Chrysler to Make Hybrids with Hemis (CNNMoney.com)

[Pinto Girl]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Auricchio @ May 1 2007, 09:58 PM) [snapback]433706[/snapback]</div>

Hey, Pinto Girl, does that '66 ragtop have suicide doors? You know, the rear doors that open backward, with the hinge at the rear?
[/b]

Oh, yes, it does. And more...for example, you can't open a rear door with the top up until these scissor switches engage the power window and cause it to retract half way; the opposite happens once the door closes again.

Best of all, though, is the top. It's really incredible; when the mechanism works right, all you have to do is flick the switch on the dash (with the engine running so there's enough voltage) and the magic begins:
--The decklid, which is hinged at the rear, lifts to almost vertical via two LARGE hydraulic cylinders in the trunk, triggering a pair of limit switches when fully opened...
--This, in turn, begins the top cycle. Up, up, up it goes (watch the garage ceiling!) As the top (remember, this is a HUGE four door car, weighing almost 6000 lbs.) reaches a certain point, it triggers a second limit set of switches, which causes the rear windows to roll down...
--This causes the rear window retraction mechanism to engage, which folds the glass rear window and its mounting hardware into the trunk.
--By this time, the top has also folded fully into the formerly cavernous trunk (which is now COMPLETELY full of convertible top, leaving room for nothing else)...this triggers yet another bank of switches...
--Causing the hard metal tonneau cover, which is normally stowed folded to the inside of the trunklid, to extend via a pair of electric motors driving jackscrews.
--Once that opens fully, it tells the hydraulic controller via yet another set of limit switches, that the top is fully folded and everything is finally ready for the trunk to come back down...now, with the tonneau extended.
--If luck is still with us, the hydraulics (and the car owner, too) will give off a bit of a sigh as the weight of the trunk and extended tonneau brings the trunk back down...
--Finally, the noises we've been waiting for (for about half a minute now): two repetitive 'clicks' from inside the trunk, telling us that it's actually locked in the down position.

God help us if it gets stuck mid-cycle...for there it will stay. It does *not* fail-safe to either a fully retracted or fully extended position! Also, there's an interesting issue with the trunk: if the electric locks which hold the trunk down fail, there is NO MANUAL RELEASE for the trunk...the mechanic has to take apart the interior and 'jump start' the top mechanism that way, electrically. And, since there's no way to open the trunk by hand, you have to use electric/hydraulic power to open it *every time* you want to stow something in there (when the top is up, of course).

Also, I'm not an expert on this stuff, but there's a bank of BIG relays down towards the floor of the trunk...and BIG wires go to them...and the carpet in the area is a bit moist with hydraulic fluid from the reservoir...I suspect that, if a fire were to start anywhere, it'd be there!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Auricchio @ May 1 2007, 09:58 PM) [snapback]433706[/snapback]</div>

So are you planning to have a motorcade down Van Ness sometime?
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Still saving up for gas...not to mention, between premium fuel and octane boost and lead additive, the thing is a rolling Superfund site!
[laughing]

[auricchio]

It's a thing of beauty, but not as good as your description.

If I were a mechanical engineer, my eyes would be moist...