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Thu Sep 04, 2008 5:47 pm

Hey guys, I've got a pretty serious issue going on with my passenger side door handle. I have ice-pick style handles, for the record.

The issue is this: When I recently installed my new door seals, the door decided it didn't want to open easily. I figured I just needed to pull harder, and so I did. before it finally gave, I could actually feel (and see) the exterior part of the door panel (the area surrounding the handle and about halfway across the door) was flexing quite a bit. This concerned me, but I needed to get the door open to check everything out (make sure the seals were installed correctly and the like). I managed to get the door open free of major issue, but when my grandpa later tried to open the door to get inside, he yanked (rather than gradually pulling) and the handle actually popped out of the hole, and the back part of it ( the plate meant to stop it from doing this?) was sticking halfway out of the hole. :shock: The metal wasn't damaged, but I was deeply concerned that it would do that.

We carefully re-attached it by taking it apart and re-assembling, but now I'm terrified to open the passenger door from outside, for fear of messing up the metal.

I'm almost positive the passenger door is a repop, or at least not o.g. to my bus. The hole for the latch to come through (I can't think of how better to describe it) is in a different spot from the driver's door. Apparently a P.O. hacked it to fit, though. Also, the metal seems much more flimsy than the driver's door. Not to mention that the door is slightly misaligned with the body overall, and it's not because of the hinges. The passenger door seems to be a little more "thick" than the other, and hangs over the outside just a tad in a few places.

Basically, I guess I'm asking what the heck I should do about this. I know the rubbers are one big part of the issue, but the door handle actually ripping itself through the hole seems a little strange, regardless. Should I make the backing plate wider somehow? I would imagine increasing it's surface area would help the tension on the door, and prevent it from ripping out again, but is there another way?

What should I do?

Thu Sep 04, 2008 9:59 pm

Get a good used door and make sure that it can be opened easily. Never pull very hard on the door handle. If a door is stuck, push on it from the inside.

Thu Sep 04, 2008 10:14 pm

Rub Baby Powder on the window frame to body seal.
It can hang up pretty bad when new and make the door tough to open. Baby Powder works best to cure this.

Thu Sep 04, 2008 10:23 pm

Are you taking about the outer door handle? Most of what you said makes no sense to me so photos would help.

You can't really rip an ice-pick door handle out of the door unless something is seriously messed up - mounting screws stripped and/or door metal seriously torn. The door handle chrome surround has a big "shelf" on it to hold it in place around the door metal.

I also don't understand what you disassembled and put back together to fix it.

Big shelf on right side of chrome surround seen in upper-left here

Fri Sep 05, 2008 7:28 pm

Sorry if my description was unclear, I wasn't sure how to describe it at all.

Yeah, that's the kind of handle I have. That shelf came through the hole somehow. I think that since the door is a repro or an incorrect door for the handle (or vice versa, whatever) the hole might be incorrectly sized.

When the metal flexed outward when he pulled on the handle, the force of it trying to go back and him trying to open the door must have pulled it through.

The metal on the door isn't damaged, though. The paint is scuffed behind the handle, though, from where it is just a little loose. It slides back a tad whenever used, and it scratched off the paint about a millimeter or two behind it.

We basically took the handle apart and put it back the way it was. I haven't used it since. Any time I've needed to get in through that side, I push from the inside, as Campy suggested.

So baby powder helps relieve the friction, I suppose? That makes sense; new rubber rubbing on new rubber is basically like having brakes on your doors.

Also, quick question: what is the best way to properly seal the area under the window frame and above the body in the front doors? My seals buckle slightly at the point between the vents and sliders, and despite my most valiant efforts, won't go down. I went out into my bus during a nice strong storm to see how well the rubbers were holding up, and found that both were leaking in the same spot. it wasn't a tiny leak, either. a small puddle accumulated inside my door. Thank god I drilled drain holes, though. The thought of fixing more rust makes me nauseous.

So is there a trick to getting that seal right, or should I just find another way to keep water out in those two spots?

Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:15 pm

ConcreteBalloon wrote: what is the best way to properly seal the area under the window frame and above the body in the front doors? My seals buckle slightly at the point between the vents and sliders, and despite my most valiant efforts, won't go down.
It sounds like you have a seal there so that is the first step. The seal is cut between the vent and slider on the inside only to allow it to turn that corner. I can post a photo, if needed. Then you tighten the window frame down using the 2 bolts underneath (see shop manual) but it's not super tight.

The doors are designed to leak and run out the bottom. Stock doors and the slider channels have drain holes. They shouldn't be leaking that much though...

Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:21 pm

ConcreteBalloon wrote:
Yeah, that's the kind of handle I have. That shelf came through the hole somehow.

Like Everett said above, it can't just come through the hole without some serious damage somewhere or the screws missing. There are 2 screws that go through the edge of the door into the handle. Sounds like the pot metal casting broke off, leaving the screws still in the door. I have a handle busted like that. Or the screws are missing.

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Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:13 am

The door handles are not made to have a lot of force put on them so just don't pull on them real hard, again.
Speaking of leaks, does the window frame have the scraper on it? Years ago, my 1957 bus had no scraper on either window frame on the doors and water would go by the top of the frame and onto the floor during a good storm.

Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:15 pm

It's leaking at the base of the window, on that "corner" of sorts, in between the slider and vent.

It's not a big leak, but during that strong storm I could actually see the drops coming in a few every 2 or 3 seconds...

I tried cutting the interior side to help the turn, but no luck...

Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:28 pm

Is it coming in through that door top seal or from somewhere else?
Maybe it got bunched up somehow, leading to a leak. I didn't think you could even install the door top without cutting that seal so it lays flat.

Did you tighten down the door top glass frame?

Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:57 pm

I don't even know. It fits, though. the door fits into the allotted space fine. it's bunched just enough to let water in, though. I'll try to show where and how it's leaking, just give me a minuet.

Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:00 pm

Ask and you shall receive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIKKDXCP2_M

Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:12 pm

zozo wrote: Ask and you shall receive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIKKDXCP2_M

Haha, for a second I didn't understand why you posted that...

Then I realized I spell "minute" as "minuet."

a minuet is nice too, though.

Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:15 pm

When you slid the window frame down in the hole, did it drag the flat piece into that hole, thereby pulling tension and wrinkling up the "rolled" edge? I did that with mine and had the same problem. I pulled the frame back out, trimmed the rubber along the edge of hole toward the outside of the door, and reassembled. It slid in without pulling and the edge lays flat.

Hole that helps.

Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:17 pm

I'll get a friend over here and try that tomorrow. I'm fairly sure that didn't happen, but it's worth a try.

Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:24 pm

delayed post, but I finally remembered to update this.

We trimmed the rubber around the holes, so no dice.

And do later model doors have larger door handle holes?