Shaving door handles is nothing new. This customization trick has been around since the 1940s. Many a custom car of the '50s and '60s shed their obtrusive-looking handles in order to gain a sleeker look. The look of a smoothed and filled door never gets old and looks good on muscle cars of any given year.
Take, for instance, this 1988 IROC-Z, my daily driver. I always wanted this look for my car, but the decision to shave the handles got a lot easier when a distracted driver plowed into the front fender. Since the vehicle needs to be repainted, this would be a good time to start carving her up.
But what if you don't want to repaint the entire vehicle. Can it still be done? The answer is yes. Filling in door handles can be performed at any stage in the vehicle's build.
The nagging question here is once the door handles are removed, how do you open the doors? There are countless kits on the market that all claim to have the best technology for keyless entry. But for a true quality system (with no plastic parts, we might add), Electric Life power window systems and accessories was an obvious choice. The solenoids in the Electric Life kit have enough pulling power to yank the teeth from an alligator; they can certainly pop open the heavy doors of a Camaro. Follow along in our article and then check out www.superchevy.com for a video demonstration of the Electric Life system in action.
 Suffice it to say, if disassembling...  Suffice it to say, if disassembling a door is too daunting a task for you, maybe this kit is better left installed by your favorite shop. But here we are, the IROC door stripped down to its bare essentials. Since it is difficult to install and photograph a story at the same time, I went to Chino High School's Regional Opportunity Program (ROP) auto body class, where instructor Roy Landgrave and assistant Jeff Martin, along with student Jacob Vermillion (aka French Fry), helped with the install, making it easier to take the pictures. |  The OE power door locks sit...  The OE power door locks sit in the exact location where we want to place the 60 lbs door solenoids. The solenoids don't weigh 60 lbs; they have 60 lbs of pulling power. |  The truly great thing about...  The truly great thing about this particular kit from Electric Life is the 12-channel keyless entry system. The electronic brain can control more than just door locks and windows. It can control most any 12-volt source on the vehicle. We started with just the basic keyless entry system; should it be decided to add more to the system later on, an alarm, remote starter, remote auxiliary lights, and remote window operation can all be added at a later date. The honest truth is this system was really easy to install. It just took time and patience to figure the exact location of each solenoid and the door poppers. |
 First we ground down the rivets...  First we ground down the rivets on both doors that held the OE electric locks in place... | 
...and removed them. |  The second step was to figure...  The second step was to figure the exact location of the solenoid and bracket to hold it to the door. We used the bracket and a Sharpie marker as a template for drilling the mounting holes. |
 The guide holes are first...  The guide holes are first drilled and then the step drill bit is used to get the exact size of the bolt holes. |  The step drill bit (uni-bit)...  The step drill bit (uni-bit) turned out to be the best friend for this install. |  This is the 60 lbs solenoid...  This is the 60 lbs solenoid that will fit inside the bottom of the door. |