (unclip the bottom and twist the top off) then cut the metal where the threads are and screw it back on. Done that easy.

Later

[Groza187]

Those things r a menace. I always hit em with my arm. Good mod.

[Dimitrios]

Originally posted by smithers_0990
I didnt use the plastic part. I just took the knob part off (unclip the bottom and twist the top off) then cut the metal where the threads are and screw it back on. Done that easy.

Later

Did you have enough thread left? That'd be my only concern. At least 4-5 threads should be avail.

Dimitrios

[kidkorrupt]

cool, looks deceptively easy.

nice how-to on front door removal =D

[jrodhotrod]

Very nicely done! Great write-up.

[1sty]

I am stealing this for a removing door panel wirte up thread in the Stereo setcion :D

[Elderain]

sure, just clip the first half out :) should work well for that considering thats 75% of the procedure here lol

[TX Speed Demon]

hey Elderain,

When you had your door panel off, did you see an easy way to remove the suede part from the rest of the door panel? Eventually I'd like to replace that area with some burnt orange leather, but didn't know if it was fixed to the door or easily removable.

[Elderain]

didnt even look to be honest with ya. Taking off the door panel can be done in about 3 minutes tho, and after youve done it once, its like a pitstop, you can get it down to about 30 seconds :)

[chuyler1]

That looks cool and everything but I would hate to get trapped in my car in the event of an accident...

a front end accident could and often times does disconnect the battery...you would have to break your window then either crawl out or use your key on the outside of the door. if it was a bad accident and you were severely injured a rescue team would have to figure this out in order to get you out of the car w/o the jaws of life, wasting valueable time.

[wannabe]

i got a stoopid question for you...
in those pictures it looks like they will not pop up at all, even when the doors are unlocked. and i just being blind and dumb here? it appears as tho the plastic coupler is gonna hit that clip when you try to unlock your doors, and hence not unlock them.

[Elderain]

You are incorrect :) They pop up fine, I'll take a picture when I get home. Even a small movie if you don't believe me :)

[AZDriftR]

i went to home depot to find the plastic pieces and could not find them anywhere. so i used cut pieces of a straw and it works perfect. then i did the rear doors the same way, looks great thanks for the great project:D

[therizzzo]

another dumb question about this: when you say after it's been modded the door will not operate manually, do you mean just from the inside? Or you cannot use the key to unlock car from the outside also?

[AZDriftR]

the key works and the button works u just cant use your fingers to get it open

[brucelee]

awesome, i need to do this.
but one question...i would probably make it so there's a little bit still sticking out so i could pull it out with my fingers. if i pull on it too hard (theoretically speaking) then wouldn't there be a chance of the metal rod coming out of the plastic connector?

[Elderain]

not if you glue the connector right. Use a good epoxy, dont use wood glue or anything lol. Also for the person who asked about getting stuck in the car, I just realized I didnt do the back door locks, nor do I need to. My windows only go down like 95% of the way, and the 5% that dosent go down, is where the lock is ;) so, I can always get out the back door if some freak dead battery accident happens

[AZDriftR]

i did all the locks but can still get out though the trunk if needed

[ATLskate]

I helped AZdriftr do the locks, definatly a cheap mod, and something that'll make your car stand out a little at the meets. I plan on doing my car soon, love the idea Elderain.

[marshalllaw18]

There is an easier way, in my opinion to do this mod. All you have to do is take off the door panel, and unscrew the lock lever from the threaded rod. Then just cut off 3/4 in. of the threaded rod,(I used a dremel with a cut off bit) and screw the lock lever back onto the threaded rod, it will screw down enought so that it sits flush with the door when locked. Took me maybe 30 min. to do both front doors, and most of that was to take the panels off and put them back on. Also, if you do this mod this way, you can reverse it if you want, just simply unscrew the lock lever some.

[NRRfrogmanP5]

i been thinkin about doin that to my crever scince i got it..but seems like alot of work...couldnt u just dremel and sand a nice flat surface ? maybe easier?

[marshalllaw18]

Well, it isn't that much work, but what would you dremel and sand? The lock lever/knob thingy that gets in the way? If you did that, it would look ugly, and would have a hole in the top of it, but I guess it would work if you didn't care about how it looked.

[Elderain]

I did my drivers door today, it took me about 10 minutes. Its the greatest thing in the world sing sliced bread. I can finally rest my arm out the window!

[jcywong]

just wondering how do you open the doors from inside, do you guys got a separate switch in opening the doors???

[wannabe]

you just hit the unlock button

[therizzzo]

got my front doors done a couple of days ago. It's so easy, you could train a monkey to do this. I just used a pair of heavy duty wire cutters and cut off all the threads but 6 or 7 or so and it's beautiful.

Big props to whoever thought of this. Simple. Effective. Free.

:)

[2K3 MSP]

Those doorlocks are one of the only things that I hate on this interior. I always hit mine when I put my arm out the window. This is definately a great idea!! I'm gonna have to try this out soon. Good job Eldrain, and nice write-up. :)

[ahb11m]

i'm doing mine this weekend... but i'm hoping to find a relay wiring diagram for the factory central locking... that way i can just put a momentary switch up in a small hidden location so in the event i lock myself in (i have no power windows!!) i can press a button and hey presto!! also handy for letting in passengers when picking them up from the kerb etc....

i've decided to mount it in the "sunglasses holder" ps what is this thing for??

just at the top or the side, that way its hidden, and the locks are hidden away as well.... so mine will cost me a bit more... darn

i'll send pics, and a quick how the hell i did the central locking bitto


if someone can send me a wiring diagram that would be helpfull... if not i'll probe the hell out of it until it locks/unlocks!!!!

should be a negative thats all i really know...

[jcywong]

good one mate post it when you done, i'm on the same boat

[Albert]

I just did this to my passenger door. Does anyone else feel that when you replace the screws holding on the door they don't feel that they tighten all the way? They get tight, they just don't get to the point of not being able to turn any more. Just wondering if anyone else felt the same thing.

[ahb11m]

albert - you probably did one of two things... you in fact didn't tighten enough, or you have over tightened.... i'm presuming that your tlaking about the metal screws?? either way, you may have to get a different screw driver to fit the head better OR get larger diameter screws


now jcywong - i started pulling my stuff apart to search for the mystery trigger wire... i tried every one in the central locking relay box, and had no luck..... (thanks to marshallaw for the wiring schematic.... i actually worked out i had that already!!) i tried negative triggers, i tried positive triggers and nothing worked....

funnily enough i worked out my locking was after market (i'd been suspicious) and it would seem whoever installed it couldn't find a trigger and as such they just installed an actuator motor into the drivers door!!! linked direct to a locking kit(so the remote locks/unlocks the drivers door and then the others follow from the mazda locks... crazy)

so anyway long story short, i didn't get it done, coz i spent all day trying to work out the damn locks!!! but i have worked out how the actuator motors work... just need to work on the polarity.... i'll fill you in through the week

[fluxMP3]

i might jus do this tommorow

[Tinkerbelle]

Thank you thank you thank you! Excellent step-by-step. This may be the first "mod" I do to this car! Previous to the MSP we had a 1996 Protege DX and the locks recessed completely into the door so it didn't hit your arm, while still leaving the thumb-dent exposed on one side for unlocking manually. I miss those, and have wondered why they didn't do that with this car but didn't know it might be so easy to remedy!

(Unless... unless I can take the locks out of the DX and put them in the MSP... hmmm? Then we could still unlock manually. Well, that's probably an easy 10-min project for some of you but maybe I won't try it my first time taking the door off.)

Maybe I'll just leave a teeny bit more sticking out than in Elderain's photos...

[ahb11m]

tinker, you'd have to do some good cutting, once you start that, there is no coming back... with this one, it is possible to reverse it if you really have to

[Tinkerbelle]

Excellent point ahb11m. Thanks.

If I end up doing this (probably Elderain's way!) I'll be sure to post my results. Hilarity ensues.

[LapisBlueProteg]

thanks a lot guys for the info, i found the back doors to be really easy. too bad i dont have a digital but my friend does so ill get picts soon. the front was a little harder but thanks to u guys i love the door locks!!!

[LapisBlueProteg]

here is a close one of mine

[EviLMaN]

OMFG IM A GENIUS i think i might of thought of some thing to make (homade) so when u open the door from the inside (while its lock) it will unlock. to hard to explain but ima try my ideas and when i get one that works ill take pics and make a how to :D

[ahb11m]

hehe yay i JUST got mine done, i did my usual i'm just gonna rotate my tyres, hmm engine bay looks filthy, i wonder if i can take the front bumper off?? hmm flush mount door locks?? i've only been meaning to do it for a touch over a month!!!

so happy already - plus as i said i have an aftermarket c/l kit (mazda installed - go figure) so i just ran the negative trigger wire to unlock hooked through a push button switch havn't mounted the switch properly as its 1am in the morning atm.... maybe in about a month??!

so yes to all those lucky people with aftermarket alarms, or c/l you'll have it easy - i couldn;t make the mazda stuff pop the doors, i tried forever no luck but

good luck everyone else, i'll post pics another day (read: year)

James

[GotBoost]

Great write up. Kudos!!! I will definataly be doing this.

[Minus]

why not just do the front doors? because your arm would never hit the ones in the back

[duMb KeoLa]

it just looks co0Ler that all of them are flush mount....i did it the hacking way, i just unscrewed the knob itself off of the threaded rod and cut that...i left about 6-8 threads on it so it will have enough...and with some hard twisting to get the knob back on, walaa...IT WORKS LIKE A CHARM!!! you can also adjust how deep or shallow you want it to be sticking out...so if you want to make it more than flush, you can do that also...THANKS FOR THE WRITE UP!

[ahb11m]

minus, it looks like its all meant to be there, as well as giving a theft deterant (who wants to steal a 1.6??)

[ZapWizard]

I am going outside to do this right now.
(I will take my own photos, as I do with everything)

But I also want to add a second door-unlock switch to the passanger side.

Does anyone know where to get a matching switch that I can install?
(And also good looking switches for the switch area, just left of the steering wheel?)

[ahb11m]

i dunno about that, but there is a really good method to attach a negative grounding central locking switch... have a look through the site (search) for it... i'll post it up when i have more time!!!

[ZapWizard]

Thanks Elderain, I did this mod today.

I re-wrote a guide using the thread-cutting method, I hope you don't mind if I post it here:

Lowered door locks
2003 Mazda Protégé
http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/01-door.jpg




<HR>Hanging your arm out the window on a nice day is great. But often times the door lock knob gets in the way, and hurts your arm.

The solution is to lower the door locks.

I could have made the lock total flush, but I left it a little up so that it can manually be pulled, yet doesn't annoy me by sticking into my arm.




<HR>Thanks to Elderain for the original guide located here:
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29827 (http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29827)




<HR>The tools needed are:


Philips screwdriver
Dremel or hacksaw to cut metal.


<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/18-Locked.jpghttp://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/18-UnLocked.jpg



The result is a knob that doesn't stick up when in the locked position.




<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/01-door.jpg


This guide is for the drivers side door.



<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/02-lock.jpg

First lock the door, and mark the knob gently with a pencil

The distance between this mark and the top of the lock will be how much you need to cut off later.




<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/03-lock.jpg

If you want a lowered (Not totally flush) knob then unlock the doors and make a second mark.



<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/04-panel.jpg

First remove the mirror panel.

This just pops off when pulled.



<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/05-Handle.jpg

Then remove the screw from the door handle.



<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/06-Handle.jpg

You need to remove the pink wire on the defrost relay.

Pull the handle slightly, then slide towards the front of the car to remove it.



<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/07-Screws.jpg

Remove the two screws under this handle.



<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/08-screw.jpg


Then un-cap the screw at the front of the door, and remove the screw.

Be gentle as the door plastic is very soft, use a cloth under the screwdriver to protect the door.



<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/09-Handle.jpg


Remove the screw inside the door handle.

There is a clip holding the door handle to the pull-rod.

This clip twists off the rod, then the handle pulls up off of it.

If you can't get the handle off, it can pass though the hole, and stay there (I had to do this at first)



<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/10-Pop-Bolt.jpg


The last thing to remove on the door, is a pop-bolt at the back.

You pry the center up about 1/4" then remove the entire pop-bolt.



<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/11-pull.jpg

The original guide had me pulling at the back of the door panel to remove it.

I found it much easier to pull from the front, as there is almost a hand-grip up there.

Gently pull on the door all the way from the front, around the bottom, then to the back.

The door panel then lifts up, and off the door.



<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/12-guts.jpg


The door will have several wire connectors attached.

Press the tab on each connector to free the door.


<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/13-lock.jpg


You can now see the lock knob clearly.



<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/14-Unscrew.jpg


This knob will unscrew off the rod pretty easily.

http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/15-setup.jpg


Use the mark you made on the door knob to determine how much of the threading you need to cut off.

-For a lowered knob, cut off the distance between the top mark, and the bottom mark.

-For a totally flush knob, cut off the distance between the top mark, and the top of the knob. (Ignore the second mark)

Mark how much you need to cut off with a pencil, or sharpie marker.



<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/16-Dremel.jpg

Using a Dremel, or other saw, cut the length you marked off from the top.

Note: Put a piece of paper or something to block the dust from hitting the window.

(I forgot to do this)



<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/17-cut.jpg

Once cut, clean up any dust left over.

Then re-thread the knob on, and start putting the door back together.


<HR>http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/18-Locked.jpg http://www.zapwizard.com/Car/locks/18-UnLocked.jpg


Once complete your door lock knob will not bother you when you put your arm out the window.

(The above is the lowered knob, and is not totally flush)

[jrodhotrod]

nice work! Great pictures.

I highly suggest leaving a little bit of the knob up, because my power switch is flakey and without that you could get caught in the car.

[Poseur]

Okay, so I saw this forever ago, and have been meaning to do it forever. WHY did I wait this long??? This has to be one of the most daily noticeable mods I've done. and it's soo simple... Especially in spring time when it's nice out, windows down, go to hang your arm on the door, and No stabbing... wow! I did about what zap listed as the "trimmed' not flush method. I just measured it out, thouhg and cameup with about 1cm to be optimal. Still just barely enough to get ahold of if you need to, but it's down enough not to stab your arm..

[ahb11m]

i'm gonna have a look into something a little better..... i have done this and its great but everyone thinks i'm kindapping them!!!

the previous model ford laser (and i'd guess the protege) has flush sitting locks.... would be good to see if it will transfer over!!!

[Poseur]

i'm gonna have a look into something a little better..... i have done this and its great but everyone thinks i'm kindapping them!!!

the previous model ford laser (and i'd guess the protege) has flush sitting locks.... would be good to see if it will transfer over!!!
You know what? I didn't even think about that, but ford tends to like to make their locks flush and have them pop when you pull the handle as well. Even more interesting than the locks themselves would be the latching mechanism... I wonder what it would take to switch them out? here's what mine on my pass side of an 03 p5 looks like

[ahb11m]

haha, i was gonna say thats the right hand door, thats the driver door!!!
duh!

i looked into doing that, and its pretty hard to do.... i found that only the euro fords do that.... we only get one american ford.... the F150

[Hedges]

If you are trapped in a sedan protege, pop the trunk from under the driver seat than just hop in the back pull the rear seats down, and crawl out from the trunk! lol People will look like at you but oh well you got flush locks now! :)

[ahb11m]

thats if your subs arn't blocking the way!!!

[s5number2]

i just di this mod tonite it was a cinch. 45min all 4 doors. as for the unlocking issue there is enogh room to pry it up with your key

[wannabe]

passengers still dont like it..but i dont care. i enjoy watching them squirm (naughty)

[s5number2]

i have done the front doors and i tried the rear but couldnt get the handle cover off. how do you do this?

[ahb11m]

the same way you do the fronts... jus more forceful since there is less to hold

[eljefe305]

what happened to the pictures =(

[ZapWizard]

Guide on my website is still live:
http://www.zapwizard.com/car/locks/Index.html

[special--k]

Photos are dead :(

[Vocko]

You have them on ZapWizards site, just click the link above your post...