If you've ever had or wanted to fix a broken interior door pull handle but did not want to spend $200-$300 just to replace one side, here is the $12 fix you've been looking for. This process is also a good alternative in strengthening by retrofitting your non-broken door pull handle to prevent it from ever breaking, potentially saving yourselves hundreds of $, A$ or £!
The driver side door handle broke off on my '04 Crossfire coupe not long ago. I wanted a fix to look as factory as possible without spending a fortune. As I fix the drivers side door handle, the passenger side will get the retrofit treatment.
Today, we will only concentrate on the repair process as the retrofit is basically identical to the repair process but without the use of epoxy. Here's a write up to help all those who want an affordable remedy to a common problem for all Crossfires. The fix only took one evening to accomplish. Your cost may vary slightly but follow along as I show you the steps to do this. Click the photo to view in full screen.
Purchased JB Welds 8276 KwikWeld: $4
3pc #14x3" Pan Phillips head screw: $1
1/2"x 4' Plywood - 6538 Aluminum Trim Channel: $5-$7
All are available at your local hardware retailer or online.
First on the list is to take apart the two piece door handle using a painters spatula. Carefully wedge and pry the two inner and outer halves apart from the bottom groove of the handle applying moderate pressure.
Once apart, assess the damaged area to map out where to apply the KwikWeld epoxy. Measurements need to be made for the aluminum channel support to be cut to the proper length. More on this later. Retrofitters skip this step.
At this point, remove the oem door handle Torx screw using a T-27 Torx bit driver. If you are doing a retrofit to the door handle, you are going to need to do this too.
Next, the protruding tab from the outer half of the door handle must be removed or ground down (to a level as seen in the photo below) to make room for the new aluminum U-shaped supporting channel. Break off the two hair-like remnants from the injection molding process as they have no purpose. The aluminum supporting channel will be the key in keeping the entire inner door handle rigidly attached to the door.
More trimming. Here you see the inner half of the door handle that broke off my car. The inner door handle has these vertical tabs on each opposite ends. These must be lopped off or ground down as shown in the photo. (On a retrofit, the trimming process must be done with the handle still on the car door.)
Now, we need to make sure that our 1/2" U-shaped aluminum support will fit within the door handle cavity. Some trimming will need to be done to widen the area between what looks like two cylindrical towers. Towers are likely remnants of the injection mold process. Use the aluminum channel as your reference guide to check how much material you need to trim.
The aluminum channel is cut to exact length to fit across the width of the inner portion of the door handle. I did not take down measurements as I was in a hurry to get this done as I simply placed the aluminum channel over the handle cavity and marked the spot to where I needed to make the cut using a Sharpie* permanent marker. Once the channel was cut to size, the ends were shaped and rounded off as shown in the photo. A 1/16" pilot hole was first drilled at each end of the channel making sure the hole was centered. Finally, a 1/4" hole was drilled for the #14 screw for a perfect fit. Inner and outer door handle pieces shown with the drilled aluminum support channel and the two 3 inch, #14 screw. The channel is situated in the inner door cavity with the slot opening facing out.
