That's quite a bit for a parking brake handle... A real eye opener. I had an NOS handle offered to me at the Bloomington Gold show about four years ago for $300 and thought that was in the ballpark at that time... Maybe $500 dollars today.

This particular handle was advertised as a 1967+ part.... Actually, the part pictured is the 1970-1976? style which is much more common than the early 1967, most of 1968, and 1969 part which differed somewhat in appearance although they all carried the same part number.

Hopefully, the person who purchased it is aware of the difference.

Regards,

 

You have got to be kidding. The parts houses are $100 buck. Explain how the hell you break one to begin with??? King Kong would have to be pulling on one to break it.

 

Hi Stan. Looked like a 69 handle to me....had the band around the top. I believe that 70 and up and the "checkering" all the way to the top and did not have the band. The price?? HIGH.

It's almost impossible to try to restore one of these. I've had several. Seen hundreds in buckets at swap meets for $20.00 each. It's the chrome over plastic that goes bad.....sometimes the black plastic handle gets boogered too.

The parts houses sell universal replacements for about $100.00, but they're not correct for the earlier sharks, or for the 67. Chuck

 

I'm a cheapskate. When the fake chrome peeled off the **** I just painted it black....(about $0.25)

 

:lolg: :lolg: :lolg: Not Me ! ....I'd have trouble spending that on a set of new wheels !!! :lol:

 

Hey Chuck!

Actually, I'm pretty sure that it's the other way around... Very early 1967, most of 1968, and (to the best of my knowledge) all of 1969 used the handle with the checkering that continued all the way to the chrome tip. The checkering also differs on the early handles as opposed to the 1970 and up part.

I remember looking at a couple very original late build 1969s (serial numbers in the 38,600-38,700 range) that had this design handle... It might have been a running change very late in the 1969 model year, but by the start of 1970 production, it appears that the style with the checkering that stops before the chrome tip was completely phased in.

The majority of 1967 and very early 1968 used a handle that had the checkering all the way to the tip, but did not have any chrome trim on the plastic handle. These are the real tough ones to find

Agreed!

Also very true Chuck... They are impossible to restore in a manner consistent with how they were originally manufactured.

There are actually two ways that chrome can be applied to plastic. The first process (and the one that all the vendors advertising rechroming use) is called vacuum metallization. The name is fancy, but it is basically the same process that is used in the plastic model industry to create "chrome" parts... It looks pretty good when done correctly, but it lacks a bit in durability. Add to that the whole part must be plated... Which is not exactly what you want to do when most of the part you are attempting to restore is not plated.

The other process is a true chrome plating over plastic. If I remember correctly, the plastic is actually prepped with some kind of zinc primer or coating to allow the plating metals to adhere correctly. The process is very time consuming and costly... It is also the process used to create the chrome plating on these parking brake handles.

Finding a firm that would consider true chrome plating over plastic on a piece by piece basis would be tough... Even if you did, the execution is made next to impossible when you look at the way the handles were origninally manufactured. While at first glance it might appear that the black areas of the handle were masked off in some way and the chrome applied to the exposed areas, the fact is that the exposed chrome is actually part of an internal "backbone" that supports the rest of the handle. This "backbone" was cast first, the entire part chrome plated, and then the black portion of the handle was formed around it. I'm really surprised that GM (or the supplying vendor) would have gone to all this trouble.

The way that these handles were originally manufactured was a very expensive process and one of the reasons that you won't see any vendor reproducing the correct style any time soon... And why NOS or excellent used handles are worth as much as they are.

GM used to service the replacement style (1977?-1982) with the smooth, rubberized handle as late as year ago... It might still be available.

Regards,

 

Stan, you're 100% correct about the checkering pattern on the handles. I had it backwards. You've got to forgive me...I'm old and decrepit, and subject to "brain cramps" more frequently. :) Chuck

 

LOL Chuck!

You're one of the sharpest "old guys" I know!

I had an interesting thought while composing my previous post... There just MAY be a way to "restore" one of the old style handles. Not sure if it will work, but it should... Going to have to try it and let you know how I make out.

By the way, I have one of your "cast off" handles I picked up from you at Carlisle a few years ago. Kind of surprised that you let it go... It was in pretty nice shape as far as parking brake handles go.

Regards,