pricey? i thought they were one of the most reasonably priced parts on the car. color match painted for ~$100... yet people toss out $40 for a used one..

 

at Mazdatrix site matching to certain colors goes up to $190

 

their $240 each down here...

Im definitively been keen on SS ones.

 

Damn!!?

It all depends at the moment i only have 4 SS pieces that need to have legs built for em. Price wise i am going to have to see the cost of fabrication along with the cnc of the part. Depending on cost the stainless steel plan can be swapped and done in Steel.

 

I have had to do that before. If you tie a rope to the inside door handle you can pull it from the hatch, so you don't have to climb into the car. lol

 

i ended up doing that MOD after having to climb in.LMAO

 

I will be calling the guy tomorow to see if any progress has happened so far.
He has other things to do. So i really don't want to be an annoyance over something so small.

Here's the thing Guys Stainless steel from what i hear is a pain in the *** to paint...
So that will def be out of the equation. A high quality steel is what they are going to be made of . Unless specifically asked for. The first 2 are made of being made Stainless...

 

duty and shipping costs that much? the AUD is stronger than the USD now, it should cost about the same after shipping.

 

I just ordered a new one in my color for the driver side from Mazdatrix. My drivers side handle broke a few days ago. First thing to break since I owned my car. Now I'm hoping the passenger side doesn't break while I'm waiting for it to come in the mail. I'm glad someone out there is thinking of the future for these handles cause I'm sure once the rest to the handles are sold there will only be used ones to buy. And I refuse to buy a used one. Like someone else said buying a used one is just asking for the same thing to happen again a lot sooner.

 

I'm watching this thread closely, actually one of the few I've subscribed to. But as much a challenge it will be to have a handle duplicated, it will be as much a challenge to assemply hardward that will durably install the replacement handle.

But we have to get past the first step first, and I'm cheering for the OP to get past that step.

 

Of all the things people want to fabricate and replicate on FCs, this is on that we all may have a need for. We all have door handles, but don't neccessarily need fiberglass/carbon fiber wings and sideskirts.

As I said, good luck. This is a worthwhile venture. My earlier comments were mostly aimed at replacing broken door handles with used ones not being a great idea.

 

Hey thanks for the positive comments.
The guy has been kinda busy the past days.. But i do promise to keep this updated frequently with thoughts and changes if necessary.

Once the first handles have been made and refitted with new springs
to make sure everything looks flush and smooth,,, along with proper operation of the handle.

I am almost considering getting a mig welder.. Let alone ive never even welded before. But i do have a will to learn when i see that there is a huge benefit behind it.

If i do the first thing ill probably end up making is a jig for the piece. I am a freak when it comes to getting things right.. One thing i notice is that not all the handles are the same... There are slight differences in shape especially the left and right corners... one has more of an outward curve than the other.
Which has a lot to do with the shape of the handle cup.

 

If you look at the handle the part were the key is at... u can see the slight differences.

I think it might be possible to make the legs have 2 hammers..
This way one design works on both driver and passenger side.

 

Heres the differences.

 

I'd be interested in a set of these upgraded handles when they're available. I broke a handle on my previous FC, though the original handles in my current one are OK for now. That car was daily driven through harsh winters and I probably overstressed the handles trying to free up frozen-shut doors on more than one occasion.

 

If you're producing the handles and arms separately, can you just attach the arm to the opposite side of the handle to make a L/R side handle? I'm just not sure what the curvature variation is S4/S5 or LH/RH

Stainless is going to be a bit tough to paint. I'd vote for carbon steel, just needs to be primered so it's protected between machining and shipping.

Also, the heat from welding may deform the outer handle piece requiring it to be filled or sanded. I guess just take a look after the first ones get made.

 

The handles will have the legs already welded to them.

The SS handles that are being built are going to be for testing. Check for flexing etc and to see if any changes have to be made. I redesigned the handle a bit with resin on the areas that have channels on the leg, along with beefing up certain spots. While still maintaining fitment.
But yea steel will be the best way to go .. A high quality steel at that.

 

Yea.... I've opened my car quite a few times while the car was thoroughly frozen..
>_< Right now I've got two off-color handles.. [NO ONE has Royal Maroon but me, lol]

 

I've made a set of SS and aluminum replacement door handles. Very easy and so far it's quite cheap. I will say this though, the OEM handles are not the only problem.

 

care to elaborate on the other problems>?

 

Annoyed... Called the guy today has done jack crap. Beating around the bushes with me over the phone. Tells me oh this and that i have to cut the leg and match it... What was the point of me taking it to you?? Mentions that what hes gonna charge a decent amount. After i specifically told the guy to just get it done. Lmao... I guess we ain't on the same page..

Sometimes your better of doing things yourself. I am at the moment reading up on tig welders /compared to mig. I prefer tig. So i will do the research on it.
If all comes down to a choice i will get a tig welder. Mind you i have no welding experience. But incidents like what i just told you guys really makes me want to push myself to learn something and do it well rather than relying on someone else.

 

Your project death spirals if you do this.

You've had one bad experience with one particular craftsman and decided that buying the equipment and learning the art is somehow the only option?
Find someone else you can work with.

The years of experience he/she will bring to the project will save you tons of time/money.

I haven't seen any drawings or specs that describe what you're trying to do.
Let's see something.

 

Point well taken i agree with you. I guess ill be calling tomorow and driving around.

The design for the most part is the same as the original just more beefed up a bit more were it needs it.


I do wanna learn how to weld later on though.

 

just make a sand casting of it with thicker arms, fill casting with aluminum. trim and refinish the part. done.

forget the stainless steel route. it will be infinitely more expensive in every respect.

this is even a project that most could do at home with a little ingenuity. but if you burn your house down or melt your foot off don't come trying to blame me! hehe. youtube has plenty of instructionals on how to form castings and aluminum is about the easiest metallic material to work with.

yeah it won't be as strong as stainless but if you make appropriate adjustments it should be stronger than OEM.

if what you plan on doing is just making better legs and welding them to the original handle.. think again, it won't work regardless of what that guy told you. at best you could drill through the handle and tap the legs to have flush mount screws.

 

Would a cast aluminum part have the potential to be significantly stronger than the cast pot metal original handles? Or would the stress points where the legs attach to the handles still be a major weakness? I don't know anything of metallurgy, so I welcome the education on this.