stupid door handles

[Crazy K]

i've ran whole diatribes on how to do all this.

 

basically over time the rob bends so as to be shorter, and the shorter it is the more effort it takes. I have stretched out the rods so the nut is about halfway down the adjuster. takes some trial and error, but it is worth it.

 

I also add an emergency string made of nylon rope, which is hooked to part of the internal mechanism and hangs out of a weep hole on the bottom of the door. I tuck the hang out part into the weather striping along the bottom of the door, and I will be able to fish it out in an emergency with a paperclip or credit card.

 

I also make sure to coat the door seal with dielectric grease to prevent freezing of the door shut.

[Rocketman]

I recently had my driverside handle snap on me. I cast a new handle & installed it, been working great for about a month now. The aluminum alloy should hold up much better than the potmetal. Was a total bitch to make & fit, though.

 

 

[mhildebrand]

Anyone else had problems with the paint fading after about a year on the car? Ive replaced the drivers handle multiple times from Advanced Auto, and after a year the paint looks like its flat black. Ive tried keeping it waxed more often than the car, but it doesnt help. I think that the aftermarket handles dont have clear coat on them is why they fade out.

 

And with rigging something up: I moved the adjuster all the way to the top of the rod so half of the adjuster nut threads were above the top of the rod, and put a machine screw with a jam nut on it into the adjuster nut so i could reach the screw head without any tools or anything. Also i wrapped this in electrical tape just incase it decided to vibrate loose.

[94 olds vert]

I bought an auto zone/ advanced auto handle for my CS cause I couldn't find one in the junkyard. So far it's been on my car for a while now and I don't have any clear coat peel. My Gp has factory door handles on it, and my passenger one has a bit of clear coat peel starting.

[Schurkey]

I recently had my driverside handle snap on me. I cast a new handle & installed it, been working great for about a month now. The aluminum alloy should hold up much better than the potmetal. Was a total bitch to make & fit, though.

 

 

Alright, THAT'S impressive.

 

First Guess: You could refine your mold, cast a hundred more, finish them, and sell 'em.

[brake]

that's very cool. if my door handles break again (which they probably will, white metal and all) i would be interested in buying one or a pair of alloy handles!

[Psych0matt]

I would definitely buy a pair if you made some

[rich_e777]

A made in America part finally, I`d buy a pair for sure. You got a real talent there, how paintable do you think they might be?

[Oilpatch197]

I bought an auto zone/ advanced auto handle for my CS cause I couldn't find one in the junkyard. So far it's been on my car for a while now and I don't have any clear coat peel. My Gp has factory door handles on it, and my passenger one has a bit of clear coat peel starting.

 

 

 

YeaH I was looking at those, the problem is THEY ARE THE WRONG COLOR! My Passengers side door does NOT open from the outside, think it's broken, but the OEM handle is chrome with white trim, the aftermarkets are all black....

[brake]

YeaH I was looking at those, the problem is THEY ARE THE WRONG COLOR! My Passengers side door does NOT open from the outside, think it's broken, but the OEM handle is chrome with white trim, the aftermarkets are all black....

 

 

 

You can't want to get into the car too badly Fix it so the other one doesn't snap and leave you stranded!!

[brake]

I received and installed my new door handles today but the passenger side one doesn't wanna work - The interior handle is bent slightly FWIW and works just fine

 

 

 

Even when I've got it adjusted all the way up the door rod, the handle will only move so far and it acts like it's bottoming out on something, but the door rod still hasn't engaged (with the cover off, I can manipulate the door rod further down than the handle can go.

 

 

This handle doesn't open 1/3 as far as the other ones I've got. Either I fucked something up by installing it the exact same way as the other side, or it's defective.

Edited January 20, 2012 by brake

[Oilpatch197]

You can't want to get into the car too badly

 

Fix it so the other one doesn't snap and leave you stranded!!

 

I actually don't lock my doors because of this! I leave *NOTHING* in the car(all in trunk-trunk electric release disabled BTW), and figure if they going to steal it, they will break the windows...

 

I use a brake lock and a Steering lock instead. Unless someone wants to hop in my car and vandalize it, I should have no problem, it's a friggin 20 year old Buick with a busted grille, not a BMW. .

 

And Brake, are you talking about those "Doorman" handles you can get at Autozone? I think they got a warranty, Chinese product with little quality, it could be a defective part!

Edited January 21, 2012 by Oilpatch197

[brake]

I dunno, it says "various mfr" on RockAuto. I didn't even check the parts store because their prices on stuff like this are retarded...I have an OEM passenger side handle I didn't try yet. I'll fuck around with it tomorrow and see if it works. If it does I know the aftermarket handle is junk and will be returned.

 

The pass. handle the doesn't travel far enough doesn't sit flush with the housing either. The top corner is bent out, making me think the handle might be fubar'd

[occupant]

Alright, THAT'S impressive.

 

First Guess: You could refine your mold, cast a hundred more, finish them, and sell 'em.

 

TSRH

I do not know what it costs to make 2 of these handles in aluminum. But let's look at the alternatives. Dorman handles have what appears to be mayonnaise on their lip. GM doesn't sell them anymore. Junkyards break them out of spite so we can't have them, or they are ABOUT TO BREAAAAAAAAK when you get 'em. I say it's time to stand up and fight for what's right. Rocketman knows how to make these. I say we put an explosive slave collar around his neck and force him to cast hundreds of them!!!

[brake]

just installed an OEM passenger handle that I found and it opens beautifully. the aftermarket replacement is clearly defective, just fired off an email to RockAuto.

[brake]

TSRH

I do not know what it costs to make 2 of these handles in aluminum. But let's look at the alternatives. Dorman handles have what appears to be mayonnaise on their lip. GM doesn't sell them anymore. Junkyards break them out of spite so we can't have them, or they are ABOUT TO BREAAAAAAAAK when you get 'em. I say it's time to stand up and fight for what's right. Rocketman knows how to make these. I say we put an explosive slave collar around his neck and force him to cast hundreds of them!!!

 

 

They would pretty much be guaranteed to sell.

[brake]

RockAuto made good on the defective door handle. They called me this morning to tell me they'll refund the money to my paypal account and that since it probably wouldn't be worth it to ship the handle, I can keep the old one and do with it what I will.

[GaPrix]

Kinda surprised they told you to just keep it.

[brake]

Shipping would cost at least the price of, if not more than the handle itself. Wouldn't be worth it for them to pay to have their broken part back...cheaper to just refund the money and only lose that instead of losing that plus shipping.

[BXX]

The cheap door handle I got from Rockauto went into the garbage. THey won't work at all unless the lock rods are 100% not bend and the latch is nice and clean and lubed up.

[White93z34]

I have one of the doorman handles from rockauto on my z34 right now. aside of the finish being less then stellar its held up fine for 2 years now I had to use a dremel tool to open the lock cyl area up to fit the lighted keyring but that was the extent of the fitment issues I've had from it.

[Rocketman]

I could work on it a bit to make them a little easier to make & install, however it might require a bit of filing or grinding on the housing to fit. Would you folks be interested in doing self-installs? I'm not really interested in fitting these myself, having to do a core program, etc - would not be wallet friendly

 

 

 

I'm moving into a small shop soon, I won't be able to do much until then though.

[94 olds vert]

I'm definetly interested in a set, because that would eliminate the handle from ever breaking again. I'm a little curious on how to remove and then install the new handle.

[Rocketman]

There's a little die cast backing plate under the handle portion that covers up where the handle passes through, it's pinned into place. These pins need ground off & plate removed

 

The lock assembly needs to be removed but that's only held in by a torx screw

 

Then the main pivot pin is gnurled on one side, this needs ground down & gently driven out. Old handle comes out, new handle can go in, it's a little tricky but it goes. I'll see about replacing the pivot pin with a small shoulder bolt, that would probably work a little better than the stock pin.

 

On my handle I re-used the stock pin and secured it with industrial superglue, it should never come apart. JB weld would work really well too

 

I also glued the backing plate back in place, there's not much else you could do to re-secure it

[GaPrix]

Where is the breaking point on these, now that I can see inside the handle?