[DeTomaso] Passenger door handle question

[Peter Kovacs]

I wasn't there when it broke and I didn't realize there were 2 separate pieces 
so I'll have to check. At this point, I believe it's the external housing or 
bucket that broke and not the latch. Is an exploded view available somewhere so 
I properly identify the part I really need? 

 
Peter Kovacs
209 345-6708 
209 436-2000 fx




________________________________
From: "MikeLDrew at aol.com" <MikeLDrew at aol.com>
To: peter-kovacs at sbcglobal.net; detomaso at realbig.com
Sent: Mon, June 20, 2011 12:42:49 PM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Passenger door handle question


In a message dated 6/20/11 12 35 54, peter-kovacs at sbcglobal.net writes:



The passenger side door handle on my 74 has snapped. Is this part shared with a
more generic car? where do I find one? Any words of advice while doing the R &
R?


It's a Pantera-specific part.  People bust their door handles all the time, 
because they tug the door open using the pull-tab on the handle.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.  Now, I admit, it should be possible to do that, but due to 
the nature of the design of the Pantera doorhandle, if you do that routinely, 
eventually you break the handle off. :<(

One friend in the UK has broken his door handle THREE times, because he keeps 
forgetting that he locked his car!  He tries to open the door, it won't open, so 
he just pulls harder until the doorhandle comes off in his hand--DOH!

The technique Gary Hall showed me when I bought my Pantera from him in 1989, is 
to treat the pull tab as a LATCH only.  A gentle pull releases the latch and the 
door pops open an inch or so, then curl your fingers around the sheetmetal skin 
of the door and use that to open the door.

Another mistake people make is to use the window frame as an opening or closing 
device.  I think it was John Bentley whose door frame busted away from the door 
due to that sort of thing; he had to have it welded back to the door at a tech 
session at Roger Sharp's house many moons ago.  (JB, that was you, right?)

With regard to your current situation, replacement pieces are available from the 
Pantera vendors.  Original assemblies cost a fortune, but if you just broke the 
tab, you can buy a new tab fairly inexpensively.  Originally they were held to 
the plastic bucket with a long rivet; the tab should include a replacement 
attachment device (normally a very long, fine bolt and nut).

If you broke the plastic housing and not the pull tab, those are also available, 
both in plastic (a fairly good copy of the original) and machined aluminum.

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out?

Mike