Something different - the GTB

[CarBuilderGirl]

For those that want a little something different but want to keep their GT stock... Sunday we introduced the GTB. Doors stay fully stock, hinge is fitted to the current hinge placement and the doors open fully with only 15 to 16 inches of room taken on each side of the car.

Just wanted to share with the board.

 

[K-P Garage]

now you're talkin'

That looks great. What is cost and can I buy the kit to install here rather than send my car all the way to you? Thanks, KP :thumbsup

 

[Specracer]

And could it be put back to stock if desired, with out evidence of the change?

 

[dbk]

I think that looks awesome. And I bet itt goes a long way in the practicality department too.

 

[CarBuilderGirl]

It is fantastic as far as practicality goes.. just a little over an elementary school ruler is the space you need next to your car to fully open the doors.. how's that for a space saver? :banana , I keep telling people that the best part is that you can have two GTs in your garage.. :cheers

the build is $12,000 there are electronics and such to install but all can be undone, unfortunately the car does have to make the trek to our shop. There is too much that goes to it, if the door does not come back down electronically you can't really close the doors from a seated position in the car. The new hinge is specially designed to fit the groove for the original Stock hinge so you can easily change back.. there would be wiring to remove and such, but it could be easily taken back to stock.

 

[05redrich]

Will you guys be at the Rally in August so that we can get a close up look at this and your other options?

That said, I realize this is not a trade show, but will other vendors be on hand at the Rally? I would think the vendors would like to be, and I think it would be helpful for me to cut down on some legwork to see the different options out there for the GTs. At the same time I understand this is not a trade show, and wouldn’t want to have to sit through sales pitches, but some space someplace for it might be nice.

 

[CarBuilderGirl]

Yes!, you will be able to get eyeballs on all kinds of bits and options we are going to be there with the x1 and the gtb.. I am fairly sure that we will have friends there with x1's as well.. :biggrin

We are there for the rally, if you want to know anything, please feel welcome to ask, we like to talk about cars (as one could imagine) we like to attend events like this because we love the cars, we enjoy the people.. and it's just great fun.. wouldn't want it to be like a trade show but it's great fun to be able to see what different people are doing with their cars!!

There are a couple of things you can get done that I am really hoping to see. Please remember we are there for fun and friends, but there is not a time that you will find us that we aren't in the mood to talk cars.. :biggrin :banana

 

[50 BMG]

Nice job on the "butterfly" doors :thumbsup

 

[gtjim]

It is fantastic as far as practicality goes.. just a little over an elementary school ruler is the space you need next to your car to fully open the doors.. how's that for a space saver? :banana , I keep telling people that the best part is that you can have two GTs in your garage.. :cheers

the build is $12,000 there are electronics and such to install but all can be undone, unfortunately the car does have to make the trek to our shop. There is too much that goes to it, if the door does not come back down electronically you can't really close the doors from a seated position in the car. The new hinge is specially designed to fit the groove for the original Stock hinge so you can easily change back.. there would be wiring to remove and such, but it could be easily taken back to stock.

If memory serves, there is an additional hinge added to the top inside of the door. If that is correct, if one were to go back to original doors wouldn't there be body mods visible where that hinge was uninstalled?

By the way, do love the look of the doors .. looking forward to getting a closer look at the rally, unless I'm able to visit your facility prior to that get together!

 

[CarBuilderGirl]

Actually the prototype had a guide hinge on the top, but the production hinge does not require it. so there will be no secondary hinge. the top will need no modification at all. As to the electronics, I will have to address this in pictures with our final hinge installed. It is really the best way to illustrate.

hope that helps..
~Grace

 

[Big Carrot]

That looks AWESOME!!! The cool thing is that it actually serves a purpose! The Lambo doors that people put on anything and everything bug me, but I would love to do this to my car if it wasn't so pricey! Very nice!

 

[Cyclenirvana]

Great modification. This definitely gives me something to think about. I carefully considered the GTX1 option but simply do not want to do this to my car. But the door issue is another matter entirely...especially if it could be returned to stock if necessary.

 

[CarBuilderGirl]

love to have some feedback??

Yes, I can certainly see your point. I adore the x1; the light, the wind.. but I am likely biased, go figure.. lol

While the x1 can't easily be undone this one could likely go back to stock very easily, and it saves you a lot of pain from that top panel. (can't figure out how I still manage to hit the thing when I KNOW ITS THERE?!?)

There is no change to the stock exterior and our new hinge is built to fit the place for the old hinge so there needs to be no change..

I will post more pics and more details soon. for now I will leak that we are considering a roving tour with a mobile shop so that if we are able to secure enough requests in any area we will come to you. would love feedback on that idea..

thanks
Grace

 

[Rong]

I am in on the doors if you come to S.Cal.

 

[Dr Robert Harms]

Questions

What facilities are designed for access/ egress in a roll over. Im concerned about the fixed (??) new "upper inner hinge". Is this some type of manually pullable pin ? Never tried it but I do not think many drivers could egress a rolled over car through the window.

I believe you note that the door close electronically as they cannot be reached while seated or something to that effect . If my recall on that issue is correct, do they also open electrically ? I would be concerned about closure time for both at the same time in the rain.

 

[Specracer]

Or if the battery goes dead?

 

[Townshend]

:thumbsup

My wife saw this and just about had me driving to Wisconsin.

The fact it can go back to stock is amazing - She actually asked if we could fly the tech down vs. trailering the car, so if your mobile tech makes it to Orlando that would seal the deal. (12k is worth it to her - the trailering makes it iffy!)

Erick

 

[CarBuilderGirl]

I would say that if we do go mobile, which I think is a great idea... we would definately get to Florida and California. It will depend on how many orders we get in any one area, and how soon we can get several people in one area waiting to justify the costs of sending a mobile shop.

I was incorrect on the electronics. Actually it is an option for stock cars as well. What this is; is a closing system you pull the door to near the latch point and this is a bit like the rolls royce or a high end mercedes or lexus has to pull the door fully closed. We will be installing it on the X1 as well, it makes it so you don't have to "yank" the door closed. I think personally that having a closing system is good for stock GTs, the gtx1 and the GTB.. The closure system is hidden behind the interior panels so it looks totally stock when it is in place, but you get the door nearly closed and it pulls it in and latches it.

As for opening the door if it is on its roof I can offer my two cents and that is, if the car gtb or stock gt is on its roof, you will not be able to open the door. as the clip to hold the roof panel (on the stock car) will keep it in place and with the weight of the car on it, it is just not likely the doors will be able to open. the x1 doors are likely to be able to open if the car is rubber side up, but in general when I think of the GT in any incarnation I remember the sticker inside the door of our Viper RT 10,.. which read, "this car is not equipped with a roll bar, please drive safely"... which I think makes the rule *rubber side down* The car is not easily gotten off of its wheels unless you cram on the gas in a fast corner and break it free.. The GT is very well engineered. (kudos to Kip Ewing again!) I would say that because of the weight balance and structure of the car (again in any of the three incarnations) getting out of the car if it is flipped is most likely by progress of the windshield which will have popped out on any roll.. I will double check with engineering on exiting after a roll, but I would say that the car is not a good one for opening upside down. The hinge, both Ford's and ours are substantial and I am sure it would be complicated to get the door off.

The final GTB will not have the top hinge pin, the only hinge will be the standard door location, you can open quickly and close quickly even with the electronic assist. this also means that the butterfly door will be an option for the x1 cars. We will be installing this on the prototype, I am sure we will be trying to get to it before the rally. I must admit that our primary focus is on the x1 production line right now.. but I think our engineers are primarily focused on the butterfly system and its various complexities.

 

[lthlvpr]

So how much less is the system without the electronics. I don't mind closing it manually; had no problem with this on my lambos. If the complete system with electronics, hydraullics, shocks, etc.. is $12k, I would imagine the manual system should be significantly less.

Please reply with pricing and avaialability.
Thx.

 

[CarBuilderGirl]

It is always interesting trying to explain how we complete a process and make it simple and clear enough to understand while also relaying the complexity of the situation in such a way that people understand why we are not able to send them the parts and have them installed. To date we have many options that can be sent out and installed such as the hidden bumper.. the fastest is certainly the seats, and nearly anyone can pull the seats and reinstall them, they are simple.

You cannot get the hinge without the electronics. The door simply will not work with just the hinge. The door does not go up like a lambo, but up and forward like the enzo and the mclaren.

To keep the body stock and not damage the body panels, the door cannot just open in a fluid line. Indeed the GTB must move out, then up and forward.

When you see our system operate it looks like a fluid motion, and we have two months of hours (and a lot of overtime) from engineering to get that accommplished. to be as honest as possible I will tell you that getting the doors to open this way is a pain in the backside, and requires some extremely non standard motion from a hinging system. Because of the flow of the hinge, you cannot fully pull the door closed without electronic assist.

If we change the flow of the hinge to allow for unassisted closure you are modifying at least three body panels per side to get it done, and trust me when I say that the GT just wouldn't be the GT without these parts.

As to locations for us to go mobile, it will be based on orders. More people in any area for us to go to will mean that we will a) get to that area faster and b) be more likely to schedule time there. I would say that if you are within a short drive of our facility the odds of our coming to you are much less.

Hope that helps.