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Topic: door handles?? (Read 3878 times) previous topic - next topic

door handles??

How do I take my old door handles off my 88 t-bird. Also will mustang door handles work? My friend had some new ones laying around and he said that mustang ones should fit.

Re: door handles??

Reply #1 –
Yes,the Mustang handles will work just fine.They're the same.I remove mine by pulling the door panel (obviously),and on the backside of the handle,there are the backs of the rivets.The back of the rivet will look as though it has 3 "tabs" bent out holding the handle to the car.Simply get a flat screwdriver and bend the tabs up a little,the break the off with a pair of pliers or wire cutters (2 rivets on each side).After that,Get a phillips head screwdriver,and place it in the center of the rivet on the inside of the car and pop it with a hammer.The rivets will pop out,and the handles will come off.Easy.When putting the new handles on,use bolts,lock washers,and locking nuts.It makes removing them in the future (hopefully you won't have to) easier.Good luck.I hope I explained it alright.I'll be glad to help you in any way.Good luck.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Re: door handles??

Reply #2 –
Instead of mesing around with prying this and that...from the outside, take a punch and knock the center out of the rivet and then drill the rest out with a 1/4" drill bit....

Boom, done in less than 2 minutes.  You still need to get to inside though to work the handle off the latch lever, but you'd have to do that anyway.
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo - '85 Marquis LTS - '86 LTD Wagon-  '81 Granada GL 2dr

Re: door handles??

Reply #3 –
, you guys are mind-readers. I was sitting in a parking lot today waiting to pick my aunt up from work, and started thinking I needed to deal with the partially busted door handle on the '86 soon. I know the trick to opening it quickly, but no one else here does. (thumb on the top of the handle, holding it in place so it can open properly) Should fix it soon, too.. the car may get more drivers once my '88 is operational.

Re: door handles??

Reply #4 –
Quote
The back of the rivet will look as though it has 3 "tabs"
Ehhhhh.. I get bored, I post pictures:
.
Death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth.

1988 5.0 Bird, mostly stock, partly not, now gone to T-Bird heaven.
1990 Volvo 740GL. 114 tire-shredding horsies, baby!

Re: door handles??

Reply #5 –
Quote
I needed to deal with the partially busted door handle on the '86 soon. I know the trick to opening it quickly, but no one else here does. (thumb on the top of the handle, holding it in place so it can open properly)


Must be common because I broke mine on the driver's side about three years back and was opening my door the same way for about 3 months until I decided to repaint the car and put the new handle on.
-- 05 Mustang GT-Whipplecharged !!
--87 5.0 Trick Flow Heads & Intake - Custom Cam - Many other goodies...3100Lbs...Low12's!

Re: door handles??

Reply #6 –
drivers side of the red bird is broken too, and it seems every fox body guy thats opened the door knows what to do, thumb on top of handle to push down on it while you lift it to open
It's Gumby's fault.

Re: door handles??

Reply #7 –
LOL thats exactly what is wrong with my door handle. Thanks for the picture, it's helpful.

Re: door handles??

Reply #8 –
My handle broke today.................jinxed.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Re: door handles??

Reply #9 –
If you want an even quicker way to take the old handles off, just find an idiot coworker that thinks it's funny to jerk up on the handle as hard as he can when the temperature is 10 below zero.  Comes right off!  I hate that guy.

Re: door handles??

Reply #10 –
My '84 has a broken passenger's side handle.  Where's a good place to get a new one?  I'll be doing this fix soon, too.

Re: door handles??

Reply #11 –
I'll have to remember to do that the next time it drops below -10 down here.. :p

Re: door handles??

Reply #12 –
Quote
just find an idiot coworker that thinks it's funny to jerk up on the handle as hard as he can when the temperature is 10 below zero


Did you or someone else witness this?
If so,  you did not press charges and make him spend a little while in the pokey because......?
-- 05 Mustang GT-Whipplecharged !!
--87 5.0 Trick Flow Heads & Intake - Custom Cam - Many other goodies...3100Lbs...Low12's!

Re: door handles??

Reply #13 –
You can get new handles at Autozone,etc.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Re: door handles??

Reply #14 –
Guys, be careful with Mustang handles. The 1987-93 cars had plastic handles that break all the time. The 1986-earlier cars had metal just like ours. CJ Pony Parts (http://www.emustang.com) has the correct black metal handles for our cars, among other places.

When you install the new handles, instead of trying to find a large enough pop rivet, I would recommend using 1-1/4" carriage bolts and some thread-locker. They're a lot tougher to drill out so that's a theft deterrent. You'd only be able to remove the bolts from inside the door panel then. Economical and effective.