DIY-Door handle removal

pbhakta

Hah, yea, didnt even check to see the post was from back in Jan had seen another post from yesterday and scrolled up and saw yours to.

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HockeyAnimal1

Finally finished this project

husarowns

Small Hint- On those tiny little screws that have the blue loctite on them that hold the brackets to the door handle. Use a heat gun at around 500 degree F for a short period of time (try 10 seconds first) if the screws still won't budge give it another 5-10 seconds. I did this for my door handles and the screws came out flawlessly. This will eliminate you having to remove the black cable from inside the door and will let you get the braided cable's bracket off easy.

!!! WARNING !!!- Do not overheat the door handles...you will melt stuff. Some of that plastic melts if u leave the gun on there too long. Try the 10 seconds @500 first and see if the screws budge -!!! WARNING !!!

Dragon_Ball_Z

When the door handles are off do you guys just leave your car door open and roll down the windows? Do you guys disconnect your battery?

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Build in Progress

90 ST

I would just keep the windows down, even if you take the handles off the door will still latch, but you need to be able to get to the interior handle to open the door again.

Dragon_Ball_Z

Thanks for the help 90st!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Build in Progress

90 ST

No worries

Vichtz

first things first, paint a block of wood or something first haha. get the style down. Sweeping, 6 inches, etc... after that, its simple. Just tape off the area, lightly sand the handle with fine grit sand paper. wash the handle. Then just paint. super easy my freinds.

The handle won't stick. Its paint not epoxy haha. just spray and keep the coats light. thats really the key to spray painting any way. multiple light even coats. Dont worry, the handle is far to vigorously used for simple spray paint to seal it. Its all good You will, however, eventually have peeling that you will have to touch up with a paint pen or something. Comes with the teritory though.

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iCydia

Wheres the pictures..?

david81968

This thread is pretty thorough, but after spending a few hours installing my newly painted door handles, I have a few pointers:

1. Do passenger side first. It has one less bolt and no lock. You'll need the experience for the driver side.
2. Use a cardboard channel to remove the bolts. I did not and when I pulled back the magnetic socket, it caught on the hole and dropped INSIDE the door (duh).
3. You'll have to remove the lock on the driver's door (single screw on side). Simple removal.
4. Get a 10mm 1/4" u-joint socket/adapter for that additional bottom bolt. You'll have one hole to get out 2 bolts.
5. Have someone nearby that has smaller hands to reach in and disconnect the blue wire-connector. It is not easy when they are tightly held together. You can have a rough time getting them apart with only your fingers of one hand. Getting them back together is simple.
6. If you remove the door panel, you can easily disconnect the black assembly for the blue connector (for lock button). This will give you more slack to pull apart the blue wire-connector.
7. Don't think that removing the door panel and interior metal plate will help...unless you plan on drilling out the rivets to the plate.

Overall it went well but took much longer than expected due to #5 on the driver side. Sorry, no installation pics.

Attached Images

	Photo May 10, 8 28 25 AM.jpg (526.4 KB, 87 views)
	Photo May 10, 8 28 31 AM.jpg (717.7 KB, 82 views)
	Photo May 23, 12 08 49 PM.jpg (177.6 KB, 59 views)

danegrey

OK, I do not have a smaller pair of hands available, and I get all thumbs when working on cars

so how does the connector come apart... I know it's tight, any hints would be appreciated...

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Lots of Changes
the Z needs to be driven and driven hard for the car lives for it

david81968

The passenger side just pulled apart. I believe a very small screwdriver, or similar, is needed to slide along the blue connector. Just don't drop the tool in the door. It really is a PITA to uncouple if they are tightly fitted. I ended up marking the wires (they were both solid black) and spliced them back together. It was not what I intended, but I spent too much time on that connector.

daveb91

Not a good write up anymore..

ChaseZ

You don't need to disconnect the wiring for the button. Just loosen one and unscrew the other of the two Phillips screws that hold the button in place in the back of the handle. Once it's out just pop the button out from the rubber retainer.

Piece of cake.

Here's a quick pic from the handles I removed (I ordered a second set to paint so I could get them ready and not be without in the meantime). The metal cover plate at the bottom marked with an L and attached with one screw is what I'm talking about.

ChaseZ

Since I had one handy here's the button and its rubber retainer.

And when you're unscrewing the two bolts inside the door use your ratchet or driver to get the all but he last thread or two out, then use a magnet to get the last bit and pull them out. No worries about dropping them into the door panel then. I have an awl shaped like a pen that has a magnet on the 'eraser' side for just such a use. They are about $5 at Home Depot or automotive parts stores.