Door handle covering

[UKPhilTR7]

I have recently took off my door handles to put new rubber stoppers in them, so they sit flush. This is going well, but the black paint/covering on them is a little tired. I was thinking of painting them, but it would need to be something hard wearing. So then I thought of a powder coating job. Has anyone recovered their black handles and if so what did you do/use?

[supercass]

Not a big fan of powder coating. I think it chips too easily. As it is a small part I wonder if dipping it in Plastidip or similar would work.
I'm pretty sure you can replace the rubber stops without disassembling the door handle.supercass

[fastman]

I had mine powder coated along with other bits such as the windscreen surround. They've held up for about six years so far.

[FI Spyder]

I've used trim paint on things like quarter lite frames, windscreen finisher and they've been fine for 9 years, mind you they don't get a lot of abuse like door latch area. Other options are things like VHT caliper paint which must be heated in an oven at 200F for an hour, or Duplicolor caliper paint or Duplicolor high performance wheel paint. I've used these as well although no long term use to see how well they stand up. The theory being that calipers and wheels are in high risk areas for abrasion, chipping etc. and should therefor stand up.

Forwarning: I've got my old wall oven in the garage when I replaced it so am not responsible for "husband abuse" if you use the oven in the kitchen.

Like any painting, powder coating chip resistance is only as good as the surface prep. It will grip better to roughed up surface than a smooth one and must be clean. Typically they will dip it in a solvent bath before coating. As well the part should be preheated to out gas the item. Like any job be it electrical, plumbing (that's another story) etc. you only know it's done right if you do it yourself.

[UKPhilTR7]

That is true, I am finding out that only I can do the level of work that I want on my car. Had people work on her in the past and now as I do jobs, I am finding that I am correcting that work or doing it again to bring it up to the standard that I want. I do like the idea of taking off the bits like the mirrors, window surrounds and having them powder coated, in one batch. I sure would prep it good though and make sure that the job is perfect.

I tried to fit the rubber stopper without taking the latch off, but having big fingers sure didn’t help. Also I found that putting the rubber in hot water for a bit made it more durable and easy to stretch. In the end using long nose pliers to pull the tip of the rubber through the hole worked. I was just worried that the rubber may split while I was pulling it that way.

[Henry]

Following oin from a facebook thread I've just taken the outer door handles from some scrap Discovery doors that are waiting to go to the yard and they are all black as standard (late 300TDi) so it may be worth checking the local yard!
I'm using the rear door handles, with no locks, as I have central locking...

[stevie_a]

And if you want the bling of chrome use Morris Marina rear

[saabfast]

Hope your car is a DHC. Most cars with sold roofs and central locking have at least one lock which will work manually with a key for when the batteries go flat.

[Beans]

For the restoration of my DHC I had the door-handles powder coated, which worked rather well ...

http://tr7beans.blogspot.nl/2009/06/dhc-progress-report-nr-19.html

But while preparing parts for the '76 FHC I had to switch to "normal" painting because the alloy had become to porous ...



The problem with alloy and powder coating is that alloy is porous,
if the alloy has become to porous it will enable air to be trapped inside.
When heated the air expands, resulting in small air bubbles/blemishes to appear in the coating.

[UKPhilTR7]

Thanks for the pictures and the replies guys. I must admit that I do like the finish on the handles that have been powder coated. Trust me though, now I have seen that, I will want to get mine done and I have already fitted one of the rubber stops in the driver’s side. Not too much of a loss as they are only a few pound from Robsport, but typical  Now all I need to do is find a place in north Sydney that can do the bits and I will be cooking on gas.

I do like the door handles that have no hole for the barrel and I am in the process of putting central locking in my girl. It is one of them jobs that has been going on for a bit now though. However, I must admit that if I did put one in, I would still keep one barrel (possibly on the driver’s side) just in case the battery went flat.

[XSeries]

I have had powder coating for almost 25 years on many parts and it has not chipped.

For a second car I recently had some door handles done and the heat of the process distorted the handle - have just taken it to the scrap metal section of the local refuse tip as they are too bent to repair.

I also had a header tank coated years ago and that melted the solder keeping the two halves of the tank together. If spare / replacements are an issue (parts are harder to come by now!), warn the shop to not overheat!

[sydney.wedgehead]

My experience with powder coating is that it lasts better than an aerosol paint job.

North Shore Powder Coating at Artarmon did my last coating job. The guy that ran the business then (2007) has sold the business on. I haven't heard any bad reports about the new owner, but it is worth checking out some of local car tuner forums for other suggestions.

Mind you, if you want to just get the job done, it's very easy to give the door handle, mirror and quarter window pillar a quick paint with satin black.


Something I did notice on some of my door handles is that the lock cylinders had cut into the base casting, as illustrated in the following pic.


Regards,
Owen
ps. I am curious to learn more about the key-less entry system you are planning to install.

[supercass]

Yes, an easy to fit discreet keyless locking system may well benefit. It would help to avoid lock cylinder wear which seems to be a well known problem on older cars, the typical scenario being that you eventually find that any key will open the drivers door. Not a contemporaneous problem with central locking but can be a problem in less than 60 k miles where this is not fitted. I keep meaning to swap my passenger and drivers door cylinders to help prevent this. Like FISpyder I find that trim paint (as used for bumpers and similar) gives a good finish and looks very factory. supercass