... about their doorhandles being notoriously fragile.

Then when I went to shut the door at the cruise-in, the door handle on MY car broke.

Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Looks like I get to figure out how to reattach the crappy pot metal back together. I'm thinking two small bits of sheet steel and a couple screws.

 

Swap it from the other door, then just pop it from the inside to let people in

Then when we have a meet someday we can give yah one of dozens laying around......

 

both of mine busted, now i have to crawl in trough the hatch, well atleast whn my car ran.

 

i have the same problem as well..

but mine's is just very loose.. not entirely broken.. (yet?)

 

Luckily I had a spare for my pass. side, and still have a spare for my driver's side

Where exactly did it break? The part you grab on to just broke off from the pivot point I assume?

 

Right.

And since the body is really close to the handle's "legs" (part that broke) at that point, I dunno if the screw method would work.

Grr.

Well could be worse... wrenching on the Z today, discovered that the reason the clutch slave hyperextended was the clutch fork cracked at the pivot ball socket. Grr, now the tranny has to come out.

 

That means one of the pivot arms is busted, the other will probably follow shortly.

PJ- How bout trying some of that stuff that you solder aluminum, pot metal with? Its a sloder stick that you use a propane torch to heat the base metal, then this **** flows like solder onto the base metal. I tried it, it works pretty good on aluminum.

 

The best fix for the door handles (I've broken 2 drivers' side handles) is keyless entry. Since you no longer have to hold the handle up as you shut the door, suddenly far less stress gets placed on the handles.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...hreadid=150364

Here's the thread that shows pics and has more info. Of course, don't mention the other topic brought up on the other tutorials - neither the banana nor I have had any sort of time recently...

Of course we will get to them eventually

 

You mean this stuff?:

http://www.durafix.com

 

Yup Dom, thats the stuff. Its sold under many brands, and is usually stocked in Lowes and Home Depot. Heres a tip to using it. Its a solder, not welding rod. All you do is heat the base metal so that the solder will melt when you rub it on the surface like in the link you provided. Follow those directions! If you overheat the base metal it will melt. Zinc, potmetal and aluminum all have low melting points, so be careful. I melted a mirror support when I tried to repair it using this stuff. Operator error.

 

I've always wanted keyless entry, that's on my list of Things To Eventually Do. Plan was to get the keyless entry module from a Ford product, since collectively my friends have like 6 key fobs for 2 cars.

I'll try the aluminum solder stuff. As I understand it, it's mostly zinc.

The permanent fix will probably be some door HANDLES, the kind with the actual handle and the thumb button. That would rule.

 

ok thanks carl, but can you please clarify how "busted"?

 

Well theres a pivot on each side of the handle, like a hinge on each side. When one breaks you still have the other pivot to control the handle. The pivot arms are puny and weak, so if theres any binding in the handle pivot then the stress is transferred to the weak arm and it eventually breaks. I'd advise everyone to lube those pivots if you havent recently. Especially if the handle seems stiff. Just lift the handle and spray some lube on the pivots on each end.

 

yeah, one side of mine got busted. it still worked and all, just one side moved in and out.

my door handle was a PITA to replace

 

Here's another one of those products. I think I might get some. http://virtual-adnet.com/

 

I just got some Alumite rod. I wonder how well it'll work?

 

I have the thing out, have had out out for a while now.

For one thing, swapping side to side is not possible, since it's been swapped once already. For another, the break is on the handle side of the pivot, so that's bad.

I will not try any of those soldering rod type things, mainly because I don't want to apply heat anywhere near the springs.

What I will do, as soon as I get away from this computer is to superglue the pieces together, file notches on both sides of the break, on the narrow edge, then wrap it with balin' wire. THEN... I will epoxy it together using the baking soda and superglue method. (Blow some baking soda on the area, drop some cyanoacrylate on it, it turns into a damned tough rock-hard substance that is bonded to the pot metal better than any normal epoxy like JB Weld *ever* could.)

 

I've never heard of the baking soda and superglue method. Does it have a chemical reaction with the pot metal? Will it corrode with time?

 

im eventually going to take the outside dorr handles off!

then i wont have to worry about them breaking

-Cheers

 

I'm in favor of crawling through the hatch.

I had to get in through the passenger door on my '86 Prelude, and quickly forget how I had to often open the door of my MX-6 through the passenger side.

And all of these cars I have handle problems with were manuals, so it's not easy crawling in through the passenger side.

 

Not that I am aware of. If it's safe for super glue then it's safe for super glue + baking soda.

BTW - after removing the handle, I get in the car by reaching into the door with a finger and pulling down on the latch rod. Pile of cake.

 

You can build lotsa stuff with the baking soda and super glue.

 

I glued the chunks together, filed nothes on either side, used balin' wire tightened really tight (grooved in the notches) and then CA/baking soda epoxied it together.

Now I'm late for a movie... we'll see how it holds tomorrow when I install it.

 

Based on some googling, there's no secret chemical reaction thing going on with the baking soda. Acccording to most references, it's a filler.

http://www.miracleglue.com/info.htm

However, a few articles suggested it was a binder.

 

There seems to be an exothermic reaction involved. A rather fumey one at that.

My nose still hurts.