Printer Friendly Forum Posts - shaving door handels

I am wanting to shave my door handels on my Saturn. Problem is I can't weld them like I have on so many other cars and trucks because the car is plastic. I was thinking of using fiberglass to patch up the hole form the back. Dose anybody know if this can be done, or if there is another way to do it. Please help, I hate door handles and want to see mine gone A.S.A.P..Thanks for any help you might be able to give

I could be wrong on this but I dont think that fiberglass would stick very well to that plastic. I do have some questions for you though about shaving door handles im going to pm them too you. If anyone has a tutorial w/ pics on how to shave door handles please post them. I would suggest using the type of plastic that the door is made of. Now how you would shape this plastic to match the curve im not sure, unless you can heat it up and then bend it the way you need it.

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Learning the trade one fiberglass creation at a time!

I think I'd be hard to get same plastic but I dfinetley agree the fiberglass will do it. Shapping part is easy, here is what you do. Take out the door handle, take a piece of brown carboard, glue on it a piece of smooth poster board, cuit to the size you need, tape it to mask the whole, dip fiberglass pieces in resin (or paint with resin) and lay them on to cover the whole, sand it to make it seamless. Now there are variations you can do such as: once you got the carboard to the right size firberglass it and then glue it on to the whole with epoxy. Hope this helps.

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If you go to an autobody supply store, you can purchase a two part plastic repair/adhesive its almost like liquid plastic until it hardens. it works wonders when used properly. it grinds like metal almost. my suggestion would be to find a similar composite, cut the shape of the openings and bond/fill with the plastic repair. can anyone help me out with part #s. i believe its made by 3m, but im sure there are other brands. you need a special gun and it should come with 2-3 mixing tips.

I think what you are looking for is called Duramix. You can either use the 4040 or the 4058. The stuff is not cheap. buying the gun is the worst part becuse it is around $60-75.

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Respect the Blood Line

I agree with one_dieu hes been on here awhile and knows his stuff. I think the duramix idea is way better than mine. No offense to you test, but i really dont think the fiberglass is going to stick. I think it will but then it can snap loose when that door panels flexes a little bit. That would be a mess.

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Learning the trade one fiberglass creation at a time!

abovestock : I am also going to shave my door handles,but so far have only bought the kit. I will be putting up a step by step of my project when I get going on it soon, however my doors are metal so I only need to weld in a patch panel. I would recommend you contact Saturn dealer parts and find out what they use to do repairs. Just a thought.

posted_image I do have some shaved door tutorials in pdf. form If you like I can email them to you.

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In a world full of copycats, it's great to be an original!

I know for a fact that saturn jest replaces the pannels if they become damaged. But as for the 3M pannel bonding adhesive I think that might work. Thank you all for your help and please keep the ideas coming.

1hot944 wrote:

abovestock : I am also going to shave my door handles,but so far have only bought the kit. I will be putting up a step by step of my project when I get going on it soon, however my doors are metal so I only need to weld in a patch panel. I would recommend you contact Saturn dealer parts and find out what they use to do repairs. Just a thought.
I do have some shaved door tutorials in pdf. form If you like I can email them to you.

They Don't. I am about 99% sure on this but if you crack one of the polymer panels on a Saturn, they don't repair it, you buy a new door, fender etc...

regards

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just so you know what you are getting into, i could not weld mine in place i just bolted mine in and i have to say i will never install them again, when they move just a bit they dont open the door, when it is cold out they will not always open the door, you have to adjust them alot or they will give you a headace........ Mine fail at the worst times, you have to install the backup system too, i have a cord under the car to pull the cable on the door. I just know 4 other guys with them too and only one likes his, and he welded them to the door.

In many other cars including my own, I use auto lock 60 lbs. selonoids with dust boots to keep water out. Never failed yet(knock on wood).

We used this product on our Saturn

Dynatron epoxy

I cut out the pockets for the door handles, riveted a plastic backing plate and filled in with the epoxy. Its held up for almost three years with no cracking.

The work was done on our dragster. We shaved three of the door handles, gas filler door and lock holes.

posted_image

Depending on how thick the plastic panel is, you might be able to flush rivet a peice of plastic or metal behind the panel.

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Kenwood all the Way!

How would I go about placing and riveting a pannel to the door and filling it. I am looking for some pretty detailed instructions with pictures if possible. Thank you for the help so far.

I did ours three years ago and didnt think of taking pics. But what I did was use a piece of black textured ABS plastic and rivited it to the the door panel. I counter sunk the rivet heads halfway into the door panel. When I filled the handle opening with epoxy I also filled the countersunk rivet head locations. Once it was all sanded smooth, you couldnt tell any of it was there.

For our next project car I'll be using pieces of extrra door panels we have. Since painting our race car, we have picked up several Saturns for parts and we have three sets of body panels. So next ime I should be able to do it faster and with less epoxy filler.

my dad took the handles off the door on his 69 opel. used the lock motors from a saturn van (90s something) to pull the mech open. put a cam spring in the bracket attached to the door jamb to 'pop open' the door when the motor pulled. set it up so the motor pulled/pushed on the bar just like the operating of the mechanism.

as for fiberglass, sounds like the only option. don't forget bondo and red gold when you're done with the glass, and primer and paint after that.

I counter sunk the rivet heads halfway into the door panel.

My only question is how do you do this counter sink thing you speak of. No experiance riveting at all. Other than that sounds like the best plan and I will be doing that in the near future. Thank you so much for the sugestions and the patients.

Just pick up a countersinking bit used for wood or metal screws. It is used to to get the screw head flush with the material you are working on. But instead of making the rivet head flush with the surface, just dig a litter deaper into the material and the rivet head will be below the surface.

Just dont go all the way through.