Manual to Power Door Conversion

Originally written December 10, 2007

The only power my 87 notch came with was the 225 h.p. 5.0L V8. I added power mirrors, door locks, gas door and trunk release.

I did all this back in 2000 - 2001 so I will do my best from memory to tell you what you will need. It is very labor intensive and time consuming. This is write up will briefly cover basic details. I will add pictures and more details as time permits and as I can gather the best and most accurate information.

For starters to add any power options to your doors there is a jumper harness you will have to add under the dash. It plugs into your factory harness for power. If you have a u-pull-it yard to get one from, that would be best as you can see how the harness connects. It will have connections that run to 2 plugs for each door, one for mirrors and the other for locks/windows. There is also a plug on the harness that connects to the mirror switch in the console.

For the doors it will be easiest if you can get ones that already have the power stuff installed, especially the windows. Those are the most difficult to change as you will need the motors and the new registers, glass and a rivet gun to install them.

The mirrors are the easiest items to swap out. You should make sure to get the inside trim "blanks" to go where your manual mirror knobs where. Also for the mirrors you will need the console switch.

There are 2 different ones, one with a pig tail and one that plugs direct to the switch. Make sure you get the correct one for the harness you use. When I did mine I had access to both kinds of switches and a spare harness I made an adapter for myself so I can use both style of switches. You will also either have to cut a perfectly sized hole in your console or change it out with one that has the hole already in it.

Door locks will require the actuators and you will need to drill a hole to mount them and a rivet gun to install them.

If you go with power windows you will need new door panels, the manual window door panels are more different than just a hole for the hand crank. You will also need the arm rest for full power doors.

In the pictures I have the power window arm rest against the manual door panel, and the manual arm rest on the power window panel. As you can see they will not line up at all.

If you go with just mirrors and locks you can use your manual window arm rest and panels all you have to find is the door lock switches that replace the little square at the top of your arm rest. Good luck finding those switches.

As far as the door wiring there are 2 different harnesses, both work with the same jumper harness. Each door harnes is specific to the appliction so there is one harness for full-power doors and the other for just locks & mirrors. The plug from the lock switch to door harness is totally different between the two.