Thank you! Thank You!

[John Winkelman <digerati@postoffice.worldnet.att.net>]

Scott Gongwer wrote:
> (snip)
> I spent the next hour struggling to get the new handle on.  Not with the
> nylon connectors.  They are difficult, but eventually you get them snapped
> on. (Don't switch them around or nothing will work. Reach in the hole in the
> door with your hands and push-pull them to determine their use.)  The problem
> I had was attaching the small (forward) part of the plastic handle casing to
> the car.  After some struggle I took the handle off again, took it in the
> house and found that the old handle and kit handle are different sizes and
> shapes.  The kit handle is too long, by about 1/4 inch, and, is not molded with
> a recessed area to allows the round metal nib, with the threads for the
> attachment screw, to sit inside the handle. Result, after some study, I 
> determined that the kit handle is not usable for 84-885ks cars.  I even tried 
> modifying and bending the handle but it is hopeless.  After studing the problem 
> for a while, I discovered another solution.
> 
> There is another small screw way down in the guts of the mechanical trigger
> mechanism that allows you to remove the entire mechanism from the platic
> shell handle. After doing this to old and new handles. I could install the new 
> kit mechanism into the old plastic handle shell.  Result, I got the new hybrid 
> handle onto the car in 10 minutes, put in the door-jam screws, and was done................................

I spent an hour or so today trying to replace my 87 5kCSTQ's passenger door handle 
with a new one that I bought from Blauferneugen. First, of course, I had to switch 
the lock cylinder to the new handle and attach a couple of replacement parts to 
the inner end of the cylinder.  After trying to fit it on the door, same problem 
you had: the new handle was approx. 3/16 too long between the mounting points. I 
finally reassembled and replaced the old, broken handle, and planned to call Blau 
for a replacement tomorrow.  After reading your post, I went to the garage and 
located the screw that holds the works in the plastic handle casing. Now, I think 
I'll just switch the mechanism to the old handle to minimize the amount of time 
that I have to put up with the broken handle.

Thanks for the timely tip.

John Winkelman