Exterior door handle removal

[ylbill]

Can anyone explain how the exterior door handles on an 82 are removed? I picked this car a couple of months ago and just realized that I have one key that works on my trunk, glovebox and passenger door and none of the keys work on the drivers side door. I was thinking the easiest thing to is to get it keyed to the key I have for the passenger side. thanks

[narfire]

Have to pull the inner door panel off. Armrest etc. You'll then have access to the handle. 3 small 8 mm nuts that have a tendency to fall to the bottom and a conecting rod for the door lock that has two usually brittle plastic ends on them. Very carefull in prying the end off as they can break then either replace or go without a door lock. Make a note as to the orientation of the retaining brackets that are on the back of the handle. The handle comes out fat end first then slide towards the rear of the car as there is a bit of a lip in the handle that slides onto the metal of the door.
one unit of instalation fluid helps
Chris

[ylbill]

Have to pull the inner door panel off. Armrest etc. You'll then have access to the handle. 3 small 8 mm nuts that have a tendency to fall to the bottom and a conecting rod for the door lock that has two usually brittle plastic ends on them. Very carefull in prying the end off as they can break then either replace or go without a door lock. Make a note as to the orientation of the retaining brackets that are on the back of the handle. The handle comes out fat end first then slide towards the rear of the car as there is a bit of a lip in the handle that slides onto the metal of the door.
one unit of instalation fluid helps
Chris

Thanks Chris! Sounds like a pain and chance of messing things up even more. Do you know if just the keyway can be removed instead of removing the complete handle.

[narfire]

Keyway comes out from the rear I believe. There is a screw holding it in. I'd think if you can train a mouse that would have opposing thumbs...good to go if one left the handle in place. To be honest the handle removal is not that bad. Some light placed in the bottom of the door helps. You'll see there are two large grey plastic covers that come out quite easily to access the bottom part of the door. Once the inner panel is off,it takes about 5 minutes or less to remove the handle. Long handled screwdriver and some bent nose pliers and a 8 mm socket for two of the nuts and a wrench for the other.
Just go careful with the plastic end(only one end has to come off) on the locking rod. Trying these little issues can give one the confidence to tackle some of the more awkward things.
Chris

[ylbill]

Keyway comes out from the rear I believe. There is a screw holding it in. I'd think if you can train a mouse that would have opposing thumbs...good to go if one left the handle in place. To be honest the handle removal is not that bad. Some light placed in the bottom of the door helps. You'll see there are two large grey plastic covers that come out quite easily to access the bottom part of the door. Once the inner panel is off,it takes about 5 minutes or less to remove the handle. Long handled screwdriver and some bent nose pliers and a 8 mm socket for two of the nuts and a wrench for the other.
Just go careful with the plastic end(only one end has to come off) on the locking rod. Trying these little issues can give one the confidence to tackle some of the more awkward things.
Chris

Hey Chris, I must say I do lack a little of that confidence you need when tackling some of these jobs. That's because I'm one those guys that when working on projects "if it can go wrong...it will". Your right, it doesn't sound that bad. I'll give it a go.

Enjoy the ride, Cheers!

[PhillySpider]

anyone know how the spring is properly attached in the lock barrel? Got a new one and pulled it apart, can't seem to get it back together properly now lol!

[DRUMMOND]