by hilltop170 » Mon Mar 01, 2021 5:34 pm
Thanks George, it was not too hard to install once I figured out how to make it work. There isn’t enough headroom to put the opener above the door like on a normal garage door so I had to put it back behind the door and fab a push-pull linkage rod between the chain drive slider and the door. I just happened to have a length of structural “T” shape iron in the garage (can’t remember why it was there) that worked perfectly. Hanging the opener from the roof was fairly straightforward and I added a couple of safety brackets to catch any of the parts that might fall off and hit the plane. The upper door rollers travel horizontally in a track so the door opener either pushes or pulls inline with the door tracks. That was a handy coincidence that made things easier.
The opener is a $100 1/2hp Chamberlain bare-bones chain drive model from Lowes with a single remote and single wall button. I ran the power cord down to a wall outlet so I can unplug it when I’m gone so nothing can make it open accidentally. I left the mechanical disconnect in place so the door can still be opened by hand (and back!) if the door opener doesn’t work for any reason. I also shortened the drive section since the door top rollers only move 5-1/2 feet where a normal garage door moves about 7’. All I had to do was leave out one 18” section of the opener bar and cut the chain down to the appropriate length. All in all it took about 20hours to install with a few trips back to Lowes. Can’t believe I waited this long to install one!
The middle door has adjustable counterbalance springs that assist opening and closing but it’s still a back-wrenching affair to throw it open, closing is much easier.

- Typical Port-A-Port hangars
Richard Pulley
2014-2016 TIC170A Past President
1951 170A, N1715D, s/n 20158, O-300D
Owned from 1973 to 1984.
Bought again in 2006 after 22 years.
It's not for sale!