patra_is_here Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 bad door handles are a pet peeve of mine. I think that bad handles can ruin the look of a car.most of the time, door handles are just some mass produced off-the-shelve item, and typically don't really flow with the look of the car. that being said, we have particularly bad door handles:http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8077/8345265078_0630d0567e.jpg this thread will show how to make some nice ones. (i will break this in to multiple posts) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patra_is_here Posted January 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 step one: take the door handle off, and cut or grind off all the plastic and rubber, so that you are just left with a metal structure. Cut off the handle part of the structure and weld on some flat bar stock as shown in this picture. Weld the flat stock so it sits just above the area arrowed, and is at 90 degrees to that area. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8359/8345291310_3870beb17a.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patra_is_here Posted January 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 then, using a file, clearance the arms as shown in the arrows, clearance this area on both sides. if this area isn't clearnanced, if could hit the sheet metal of the door after our modifications http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8222/8344207327_5327e4d9e8.jpg then, file down this area as well. because of holes we fill later, we'll need this extra bit of room to allow us to install the door handlehttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8503/8344207335_a004e46f3a.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patra_is_here Posted January 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 (edited) this is the door with the paint stripped away. see those holes that are circled? the center one needs to be filled completely. the outer two holes, which are oblong shape, need to have the lower portion filled so that they are just circle holes, not oblong.http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8216/8344207233_0284745e01.jpg this is where the handle mounts. the reason for filling them is so that we don't see the holes as we walk up to the car. if you don't care about minor details like that, you could skip that step. install handle and fabricate needed sheet metal and fiber glass work you deem needed to give you the fit you desire. I could have just made the handles longer and wouldn't have needed to fill. but i think the small handles look better, and that's the point isn't it? http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8495/8344207211_18d48b6046.jpg Edited January 4, 2013 by patra_is_here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patra_is_here Posted January 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 weld in your metal filler pieces and do whatever other stuff is needed to make a good looking recess. this is prior to epoxy, bondo, sealer, and rust proofing the internal area of the door.http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8220/8345265088_dee2ce4414.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patra_is_here Posted January 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 take the door handle off and grind away the area in the rectangle. you have to grind away about 3/16" of the metal, and give it a nice bevel. the purpose of this is so that you don't see this element as you walk up to the car from the side. it will only be visible when you kneel down. this whole area of the handle should be filled with a thin coat of bondo or similar fillerhttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8491/8344266277_e0c8167529.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patra_is_here Posted January 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 (edited) file, grind, sand, fill, seal, paint, sand, etc etc etc until everything had good lines and good fit.(we also shaved the door locks, but this IS NOT necessary)http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8216/8344209735_427e6c5e62.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8364/8345333778_6c4026dd10.jpg This took a lot of work and lots and lots of time. The doors have been completely disassembled prior to beginning this mod. depending on how fast you work, allow a full week to complete this mod and have your doors painted and mounted. and it's probably easier to do both doors at the same time (and make a template for your filler sheet metal). but since our first door was the prototype for this mod, we didn't have the liberty. I would like to point out that the reason I chose to retain handles instead of completely filling them is:shaved door handles are an inconvenience.sanctioned track events (track days, etc) won't let you run a car without exterior handles.and I don't like the idea of relying on a door popper to get in to my car. I want the door to open even if the battery is dead =)btw, the door lock is being moved to a discrete yet still useful location. hope you guys like my mod. Edited January 4, 2013 by patra_is_here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobH Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 nice work looks good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apate Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 Looks Great !!!I wish they came like that from the factory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traps Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 Clean very clean! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tg118 Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 Looks Great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasQuest Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 Good job. Can't wait to see them painted and mounted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Dont Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 Ok now come up and do mine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patra_is_here Posted January 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 trade for an LS motor =P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Convette Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 Looks good man, nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Dont Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 trade for an LS motor =P Ok I'm sure I can trade for a 4.8l long block! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burton Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 Lookin good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technology Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 This mod is good. I like. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyWadd Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 Rad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidjc Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 No question... this is really an fantastic modd, addition to a clean lines of our cars! I really never paid all that much attention to just how bad our door handles looked... only after seeing this modd, did I realize how clean they could look! Great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Very nice! Did you have any warping issues of the door when welding? I had some minor warping when I welded mine up (shaved handles). I cut it out and redid it three times but couldn't prevent the warping..but got it down to under a 1/16". I couldn't weld it solid like you did, I had to leave it tacks at every 1/4" and then glass over. kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burton Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 The trick with welding small places like that is to only do a few tacks, not by each other, and then let them cool. Wait a few minutes, come back and do a few more, then wait again. I do a clockwise pattern... noon, 3, 6, and 9, then wait ten minutes or until the metal cools... then come back and tack at 1, 4, 7, and 10 o-clock.... then wait for the metal to cool again, and continue the process til it appears to be a full weld. Then dress the weld, and come back and tack up any pin holes, only two or 3 tacks at a time before letting it cool, and I won't tack 2 pinholes that are close together on the same cycle. I've actually welded patches in hoods with large areas of thin steel, and kept the warpage to less than 1/8" using this process. Takes a little longer to weld doing it that way, but it beats having to sand a bunch of filler to take care of some major warpage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technology Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 It take a lot longer than just welding straight through. Three or four tacks every 10 minutes? It'll take several hours that way. But it's the way it must be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC_99 Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 Yep. You can speed things along by cooling the metal by blowing air on it if you have a compressor. BC_99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Convette Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 I love the maximum effort for minimal gain mods. I seem to stuff like this all the time.. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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