Looking for Wings a Loft, door popper reviews

[Morpheus]

My advice is to spend the $$$$ somewhere else, like parts that actually make the car nicer to drive. Specifically exhaust and/or suspension mods. One of my cars has the top of the line wings a loft with trunk/bonnet popper as well. Seems to work approx half the time. I didn't purchase or install the system myself. It was something the previous owner had done at a DMC shop years ago. If you've done everything else possible to your car and still have money leftover that is burning a hole in your pocket....then by all means, go for it.

No offense, but perhaps you would be happier with the system if it were 100% functional. Have you tried to troubleshoot the system and fix whatever might be wrong? While I agree that exhaust and suspension mods are nice, they are also much more expensive than keyless entry/door poppers and don't have nearly the "wow" effect that they provide. Just my .02.

[Elvis]

I don't need a loud exhaust - but I absolutely love my door openers.
Built them myself right before Toby started to sell his kits.

I also installed ~5 of Toby kits and they work great. I didn't use his big bag full of connectors.
Instead I think I made cleaner installations.

At the same moment I also updated the door lock ECUs and added connectors for the remote system.

I never even thought of replacing the solenoids since I fixed them and the main problem 15 years ago.

[SKnight]

I had the Wings-A-Loft kit installed a little over a year ago and have been very happy with it. Having keyless entry is great especially if your hands are full, no more fumbling around to stick the key in the lock and open the door. There's also the option to get a remote trunk opening feature which means you don't have worry about pulling too hard on the release handle and breaking the cable.

I had the solenoids replaced with actuators and was able to leave the torsion bars at the original setting.

[cybercusp]

I've had my wings-a-loft and trunk popper for 5 years now. No issues and I personally love the feature, especially the trunk popper. I can tell you that the key fob is not laundry proof. Ask me how I know.

[BLWNAWY]

Nope not correct at all. The kit adds only the weight of a small linear actuator...hardly enough to require another tooth in the torsion adjustment.

As the original designer of the Wings Aloft system I totally agree. I developed and marketed remote door opener kits in the late '80s-early 90's under my Specialty Automotive name, selling and installing a lot of them. I never had issues with any. After Toby took over in about 2004 I'm sure he improved their design even more, as well as updating the name to Wings Aloft. As for DMC Houston's reluctance, remember that this is not a DMCH product - it is a Specialty Automotive/DeLorean Parts NW product. There are overlaps but I don't believe this is one of them.

[DMCMW Dave]

As for DMC Houston's reluctance, remember that this is not a DMCH product - it is a Specialty Automotive/DeLorean Parts NW product. There are overlaps but I don't believe this is one of them.

I believe DMCH reluctance is due to the wide variety of owners that they potentially deal with, and the potential for popping the doors to stress the strut mounts if the doors are set too "hot". The kit itself works very well, but you need to be aware of the changes in door operation with temperature and have some respect for allowing the doors to slam open.

The doors need to work perfectly before (and after) the installation. The test is that you can lift the outside door handle and let go, and the door will open all the way by itself. Weak struts or draggy outer door seals, or just plain door misalignment will cause the system to work less than perfectly. None of this is a problem with the kit itself. But if you start with a car with doors that don't quite work, you can spend more time fixing the doors than you do installing the system.

Although, as Elvis mentioned, my preference would be to hard-wire (i.e. solder) the connections rather than using the "vampire" clips supplied.

[88Ngone]

Well, as I've come to expect from the Delorean community, you all are amazing. You all have given me more than enough to really chew on and think about before making a final decision, and I can tell you right now I'm heavily favoring a self install when I get the car back.

In regards to the other aspects of the D, she has had a complete transmission rebuild, new fuel system, tires, tuneup, and other areas of the car checked out while in DMCH. We also had the seats reupholstered and had the louvers and bumpers professionally painted to original standard. Aesthically, the car looks good both exterior and interior wise. The only thing DMCH is currently working on right now is working out the kinks in the engine to ensure she's running smooth. After some of the much needed maintenance, she's had a few hiccups.

I figure when I get it back, this will allow me to work on personal projects such as installing the wings-a-loft system, a flip out GPS/DVD player, and figuring out a way to have legit cupholders like the one seen in the coinholder slot! In other words, my goal is to make my D an everyday driver thats mostly original, but has a few modern day upgrades as it will be used to travel.

Thanks again for the info and rest assured I will bug you all again....and again.....and again. Especially about simple updates you have done to your D that seem to make it just that much more reliable and fun to drive!

Very Respectfully,
Jared
VIN#10541

[Iznodmad]

No offense, but perhaps you would be happier with the system if it were 100% functional. Have you tried to troubleshoot the system and fix whatever might be wrong? While I agree that exhaust and suspension mods are nice, they are also much more expensive than keyless entry/door poppers and don't have nearly the "wow" effect that they provide. Just my .02.

No offense taken. We all enjoy the cars in different ways. I'm no stranger to spending gobs on money on upgrades most would consider extremely frivolous. Hell, owning more than one DeLorean edges on the level of insane, right?! I don't really care if the door poppers work 100% of the time or not. If you want to know more for curiosity sake....it is a very strange sequence that you must take to have them work correctly. In my case, if you lock the doors, then unlock them, then launch the door(s) it works most of the time. Just shut the doors and try to pop without locking and unlocking, it doesn't seem to ever launch. Weird, I know. Considering this particular car it is on is the one I use the very least, the priority of getting it to work flawlessly is low on my list. If you are ever in my area and want to look at it, just let me know. Otherwise, it will just stay the way it is for now.

[Elvis]

Never heard something similar before.

You could start by simply making sure if it is a mechanical or a software problem.

[DMCMW Dave]

Never heard something similar before.

You could start by simply making sure if it is a mechanical or a software problem.

The door latch(es) is (are) slightly out of adjustment, so with vibration the latch is slightly out of position for opening the door. The launcher is pretty particular about this. Needs slightly more preload on the launch solenoids and/or a lock/latch adjustment to make the lock disengagement more "sure". This goes along with what I said about it all being perfect and sometimes taking some time to do it.

FYI I do realize that this was installed at DMCMW (at least 6 years ago) but things do go out of adjustment over time. It's maintenance.