Of all the neat products being custom fabricated for the FC these days, why hasnt ANYONE cast or machined a quality replacement for the cheap pot metal part of the door handle that breaks? It wouldnt be hard or expensive at all for a lump of quality aluminum, and to install it all you'd have to do is pop out the old rivets and use new rivets or bolts in their place? WHY i ask WHY does this not bother ANYONE else?

Just some food for thought

- Jared

 

lol... yeah, agreed...but i do think there would be alot involved on creating the cast for it

 

how much would you pay for the part? how many do you think would sell and how fast?

 

one million dollars!!!!!!



lol seriously, i wouldnt mine spending around 30 bucks for it

 

shoot, look up a machien shop that has a cnc machine. i used to know a guy whos father had some milling equipment and he could make just about anything.

he has long since disapeard. id call as many shops as possible, if youre serious bout it.

 

Farva!

 

it boils down to demand and production cost. give mazda a call and find out how many handles they've produced and sold in the last 5 years. it may help your cause...

 

Actually, it's not as easy as you would think.
When I looked at it, it'll be a pain in the *** just to replace the moving handle part.
It's easier to redesign the WHOLE thing.

The tolerances are VERY tight.
The pivot pin area doesn't have that much metal around it - this is where it usually breaks.
Drilling that "rivet" is a royal pain in the ***.
Even if you do take it out, what do you replace it with?
I think a cheapie nut + bolt won't fit due to it being so tight in there.
So, if you just replace that part, I would just make the whole thing out of steel or something stronger than the cast aluminum piece - CNC'd billet aluminum?

Then it comes down to weakest-link-in-the-chain...would something else fail?

I would welcome anyone with any good ideas???


-Ted

 

The best solution is prevention. Gease it once every year or so.

I use white lithium grease in a spray can.
Take half a day, pull the inside door panels & lube the window carrier & cables, the door handle & lock links, the door latch.
Then hit the sunroof, antenna, the door, hood & hatch hinges & latches, and the ignition & door lock cylinders.

About the only body part that got a good factory grease job is the windshield wiper system. And they made up for that with a dinky relay in the switch.

 

White Lithium Grease FTW! (I can't believe I just said that).

White lithium grease should be used on ALL latches and hinges on the car at every 2nd oil change. It will go a long way to curing 99% of these kinds of problems. And it will make the door close with a satisfying "thunk" sound instead of a horrid "*****" sound.

As for CNC'ing the part, $30 is about $370 too cheap. CNC work in intricate parts is expensive, then it has to be assembled and adjusted.