[DeTomaso] Door Handle Story

Jeff Detrich jjdetrich at gmail.com
Tue Feb 24 11:41:09 EST 2015


I'm smiling, too!

Jeff
6559

On Mon, Feb 23, 2015 at 7:57 PM, Sean Keane <jskeane6 at gmail.com> wrote:

>    Hi,
>    I finished up a little repair on my 1974 L-model recently, and felt the
>    writing bug. I hope what follows is enjoyable for you to read.
>    _______________________________________________________________________
>
>    Today, I walked past my 1974 DeTomaso Pantera in the garage, looked at
>    the driver's side door handle, and smiled.
>
>    I've never looked at a door handle on any other car I've owned and
>    smiled, so what was different about this car?
>
>    The Pantera is an interesting breed. It's the original "hybrid" car,
>    but instead of being a hybrid of mechanical and electrical components,
>    like the hybrid cars of today, it's a hybrid of Italian supercars and
>    American muscle cars. That's a heady mixture, as any Pantera owner will
>    attest.
>
>    So why did a door handle make me smile? A 40-year-old car develops all
>    sorts of ailments that the original engineers probably never even
>    dreamed of. On my Pantera, the ailment in question was a tendency for
>    the driver's side exterior door handle to lift up from the body as the
>    door handle was being used. It was to the point where I think a good
>    firm tug on the handle might have ripped it from the car altogether.
>    Easily ripping pieces from the vehicle doesn't exactly bolster its
>    reputation.
>
>    Like many Pantera owners, I might not be willing to tackle a complete
>    ZF Transaxle rebuild, but I'm willing to have a go at simple repairs.
>    Removing the door panel and extracting the exterior handle was
>    remarkably easy, and immediately revealed the problem: a plastic piece
>    on the interior portion of the handle had broken. Instead of two screws
>    holding the door handle in place, only one was doing so, and that
>    allowed the handle to pivot up and away from the door. The cause was
>    obvious; now, for the fix.
>
>    One of the wonderful attributes of the Pantera is that enough of them
>    were made that there is a thriving aftermarket for Pantera parts. Many
>    of these parts are far cheaper than you might expect for an Italian
>    supercar like a Maserati or Lamborghini. But sometimes, even the
>    Pantera part gets into silly money. To replace the broken plastic
>    component on my Pantera was going to cost well north of $100.
>
>    So I did what a lot of other Pantera owners do: I fixed the part that
>    was broken. I'd love to say that I got it right the first time, but the
>    truth is, I didn't. After removing the door handle from the car (where
>    I thankfully didn't break anything else while removing the part that
>    was broken), I noticed that a former owner had used epoxy glue to fix
>    it once already. My first attempt at a repair was to chip away the old
>    epoxy, rough up the plastic to create a better bond, and use new epoxy.
>    Then I subjected the part to vigorous usage of the kind that might be
>    expected of a door handle, and watched the part fail again.
>
>    OK, so on to plan B. This time, I used cyanoacrylate glue to bond the
>    two plastic parts, and fiberglass mesh with epoxy on both sides of the
>    break in the plastic. To improve the appearance, I also sanded down the
>    paint on the exposed side of the handle, primed it, painted it with
>    flat black paint, and finished with three coats of clear coat. This
>    wasn't anything fancy, just good quality spray paint that I bought at
>    the hardware store, but it was paint that I have used before and trust.
>
>    This time, the fix held up to rough treatment. When I showed the part
>    to my wife, she said, "Wow, that really looks professional". And it
>    really did, so much so that I'll probably have to do the passenger's
>    side door handle now, even thought it's not broken.
>
>    When all of this was done, I put the handle back in the door and
>    reassembled everything. And that's why I smiled when I looked at that
>    door handle today. Because I knew that it had taken a four-decade-old
>    part, and made a quality fix that will last another four decades. And
>    it really did look as good as new. And this is a story repeated
>    throughout the Pantera fraternity. We improve what needs improving. We
>    fix what needs fixing. And we take pride in owning the
>    best-damn-looking car ever made.
>
>    To paraphrase a recent Dodge commercial, no one ever looked at the door
>    handle of a Passat and smiled. I'm proud of the work I've done on my
>    Pantera, and I'll smile every time I open that door.
>      __________________________________________________________________
>
>    [1][avast-mail-stamp.png]
>
>    This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
>    [2]www.avast.com
>
> References
>
>    1. http://www.avast.com/
>    2. http://www.avast.com/
>
> _______________________________________________
>
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-------------- next part --------------
   I'm smiling, too!
   Jeff
   6559

   On Mon, Feb 23, 2015 at 7:57 PM, Sean Keane <[1]jskeane6 at gmail.com>
   wrote:

     A  A Hi,
     A  A I finished up a little repair on my 1974 L-model recently, and
     felt the
     A  A writing bug. I hope what follows is enjoyable for you to read.
     A
     A __________________________________________________________________
     _____
     A  A Today, I walked past my 1974 DeTomaso Pantera in the garage,
     looked at
     A  A the driver's side door handle, and smiled.
     A  A I've never looked at a door handle on any other car I've owned
     and
     A  A smiled, so what was different about this car?
     A  A The Pantera is an interesting breed. It's the original "hybrid"
     car,
     A  A but instead of being a hybrid of mechanical and electrical
     components,
     A  A like the hybrid cars of today, it's a hybrid of Italian
     supercars and
     A  A American muscle cars. That's a heady mixture, as any Pantera
     owner will
     A  A attest.
     A  A So why did a door handle make me smile? A 40-year-old car
     develops all
     A  A sorts of ailments that the original engineers probably never
     even
     A  A dreamed of. On my Pantera, the ailment in question was a
     tendency for
     A  A the driver's side exterior door handle to lift up from the body
     as the
     A  A door handle was being used. It was to the point where I think a
     good
     A  A firm tug on the handle might have ripped it from the car
     altogether.
     A  A Easily ripping pieces from the vehicle doesn't exactly bolster
     its
     A  A reputation.
     A  A Like many Pantera owners, I might not be willing to tackle a
     complete
     A  A ZF Transaxle rebuild, but I'm willing to have a go at simple
     repairs.
     A  A Removing the door panel and extracting the exterior handle was
     A  A remarkably easy, and immediately revealed the problem: a
     plastic piece
     A  A on the interior portion of the handle had broken. Instead of
     two screws
     A  A holding the door handle in place, only one was doing so, and
     that
     A  A allowed the handle to pivot up and away from the door. The
     cause was
     A  A obvious; now, for the fix.
     A  A One of the wonderful attributes of the Pantera is that enough
     of them
     A  A were made that there is a thriving aftermarket for Pantera
     parts. Many
     A  A of these parts are far cheaper than you might expect for an
     Italian
     A  A supercar like a Maserati or Lamborghini. But sometimes, even
     the
     A  A Pantera part gets into silly money. To replace the broken
     plastic
     A  A component on my Pantera was going to cost well north of $100.
     A  A So I did what a lot of other Pantera owners do: I fixed the
     part that
     A  A was broken. I'd love to say that I got it right the first time,
     but the
     A  A truth is, I didn't. After removing the door handle from the car
     (where
     A  A I thankfully didn't break anything else while removing the part
     that
     A  A was broken), I noticed that a former owner had used epoxy glue
     to fix
     A  A it once already. My first attempt at a repair was to chip away
     the old
     A  A epoxy, rough up the plastic to create a better bond, and use
     new epoxy.
     A  A Then I subjected the part to vigorous usage of the kind that
     might be
     A  A expected of a door handle, and watched the part fail again.
     A  A OK, so on to plan B. This time, I used cyanoacrylate glue to
     bond the
     A  A two plastic parts, and fiberglass mesh with epoxy on both sides
     of the
     A  A break in the plastic. To improve the appearance, I also sanded
     down the
     A  A paint on the exposed side of the handle, primed it, painted it
     with
     A  A flat black paint, and finished with three coats of clear coat.
     This
     A  A wasn't anything fancy, just good quality spray paint that I
     bought at
     A  A the hardware store, but it was paint that I have used before
     and trust.
     A  A This time, the fix held up to rough treatment. When I showed
     the part
     A  A to my wife, she said, "Wow, that really looks professional".
     And it
     A  A really did, so much so that I'll probably have to do the
     passenger's
     A  A side door handle now, even thought it's not broken.
     A  A When all of this was done, I put the handle back in the door
     and
     A  A reassembled everything. And that's why I smiled when I looked
     at that
     A  A door handle today. Because I knew that it had taken a
     four-decade-old
     A  A part, and made a quality fix that will last another four
     decades. And
     A  A it really did look as good as new. And this is a story repeated
     A  A throughout the Pantera fraternity. We improve what needs
     improving. We
     A  A fix what needs fixing. And we take pride in owning the
     A  A best-damn-looking car ever made.
     A  A To paraphrase a recent Dodge commercial, no one ever looked at
     the door
     A  A handle of a Passat and smiled. I'm proud of the work I've done
     on my
     A  A Pantera, and I'll smile every time I open that door.
     A  A
     A __________________________________________________________________
     A  A [1][avast-mail-stamp.png]
     A  A This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus
     software.
     A  A [2][2]www.avast.com
     References
     A  A 1. [3]http://www.avast.com/
     A  A 2. [4]http://www.avast.com/
     _______________________________________________
     Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
     Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes
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References

   1. mailto:jskeane6 at gmail.com
   2. http://www.avast.com/
   3. http://www.avast.com/
   4. http://www.avast.com/
   5. mailto:DeTomaso at poca.com
   6. http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com


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