Remote Power Door Locks on 1983 Tercel

[caperren]

I am getting remote power door locks in the mail in the next day or so. I don't know if anyone has put a system like this in the 83'. I did run across a problem when trying to figure out where I should run the wires from the actuators. There are no holes in the door or the car frame to allow wires to bridge the gap between the door and frame. I am figuring that power locks were not available at that time and so there was no reason to put the holes in....If anyone has any ideas on how I should route the wires or where in the frame I should drill holes that would be great.

[SynthDesign]

The tercels were consider an entry level or economy vehicle. No power locks except the last year run in 88 which is a frankin-car in my opinion for a T4wd.
As to where to drill the holes? I think the first issue is making sure the actuator will work with the Toyota door latch mechanism. Install it loosely with wires hanging out. If you can't make it work with the wires hanging out the door panels, no point in drilling holes. You can pull the booted grommets from numerous different types of cars from a pull-a-part type place and fab to fit too. Might as well add speaker wires too and add a sealed box for a 4" speaker...

Good luck
And take pics!

And welcome to the forum.

[caperren]

Okay so I got the door locks today and only had time to install the driver side actuator. Sorry for the blurry pics....My next set will be taken with my good camera. http://www.getdropbox.com/gallery/50891 ... s?h=8e6288 I had an interesting time trying to figure out how to mount the actuators but in the end a bolt and a zip-tie saved the day. After testing the actuator I drilled a hole to route the wires through and covered them in electrical tape. I mounted the control box loosely under the dash next to the fuse box until I get adhesive Velcro. Unfortunately I ran out of time and did not get any pictures of the door when it was put back together. Any thoughts, ideas, or comments.

[SynthDesign]

Looks like you have a handle on it. Thanks for the pics.
So power locks for all 4 doors?
What are you running for switches?

[caperren]

Yes there are power locks for all doors........I would post more pics but my photos got corrupted...I'll have to take one of the panels off and take one last set of pictures... There are no switches. There are two remote controls that work from 40 ft away. Also, instead of a switch, when you lock the driver door the rest lock; same goes for unlocking. I finished it today after working on it for five hours straight. So far it works great. I do need to fix where the actuator on the rear left door is positioned as it creates a rather large bulge. Luckily I figured out how to avoid this on the other rear door so I have to go back and fix it. For $37 they work great and lets me avoid bending the key trying to unlock the door.