Tricks to install door handles??????
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 94
Likes: 0
Tricks to install door handles??????
Hi ,
I need to install new drivers side door handle on 77 Vette. I have the door panel off. It looks very tight in there. Any tricks to installing the dooor handle. Pleas outline the procedure that worked for you.
Thanks
Bill
I need to install new drivers side door handle on 77 Vette. I have the door panel off. It looks very tight in there. Any tricks to installing the dooor handle. Pleas outline the procedure that worked for you.
Thanks
Bill
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 43,136
Likes: 155
From: Thomson Georgia
Re: Tricks to install door handles?????? (wes77)
Yes EXTREMELY SMALL HANDS :cry ...Better hava magnent with you cause it is Really easy to drop parts down into the door.......Seriously it just takes patience
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 137
Likes: 0
From: New Hill NC
Re: Tricks to install door handles?????? (wes77)
Get the wife to do it.. This is where those small hands really come in
handy.. Plus if she drops anything, you can ask her "now what did you
go and do that for" and follow that up with "now you have to go get it".
The wife will not even visit the garage anymore.. she calls from the back door
these days.
handy.. Plus if she drops anything, you can ask her "now what did you
go and do that for" and follow that up with "now you have to go get it".
The wife will not even visit the garage anymore.. she calls from the back door
these days.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 2,845
Likes: 2
From: Apex NC
Re: Tricks to install door handles?????? (wes77)
Your life will be much easier if you remove the screws through the back edge of the door and drop the latch mechanism down and out of the way. That will free up quite a bit more room to work. It's still no fun though.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 3,050
Likes: 124
From: Wichita KS
Re: Tricks to install door handles?????? (wes77)
Tricks to install door handles? .....
Small hands and patience (neither of which I have).
Long pliers (straight and bent).
One of those screwdriver type tools with the long flexible cable extension.
Various magnetic pick-up tools for when you drop the little parts.
Various flashlights (grain-of-wheat bulb at the end of a flexible wire to get light into corners of the door - where you dropped the little parts)
Mirrors to help you look into the various door places where you might have dropped little parts.
Extra little parts to replace the ones dropped into the door that you can't find.
Oxford Unabridged Dictionary - to help you find just the right word when working on the door handles. :lol:
Small hands and patience (neither of which I have).
Long pliers (straight and bent).
One of those screwdriver type tools with the long flexible cable extension.
Various magnetic pick-up tools for when you drop the little parts.
Various flashlights (grain-of-wheat bulb at the end of a flexible wire to get light into corners of the door - where you dropped the little parts)
Mirrors to help you look into the various door places where you might have dropped little parts.
Extra little parts to replace the ones dropped into the door that you can't find.
Oxford Unabridged Dictionary - to help you find just the right word when working on the door handles. :lol:
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 159
Likes: 0
From: Melville NY
Re: Tricks to install door handles?????? (wes77)
Afetr looking at my "73" I decided to take it to a local body shop. The guy said he would do the job for $50 he also said it should take him 1/2 hour. When I went back to pick the vette up the guy cursed like cracy he said it took him over 2-hours to make everthing work properly. I fely kind of bad so I gave the guy $100.00 Look-out apperently there are a few slips and they are a pain to install
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 4,760
Likes: 2,510
From: Buckeye, AZ
St. Jude Donor '12-'13
Re: Tricks to install door handles?????? (wes77)
I din't find it that tough; a bit tedious but not tough. I followed the GM shop manual and had no problems.
-unbolt the latch assembly and let it drop.
-disconnect the lock and latch rods. (don't lose clips)
-unbolt the handle....you may only get a quarter turn each time.
-install in reverse order. (do not overtighten or you'll crack the paint. Don;t forget to get new gaskets as well. :smash: :smash: :smash: :thumbs:
-unbolt the latch assembly and let it drop.
-disconnect the lock and latch rods. (don't lose clips)
-unbolt the handle....you may only get a quarter turn each time.
-install in reverse order. (do not overtighten or you'll crack the paint. Don;t forget to get new gaskets as well. :smash: :smash: :smash: :thumbs:
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
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Racer
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 311
Likes: 0
From: West Newton PA
Re: Tricks to install door handles?????? (vette_c5c6)
There's no way you should have paid the bodyman extra for that job. If he'd known what he was talking about in the first place, he would've estimated more. Perhaps he should have paid you for letting him practice putting in doorhandles on your 'vette.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 5,943
Likes: 3
From: Wildwood IL
Re: Tricks to install door handles?????? (wes77)
BAWWWW...this job is a piece of cake! :yesnod: Took me 15 minutes each to replace the pasngr and drvr handles. All you have to do is remove the door panel, wndow regulator, motor, glass, and latch mechinisum before hand. :D
Seriously...my doors were completly stripped of parts when I did this, so I have no helpfull hints.
Good Luck...
Eddie
Seriously...my doors were completly stripped of parts when I did this, so I have no helpfull hints.
Good Luck...
Eddie
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 13,300
Likes: 16
From: TX
St. Jude Donor '12-'13
Re: Tricks to install door handles?????? (Silvr77)
Bill, I just did this last week on my 80. Took me about 45 minuted on each door (including locks and handles).
First, after you remove the door panel, also remove the access panel cover. The reason for this is because you will probably drop a nut or clip. (Have a magnetic pick-up tool handy.
Then, unhook the rod and clip that prevents you from getting your hand in there, and move the rod out of the way (I think this is the inside lock rod).
Insert the handle rod into the bottom of the door handle and drop both into place. Finger tighten the nut onto the stud closest to you. Back it out till the nut just holds on- you need to have enough "play" to move the handle up. Then attach the second nut to the second stud- this is the hardest part and is where small hands are helpful. If you leave the first nut barely on and pull on the handle from above, you should be able to slip the nut into place, then push down on the handle and turn the nut once or twice with your fingers. Then you can tighten with a wrench.
Then, slip the handle rod into the hole, and attach the clip with a long needle-nose. Re-attach the inside lock handle and clip and you are done.
If anything was not clear please let me know.
Kevin :cheers:
First, after you remove the door panel, also remove the access panel cover. The reason for this is because you will probably drop a nut or clip. (Have a magnetic pick-up tool handy.
Then, unhook the rod and clip that prevents you from getting your hand in there, and move the rod out of the way (I think this is the inside lock rod).
Insert the handle rod into the bottom of the door handle and drop both into place. Finger tighten the nut onto the stud closest to you. Back it out till the nut just holds on- you need to have enough "play" to move the handle up. Then attach the second nut to the second stud- this is the hardest part and is where small hands are helpful. If you leave the first nut barely on and pull on the handle from above, you should be able to slip the nut into place, then push down on the handle and turn the nut once or twice with your fingers. Then you can tighten with a wrench.
Then, slip the handle rod into the hole, and attach the clip with a long needle-nose. Re-attach the inside lock handle and clip and you are done.
If anything was not clear please let me know.
Kevin :cheers:
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 94
Likes: 0
Re: Tricks to install door handles?????? (bhblue80)
Hi Kevin,
On the rod that goes from the bottom of the door handle to inside the door, which end did you disconnect to remove the old door handle?? Bottom of door handle or inside the door?
Thanks
Bill
On the rod that goes from the bottom of the door handle to inside the door, which end did you disconnect to remove the old door handle?? Bottom of door handle or inside the door?
Thanks
Bill
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 13,300
Likes: 16
From: TX
St. Jude Donor '12-'13
Re: Tricks to install door handles?????? (wes77)
Bill,
You will have to disconnect the rod from the inside of the door, and pull straight up when you remove it. To install, put rod in the handle first, then go straight down into the door. (Make sure you remember which way the rod is facing- its a bent rod, and which hole it goes into)- you will see what I mean when you get in there.
Kevin
You will have to disconnect the rod from the inside of the door, and pull straight up when you remove it. To install, put rod in the handle first, then go straight down into the door. (Make sure you remember which way the rod is facing- its a bent rod, and which hole it goes into)- you will see what I mean when you get in there.
Kevin
