Rexxus

Hello,

I hope all is well and happy early thanksgiving! I was driving recently and noticed the storage case handle was wiggly when I opened the drivers door. Back home, I noticed the triangular insert at the back of the door that connects to the handle was very loose, I could probably pull it off the door. After closer inspection, I see that the plastic where the handle connects to the door card is cracked on one side and broken on the other. The entire door handle assembly seems to be one piece so replacing just a part isn’t an open. I’ve included pics of what I mean above. Any thoughts on how to fix this? I could glue and clamp it? Melt it? Ew, don’t love that idea. Contact cement?

The screws holding the handle in place have nuts on the back. They’re marginally accessible through the storage cubby. I’m guessing best bet is to fix the cracks and then tighten the nuts instead of removing them and fixing? Please let me know your thoughts and take care!

This is the right drivers side door. The screw driver tip shows a smaller cracked piece of plastic to the right side of the door nearer to the steering wheel

This is the left side of the handle showing a space between the brackets. You can see the screw and nut are almost coming out of the door.

This gives you a sense of how loose the back piece is

Here you can see the cracked plastic all along the base under the nut. I’m assuming this triangular piece is secure and held in place because it’s a single piece. It’s now cracked so the question is will gluing it work? Does it screw in somewhere else as well? If not, where can I find / how much are new door assembly’s? I fear the answer…

Zirconocene

It would be a little bit of work, but I think that using Q Bond to rebuild some of those parts, in a very manual sort of additive manufacturing, has a chance to produce some reasonable results. Then, so long as there's not too much water on the repair, I think that you have a chance at a reasonably long-lasting repair. You could also topcoat the Q Bond repair to waterproof it (since it uses cyanoacrylate, which is not the best with water).

ETA: Alternatively, if you can build a little mold around what you need to fix, you could also use some UV activated resin to recreate the broken parts. This is also somewhat manual to do, however.

Good luck

Jerry Feather

The real question here is not so much about what can be done to fix this but what is your capability to fix anything? If your ability is kind of like squirting some glue on it and then holding it in place for a bit, then you are pretty much screwed. My philosophy is that "anything can be fixed." However, "anyone" may not be able to fix anything.

My experience with these door cards is that you need to take it off the door and then decide what, among a number of choices, might be best to fix it. Are you even up to the ability the get the danged thing off of the door?

Rexxus

Thanks for the replies this is my first 928 and the first car I’ve worked on. I’ve done a bunch of work on the car so far, most has been flawless.

I definitely relay on rennlist though. I ask 100 questions, 90 of them are dumb, but it offers me the benefit of not pounding super glue into the plastic, holding it together and then having to remove the door car to somehow scrap it off and try something else.

so you’re of the mind that the door handle should be completely removed and then explore options. Oh, and there’s no water ingress so water damage shouldn’t be an issue

My thoughts already would be this is a workhorse piece of the car. Pulling the door closed, heaven forbid using the damaged part, hundreds of times a year. Ok, so I need the solution to be strong enough to last.

Mark Anderson

These will help making everything stronger once repaired https://shop.928intl.com/Armrest-Bac...tinfo/ARMREST/

WestInc

This is exactly my opinion also.
Some time ago I went through the whole drivers door. Two of four mounting holes/tabs were shot behind the storagebox, the others in bad shape + a load of other things. The plastic becomes brittle in the load areas, if not mended in time other things crack. You really have to take the doorcard off in order to fix this, or at least the handle-section. Take the storagebox-mechanism totally apart and see if the plastic can be mended, changed or rebuilt. Maybe look for a doorcard or handle-section online to take parts from.
Here's pictures of my doorcard/handle when I fixed the back of the plastic mount. I chose to make new distress-plates, hammered out in thin stainless steel and welded to relieve the plastic from the load. A bit overkill put it feels rock solid now. Not proud of my point-welds but since it's hidden I used my prototype plate. The pocket-mechanism were ok, just some surface corrosion...

soontobered84

Mark @ 928 Intl has the product to fix your door panel issues permanently. It is easy to install, is hidden behind the original door panel, and creates a stable and secure fix for your problem.

Rexxus

just so I can understand what the installation looks like, do you or Mark have a pic or installation process I can see? I’m happy to buy the parts Mark, just need to make sure my noobness is capable of installing it

soontobered84

It's been a while since I did mine, but I seem to remember that it only took about 30 minutes to do both sides. If I can do it, you can do it. It was relatively easy. I think the instructions have pictures, but I have CRS and I could be wrong

depami

It was probably the AC/DC that did it, that's pretty heavy stuff.
Did mine recently. Welded some plastic here and there, then installed with fender washers. Good so far.

Rexxus

beauty, so the parts come with instructions. That’ll do it!

Petza914

Here you go. Work great. Have installed them in all of my 928s, even ones where the plastic wasn't broken yet to prevent it from cracking.

WestInc

Those plates look nice. Did you use any glue between the metal and plastic? Can it be applied under that plate? I used sikaflex 221 between my plate, just to relieve the plastic-stress more to make it really sturdy. My mountingholes was very cracked so this was absolutely needed behind my plate...

Petza914

I didn't use any glue, just attached with the included fasteners, but don't see any reason why you couldn't also adhere them if the plastic is that far gone.

jpitman2

I also have the door card reinforcements in my doors - originals made here in Oz by Peter Clark, who supplied me directly. Strongly recommend fitting these while you reinforce the pocket related failures.
jp 83 Euro S AT 57k