Door handle

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Jul 9, 2003 | 08:40 PM

ecooper

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Door handle

I have a 79 Ford F250 and have a problem with the door handle. On the passenger side, when you lift up the outside handle, it won't open the door. I removed the door panel and have located the problem,... I think. But, I need to remove the outer handle form the door to remove the part that need fixed or replaced. I'm not sure how to do this. The fasteners used dont appear to have any place to insert a wrench, screwdriver or anything else that resembles a tool. I'm open to any advice....hopefully before I break something trying...

thanks

Jul 10, 2003 | 09:38 AM

neverenough

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Door handle

The outside door handle is mounted on the outside of the door with two studs and nuts about 2 inches apart. The studs go through the door with the end of the stud and nut on the inside of the door. To remove the handle, just remove the nuts and linkage, then pull the door handle out.

If you live in the "rust belt" there will be a chance the studs will break, even trying to be careful. If you break one or both of the studs you can just knock the heads out of the handle and use stainless steel bolts to remount them. If you want/need the exact original look you can get a replacement handle for about $20 + S/H.

Jul 10, 2003 | 02:35 PM

ecooper

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Door handle

Thanks for the advice. I was unsure because the nuts are flower-looking affairs, and I didn't want to break and render them unusable. I'm on track now, thanks

Jul 10, 2003 | 03:32 PM

theonlybull

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From: clementsport canada

Door handle

if you do break them, it's just a standard thread, and you can use hardware store nuts to replace them with.

Jul 10, 2003 | 05:46 PM

Greg 79 f150

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From: Kentucky

Door handle

Quote:

Originally posted by ecooper
I have a 79 Ford F250 and have a problem with the door handle. On the passenger side, when you lift up the outside handle, it won't open the door. I removed the door panel and have located the problem,... I think. But, I need to remove the outer handle form the door to remove the part that need fixed or replaced. I'm not sure how to do this. The fasteners used dont appear to have any place to insert a wrench, screwdriver or anything else that resembles a tool. I'm open to any advice....hopefully before I break something trying...

thanks

I have my doors off my 79 now while painting them, so I went out to the shop and looked at the lift handles. They are put on with pop rivets . They will have to be drilled out and you will need to borrow a large rivet tool to put new rivets back in. Doesnt look easy,
The way I see it, as long as the connector rod is attached to the lift handle, you shouldnt have to remove the lift handle. There is a compression fit metal clip holding the rod on the lift handle that can be removed. Then you can remove the large phillip head screws in the latch end of the door to drop the latching mechanism.

Jul 10, 2003 | 06:55 PM

theonlybull

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From: clementsport canada

Door handle

greg, did you look inside the door? out of the 5 or 6 of these trucks i've worked on, they all have studs and nuts inside the door...

Jul 10, 2003 | 09:03 PM

Greg 79 f150

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From: Kentucky

Door handle

yep, sure did, I can see the rivet pin and thin pieces of metal that flower out from the pin on the inside shell of the door. . The pins are at least 3/16 in dia. When I had the body work done at a shop, I asked the owner why he did not take the door handles off, because I did not want paint "cut in ' anywhere on the truck. he said "those handles are pop riveted with stainless steel rivots ,and will be a pain to replace , so I left them in".
When I picked the truck up 3 months later, just in primer, I noted that he drilled one, of the two riivets out on one door handle only., and left it hanging. I guess it was just to much effort for him to do the rest. So, now am redoing the primer job myself, and I will be taking the handles off, so I will not be "cutting in paint", because I have stripprd the whole truck outside of all glass and trim, and I dont want a piece of anything "cut in" to , when I paint it.. The truck had the original paint on it, is it possible the original bolts were removed, and the mechanic popped rivited them back in ? I dunno,