THe outside handle on the passenger side of my 75 nestles in what I would say is the correct resting position. The drivers side door was replaced along the way and the
outside door handle "at rest you might say" has about a 1/4" or so gap and sits away from the skin of the door? Plus it just doesn't feel right when you pull on it to open the door. ....takes a shorter pull. I have the inner door panel off and I don't see anything bent (at least I don't think it is) so next step is to take off the passenger side door and see what's different. Any thoughts? Pics attached.

Passenger side front - nice close fit

Passenger side rear - nice close fit

Drivers Side front - bottom of handle has about a 1/4" gap between the handle and the skin of the door.

Front of Drivers' side door handle - same deal, 1/4" gap!

 

I see that connecting rod from the latch to the handle, is there any adjustment to it?

 

My guess is the drivers side rod is bent from use as it gets used a LOT more than the passengers side.

 

Can I bend it back into position or are those rods available ?

 

You may want to check and be sure the replaced handle is the correct one. GM in their wisdom downsized those handles mid-76 to one about 3/8" smaller.
The smaller handle supposedly can be made to work, but i understand some twisting and bending is needed.
The 73-mid76 handle is not reproduced and is hard to come by.

 

Thanks, I'm finding that to be true ......difficult to come by a replacement handle. I'll start by measuring the two and see if there's any difference in length. If both sides are the same, then I'll have to look at the mechanism's push(or pull rod) to see if that's the same as the right side! Thanks for info.

 

20037624 for RH side, 20037625 for LH side.

LH can be had on ebay NOS for about 185.00 plus whatever S&H plus any taxes.

RH is a hen's tooth.

 

Both handles I have measure the same. When I get the passenger side panels off I'll hopefully be able to see what's "off" /bent or whatever.

 

what is the correct length of the handle for the 1975 Olds Cutlass. I see one for sale on ebay ....$185 but it's about 6" long, I think the ones on my car are roughly 5 1/2"
BUT, passenger side appears to be seated correctly, the drivers side isn't right but it's the same size.!