Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2007 10:17:50 -0700
Reply-To: Zoran Mladen <zmaninco@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Zoran Mladen <zmaninco@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: loose '84 sliding door handle
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ascii
This is pretty common. The end steel square that opens the mechanism is a nice strong solid steel. The rest of the handle is made of a cheap material commonly referred to as pot metal. Its a little softer than aluminum in my opinion. The end steel piece is molded into the pot metal. When its new, it is nice and tight. Every time you open the door, the pot metal flexes a little bit. It flexes, and then it stretches, and then it cracks. Shortly after that you open the door one day and handle breaks off in your hand.
I have found only one way of fixing these, outside of replacing them. By the time you get to this fix, the pot metal is already cracked and expanding from its original round shape. Compress it back to its original shape using a press, a vise, a hammer, whatever you have. But you need to be fairly exact, you want it to be round. Using a press with a round arbor is the best.
You can get a steel sleeve made for you by a chine shop. There is not a lot of room in there, so the sleeve will only be about .020" or so. Have the inside diameter of this sleeve be a tight fit over the pot metal end - the round part - when you take it apart you will understand. This should be tight to the point it really does not slide on. Heat it with a torch so it expands, and then slide it on. This will keep the end round portion from cracking again.
This does not however keep the pot metal from wearing where it meets the steel end piece internally. So I drill a hole through the sleeve, pot metal, and end steel square. Very smal hole. Then I put a steel roll pin there. This locks the steel square to the steel sleeve. No more pressure on the pot metal. Been working for years with no problems.
Z
----- Original Message ----
From: Damon Campbell <damoncampbellvw@YAHOO.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Monday, April 9, 2007 4:02:22 AM
Subject: loose '84 sliding door handle
Assuming my handle isn't broken yet, has anyone
figured out a root cause as to why the sliding door
handles - especially early ones - get all
loosey-goosey feeling? It still works and feels
normal in that regard, but it is just a bit floppy in
it's hole.
Thanks,
-Damon
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