Easy door/window handle R&R

I came across the following post on the 6-Pack Forum and it makes a lot of sense. Thanks go to RobertN, a newbie there.

This is a direct quote from his post and the "I" is RobertN, not Paul the dummy.

"I've been renewing my TR6 interior and have read many tips for removing and reinstalling the interior window cranks and door handles. I had a time of it removing the handle and crank on the first door I did (mounting new door panels). I was dreading putting them back on because I had read that removing them was the easy part!!

When I went to put the door handle back on, the escutcheon (black plastic disk behind the metal handle) accidentally feel off the door handle shaft and rested on the door mechanism shaft. When I pushed in on the metal handle, the escutcheon was pushed in while still leaving a gap between it and the handle. The hole for the pin was perfectly exposed! I held the handle in that position while my son simply pressed the pin in the hole with a pair of needle-nose pliers. Once the pin was in, I pushed the escutcheon back to center and it "popped" over the door handle shaft and went in the proper position. It was so easy!!

Next, I tried the same technique, but in reverse, to remove the handles from the other door. It worked like a charm! To remove the pin, I inserted a wide blade screwdriver between the handle and the escutcheon. I levered the escutcheon so that a gap formed between it and the handle. When the gap was wide enough so that the escutcheon fit behind the handle shaft (about 1/2"), I pushed it down so that it slid off-center and rested on the winder or door mechanism shaft. When I released pressure, the gap remained and the pin remained exposed. To remove the pin, I merely pushed in on the handle a little bit to take the pressure off the pin and then used a thin, pointy tool (I used a small electric test probe) and pushed the pin out. Once the pin was out, I released the pressure on the handle and it slid off.

It was so easy to do--using the escutcheon to put pressure on the door handle. Using this technique I can get a door handle off and back on in less than 30 seconds." /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Now if someone would only come up with a quality replacement window handle, one where the darn black plastic knob won't constantly break off. I have replaced at least 6 of these darn things between both doors. The poorly built plastic knobs just self-destruct. I am sure they all come from the same manufacturer, Taiwan I believe.


Bill

Brosky
after nearly damaging my health from removing and reinstalling my door handles and winders, I simply removed the spring spacer behind the door panel. There is enough thickness in the door panel and padding to push the escucheon over the fixing pin. Mine have been like this for several years without a pin falling out, and when I do need to remove a door handle it only takes me a few minutes.
Regards
Craig

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Now if someone would only come up with a quality replacement window handle, one where the darn black plastic knob won't constantly break off. I have replaced at least 6 of these darn things between both doors...

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Sounds like a case where a good used part is the way to go. Mine (TR4 but similar) are fine after 40+ years of use.