DIY Removal of Door Handles
 

So I got a pm today that I should post in the DIY. So for you my friend..this is for you.

----Driver door----
1. Open your Door and locate & remove 2 rubber grommets (black Rubber circles) right behind door handle. You can use a flat head..very easy.
2. unbolt the 3, 10mm bolts holding the door handle in. 2 on top hole and 1 on bottom hole. Be Very careful when unscrewing. Because screws can fall inside the door. So what I did was put plastic from a plastic bag alittle piece and put it inside the socket when unscrewing it will add some stickiness (ghetto) to hold the 10mm bolts easier.
3. pull up & out on the door handles. Drivers side is a little tough but be gentle.
4. You will see 2 wires. One for the Keyless entry and other wire to physically open the door.
5. unscrew the electronic key lock. There is a plate holding the button for keyless entry. Remove the plate held on by two screws. Be very careful the two screws has locktite.
6. Pop out the metal wire (simple) you will get what I mean when you see it.
7. Pat yourself on the back..hardest side is done.....(BAM CHICKAAA WAAAA)!

----Passenger door----
1. Same as Step 1.
2. held by 2 10mm bolts. One on top second on the bottom hole.
3. pull up & out on the door handles.
4. Pop out metal wire.
5. Same as step 5.

Once painted just do in reverse. Also when you have the handles off you will have 2 wires inside the door. One for the physically opening the door and the second for your keyless entry. Make sure to pop off the button on the keyless entry so you can paint that. Because you dont want a black handle for ex. And have the ugly silver button. It is really simple just pop it off literally lol.

Any questions or concerns please let me know. Ill try getting pictures up of the whole process. Some of steps might seem confusing but when you actually do the process on the car you will see what I mean lol. Hope this helps.

+ Rep If I helped in anyway

EDIT: Handles on the car.
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._2790855_n.jpg

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._1315244_n.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._3380249_n.jpg

Excellent. :D

thanks bro. I posted before in the silver door handle thread from way back. But I thought it would be nice to post in the diy since their is none on it. And especially new members can see this diy if they decide they want to take of their door handles.

::tup:

can you powdercoat the handles? i am getting my rims powdercoated soon, would the handles survive the baking and sandblasting ?

no..must paint them bro same with emblems.

What kinda paint process did you use, any sanding, primer, etc

I would think a rough sanding w/ some of that krylon fusion stuff would do it good.. not like that area is prone to rock chips :)

Since your dealing with something electronic, do you need to disconnect the battery? Or does it not matter that your taking off the handles so they dont read the buttons, or will that even be a problem?

If anyone has a DIY of the whole painting process, that would be awesome too since this is prolly the cheapest mod to do lol and Silver Handles on a Mag Black Z is disgusting to me, I want it done NAW! lol :tup:

Krylon Fusion huh? Can I get it at AutoZone, or will I need to go to a paint dept somewhere?

no need to disconnect the battery.
Also you can do it yourself if needed but honestly I had a shop do it for me. They charged me 50 for both handles. It was very cheap because they didnt need labor in taking/reinstalling the handles. I did it myself.

So you had a shop Paint them correct? Thats what your saying?

yes sir

Thinking about doing my handles... But I noticed that you said they have to be painted NOT Powder Coated - Can you explain why? I have a 40th and want my door handles to look just like the 40ths wheels... IMHO it completes the stealth look

DO IT!!!! JUST LIKE THE WHEELS IT WOULD BE SICKKKK!!!! (i put shift on the letters because im excited to see it!)

Aren't the handles actually plastic, so they cannot be powder coated.

Correct. Plastic cannot be powdercoated as it will not retain the powder used in the powdercoating process (ie cannot be electrically charged).

Victor, do you know of a shop in the SoCal/AZ area that will paint the WHOLE door handle assembly? Not just the face of it, but completely take it apart and paint all surfaces. Only quote I can get right now is just the face so when you open the handle, you see silver, and I don't want that. I want it completely color matched black.

Looking into it... Monster Z had his painted black and was showing them off at Zdayz and that got me to thinking that for the 40th GUNMETAL was the only answer... Black Pearl would be a close 2nd... (is there really a difference??) All i know is that to my vision it would really set the 40th off and apart from all the other color 370s... Tint was installed this past weekend and it looks bad to the bone - I got LLumnar Stealth 18 % Rears and 38% sides... and a windshield strip...

Only other thing I am going to do to this car - sometime in the future is intakes and exhaust... So it sounds a ZWEET as it looks..

Anyone know of a DIY or can someone make one on removing, painting, and reinstalling the Z side makers and all other outside emblems?

Here's a link to an index of all the DIY's
http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...-articles.html

Anyone have pics for this DIY?

I've painted my handles, but would like pics before I attempt this LOL

Nice:tup:+rep for you my friend:tiphat:

thanks bro :happydance:

L0oks go0d man:tup:

i have a question...

why do the door handles have to be removed to paint them? cant you just tape them off, and sand/prime/paint them with them still on the car

am i missing something obvious here?

Since they are curved on the edges, you could theoretically do it with them still on the car, but just to ensure you get maximum coverage without any spill over on the car... it's best to just remove them. Also, in case the paint decides to run, and lastly so the button doesnt get stuck by paint in the hole. It's just easier to paint them separately.

i saw in another thread you said you messed your handles up?

how did you do this?

nice write up

Thanks bro!

:icon18::driving:

Here's an install with pics :tiphat:

http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...e-removal.html

I'm sorry to say I think step 5 is bad advice - after spending two days drilling out a stripped screw from the spare handles I bought, and after stripping the metal insert after two turns, and partially stripping the head on my passenger door handle (before giving up), I don't think those screws are designed to come out.

The Locktite is stronger than the glue holding the metal threaded insert into the plastic.

Unfortunately I fail at the better option of popping the button assembly out of the door with the door assembled, so I had to give up :(

I'll see if I can get the spares sanded and painted at a body shop, then have the dealer do the swap.

Hey guys/girls

I need to know the name and size of the sleeve that these two 4m screws sit in. I was doing this last night and had to call a buddy over cuz these two screws were being particularly nasty on the driver's side. We ended up stripping one, drill bitting and extracting them...long story short, one was salvageable, one was not...I know from these threads that the screws are 4m and should be carried at a Home Depot or similar store, but nobody can advise what the sleeve that the screw sits in is called, or where I can find one.

I'd love an answer ASAP, as I'm having these painted in the AM and I'd love to reinstall right away.

Thanks!!

Get whatever you can at your local hard ware store. I did the exact same thing to mine and replacing them with whatever off the shelf screw is just fine. They're just holding on metal plates anyway. You don't have to get the EXACT same screw. Hope this helps.

Edit: and if you can't find the right length then just buy it long and cut it down.

The screw I found easy enough; in fact someone here or in the other thread listed it as a near exact 4m...it's the push-in sleeve that the screw goes into that it the problem.

I went by Nissan today and they said it was a security piece that only came with the handle assembly, replaceable at $400. No good, no good at all.

Thinking about trying to rig it...some glue should do the trick easy.

Either I'm the most horrible DIYer around or I'm doing something wrong...probably both, lol.

Trying to install, everything is going smoothly, until it's time to stick it back in (no that's what she saids). There's a small little metal piece on the driver's side handle with a black cloth cap at the base, that's to the left of the keyhole and it keeps getting in the way no matter how I try and position it to make it fit.

Is there some bloody trick I'm missing to realigning this thing properly, or is it just play with it until you get it? (no that's what she saids)

Does anyone know how long the 10 mm bolts are?

OK, now for the most part it has been easy, but
1) removing the screws from the door button, very bad, quit.
2) had my painted by equalme, so I have the whole unit, with the wire for the door button.

Question, how do you disconnect the wire and re-connect, while not taking all the door apart

I am usually all thumbs when it come to these items

Very important: for everyone else who has to do this...you will need a S shaped/ AKA offset screwdriver to get the torque/leverage needed ...its shape allows you to apply more pressure and torque to the screw ...any other screwdriver will strip them...how do I know? I was in the process of striping one when I started using it and it took out all the rest no problem...