Howdy, to all,,,,a few years ago I installed, with great difficulty, I might add,, some Lamborghini Doors on my 1955 Chevy Bel-Air HDTP. It only took me about 6 months,,,or was it 8 months,,,? I had to cut into the bulkhead of the firewall to weld in a new location of 1/8" plate for the very heavy swing hinges and the weight of the doors. After many, MANY tacks, cuts and then more tacks to get the perfect 1/4" gaps all the way around the doors to the body, I called the hinges installation good!!  Both doors now close with that distinctive GM "click" when closing. I tried some long 1" shocks attached to the body at the btm and to the new hinges at the top.  That worked pretty good but it was kinda difficult for ME to get the door "Started UP" while sitting on the seat. Once the door is headed UP,, you could just nudge the door up and the shock would take it on to top position. you could also stop the progress at any point if you wanted to and the shock would hold the door there. 

  About this point , the wife started to get very sick with her Diabetes issues and I finally had to put the 55 in storage as all my time was needed for her. She passed 5 years ago and I have been talked into completing the car to enjoy it or sell it. I have had many, many  offers to buy it as is,,,, but not at this time,,,,,  

 My question here is for all the engineers both certified or not,,, on here,, as I'll wager there are many Guys here with Great ideas just like ole Joe,,,,, 

 I need a simple method and companies to contact to hydraulically or electrically raise the doors from the inside of the car . Thanks for any input,,,

From what I gather, it is some kind of "screwjack" inside the "tube" that opens and closes the rear hatch. One side is more expensive than the other so maybe this one has the motor? With my luck, this is the one that failed.

Maybe some sort of screwjack system would work in this situation?

Interestingly, the convertible top on my 1951 Plymouth uses screwjacks (not hydraulic cylinders) to put the top up and down. 

 Hey Steve this looks like something I could dang sure use,,,!! What site did you find it on?

  I am in process of re-installing the Lambo doors back on the 55. The driver's door is bolted back on the hinge and aam working on the passenger door,, so soon as I get both doors supported temporarily,,, I'll get a pic,,,Chit,,don't know if I remember how to post,,,,??

AMAZON... you just need to pick the LENGTH of stroke you need... Looks like they lift 200 pounds..

or maybe have the actuator push into a BLIND POCKET and not pinned on the top end... Pressure to lift the door, but if it fails, you could still lift the door manually ??

 Yeah, Steve,,I been thinkin on this as I believe that actuator will work with a little tweeking,,for example it will need some limit switches or you think the actuator itself has some type of potentionator (sp) that will trip the 12 VDC when the travel limit is reached,,,,?? I tried to contact them earlier but they were closed til tomorrow. 

  I'm hoping they have a "remote" actuator available that might solve the concern of the MAIN battery going dead if you had a smaller battery wired in for a one time open cycle. I seriously don't think a grown man could lift the door while sitting in the car seat,,,especially if the actuator would act as a brake anyway,,,??  but the person would be able to lower the window for egress that way.  Now,,I'm thinkin that I will not even have to lock the car as the doors have to swing out 7" for the hinge to clear the bulkhead, before they can start moving UP,,,  A REMOTE or a clicker is definatly gonna be required won't it,,? I also need to machine a small "Ramp" to force the door to swing OUT the required 7" ,,then maybe trip a switch that allows the actuator to energize,,,?