silverriff

Ok I am on the last leg of my interior spring spruce up and I am having an issue installing my new door panels. The issue I am having is installing the door handle and armrest assembly. I purhased new armrests and the chrome backing plate that goes between the armrest and door. The problem is that the original door handle seems to be too short to install the backing plate correctly. If I install the plate first, I can't push the handle in far enough to snap in the spring clip, but if I install the handle first, there is no room to squeeze the plate in behind it. So what's the deal? My first thought is that these are not the correct door handles, like so many other things on the car. Or is my car not supposed to have the chrome backing plate and I wasted $40 bucks?

MJAKS462

are you sure the plates are on tight enough ? I actually snaped off the tabs that were on the plates that I used because the armrest holds them in place, so maybe your tabs are not all the way in. I had lots of room to get the clip on.

MJAKS462

Also I put the clip on the handle first and then pop the handle on with my palm.

we jeep inn

Same way I did mine.

silverriff

No there is definetly something amiss. I have quadruple checked it and the handle shank on the back is not long enough. Either that or the backer is too think. If I put the handle through the hole on the backer, till it is flush on the face o the backer, the handle only sticks about an 1/8th of an inch out of the back of the plate. And this is completly flush on the backer to the poit that it would scrape the hell out of the plate even if I could install it. I even snapped the tabs off the back, but that is not the issue. The door panel itself is on real snug right up against the frame of the door, so nothing has any give at all. Dammit and everything was going so smoothly.

silverriff

Could the shaft that the handle fits onto not be sticking out far enough for whatever reason? Or is there a way to adjust it out? I don't want to not use the backer, but I also don't want to buy a $40 pair of new handles if that may not even be the issue. I looked at the back of the handles too but they don't look like they were cutdown or anything. If anyone has one of their handles off, could you maybe measure the fitting on the back just to make sure? I am just grasping at straws now!

we jeep inn

I just measured my old handle and backing plate. The fitting on the back of the handle is 3/8" long. The thickness of the backing plate is 5/16". So a 16th of and inch difference. Sounds like the male end of the mechanism is not sticking through the door panel enough. I don't recall if there is an adjustment for that or not, but I don't think there is. Do you have a body manual?? Are the new door panels thicker than the originals?

Allan R

Maybe a dumb question: Is your car a Supreme? They were the only ones that were produced with the backer plates.

silverriff

Ugh Allan, don't tell me that! It's not a dumb question because it's not a Supreme. It's an S coupe. Dammit is that why the lock remote isn't long enough? I just got finished looking through my Fisher manual and didn't see any way to adjust it. As long as I don't have the backing plate on there, I can assemble everything fine. It did not have the backing plates on there when I bought it, I just though they were "supposed" to be on there. So is this why it won't fit? Did the Supreme have different doors/assemblies?

MJAKS462

I have been selling door parts from Cutass S and supremes as the same fitment for a few years and have not had any issues , all the doors and guts should be the same.

Lady72nRob71

HA!
I am glad I am not the only one who had this happen after changing door panels!
I used Legendary ones made in late 2008. They are thicker than the originals. Now the right side handle popped right on. The left? No way in heck... I tried for 30 minutes and I know I mashed hard enough. I am wondering about the handles, too. Mine is a Supreme and has the backplates.
Now I also have the OPG repop handle mechanisms, but they were already in there and the handles still fit with the old door panels.
I finally gave up and put it all together. Lastly, I took the handle and got it on the farthest I could, and...............................









...inserted a chunk of super firm foam in between the handle and the armrest base to hold it in there!

It works well and will be Lady's secret...

These new panels also hit the kick panels, as the panel windlace is installed wrong...

Allan R

My car is an S model too. I have never had problems removing the panels or putting them back on (as described by several of the others). I even installed some sound juting in the door panel for better noise control, but had to trim around the door armrest so it would fit back on.

I would not think the door handles would be any different from S to CS, but the backing plate may create a little bit too much clearance issue trying to put the armrests back on. Don't know why though.

My car does not have the backing plates. I thought about putting them on but decided against it since it was really the wrong trim for the car. IMO if the car didn't come with it, and the panels will reassemble fine without the plates, that's how I would put it back together.

I'd love to know how you resolve this issue. Good luck with the fix.

rickbmac

In the process of restoring my 72 S also. Should i prefit my door panels to verify before the addition of a jute or deadener behind the panel?

I would hate to run into this problem after the application of Fatmat to the door. This stuff does not want to release its grip.

Allan R

What I found was that the jute pad needed to be trimmed back from any areas where the panel fasteners would be (including armrest) so they could seat the panel snugly to the metal. So don't go right to the edge of where the panel will be with the sound deadener, stay back about and inch or two.

I don't know how thick fatmat is, but the jute I used was the stuff GM used for sound deadening (goes over top of the water shield) and it compresses nicely so you don't get a wavy look to the panel. BTW, the water shield does help with sound deadening too as long as its properly sealed to the inside door panel. As far as prefitting? I must have "dry fitted" or "prefitted" the panel several times with just hand pressure to see how it would look before putting in the fasteners.

There are several types of fasteners on these cars. Mine originally came with the plastic ones that "coiled" into the cardboard backing of the panel. Had to be really carefull the panel didn't get wrecked taking them out. There's a special trim tool that prevents damage to the panel. Used new fasteners to secure the panel, because once the fastener came out, the securing flares were kind of wrecked and wouldn't hold the panel as tightly to the door. Lots of them available now as repro parts.