Replacement door handles??
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 4,282
Likes: 172
From: Lake Wylie, South Carolina
Replacement door handles??
Has anyone purchased the repro outer door handles? They are half the price of the OEM stuff but say they are foreign made. How is the quality? My car is definately not going to be an NCRS show car so if the repro are fine I would rather spend the $$ on them and put the money I save into something else. :cheers:
Racer
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 336
Likes: 0
From: Somewhere Texas
Re: Replacement door handles?? (wadew10)
The casting on one of the cheapie repos broke after about a year. Went out and bought an OEM. It's been working for a lot longer than that. Shoulda spent the money on the OEM in the first place.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 3,280
Likes: 0
From: Virginia Beach Virginia
Re: Replacement door handles?? (wadew10)
Spend the money on the new ones. As you well know, the handles are not easily removed and reinstalled. My Vette's previous owner also went the cheaper route and the handles are terribly pitted after only a few years.
I'm buying the GM (USA made) ones.
I'm buying the GM (USA made) ones.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 11,322
Likes: 1
From: Living in the Hartland
Re: Replacement door handles?? (wadew10)
I think I have the cheapo's on mine since looking at it you can see the chrome surround towards the inner part of the car has a very gentle curve while the handle itself is flat so looks like it has two gaps on each end. Works OK and but is hard to open at times.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 2,845
Likes: 2
From: Apex NC
Re: Replacement door handles?? (wadew10)
Wade, this is one area to spend the extra $$ and get the good ones. On the repro handles I installed, one wouldn't fit flush against the outer door skin, I had to grind 1/4" off the bottom mount to get it to sit flush in the door. The other had a problem with the latch lever hanging up and not releasing, requiring a removal and grinding repair as well. You know how much of a PITA it is to remove and install these things, it's something you don't want to do over and over again. Get the good ones.
Shannon
Shannon
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
