06/05/2018
One of the things that had bugged me to no end was the broken gaskets around the door handles. If you notice, there's no keyhole being that I used rear door handles on the front to assist in the streamline appearance. The gaskets were in horrible, dry, and brittle condition. They cracked, no longer sat flush against the door skin, and would get caught on clothes. It was annoying, so I finally got around to addressing them.
The initial plan was to buy new gaskets, but at the time I was looking, I couldn't find them or a part number. It wasn't until after I installed them back on that I surprisingly came across them new, but I opted not reinstall them. I like to think of the amalgamation as something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. It's a commitment. Fortunately two fellow CD enthusiast had spare coupe handles just sitting collecting dust, so they donated them. Big thank you to Warren G and Stock Rob for the spare parts from which I was able to pull the gaskets from to make one complete set. Something important to note is that the coupe gaskets are indeed a bit smaller and different in shape than the rear door handles. I was aware of this prior and already decided to manipulate the rubber with some heat and stretching it just a bit, which did the trick.
When my original handles were removed and replaced by the body shop when my car was first painted, they left one of the rods on the door lock actuator free. This resulted in the rod clinging inside of the door whenever it was closed shut, and it was ANNOYING! With the handles off, it was the ideal time to address it. Although the rod no longer attached to the keyhole bracket from the original handles, I believe it still operated in an up and down motion from the actuator whenever I would lock my car with an alarm. I needed to ensure that whatever method I used allowed for play, but kept the rod upright. My solution was cutting a piece from a straw , cutting it in half, wrapping it around the rod, and securing it with tape. Simple, effective, and I got rid of the clinking sound whenever I would close my door.
In the process of removing the handles, I damaged the plastic bushing, so I figured I'd just buy new ones for a couple of bucks. It's always nice to see those red labels, even if it's just for a small piece of plastic. All in all, I'm extremely satisfied with the end result. It's something that would easily get overlooked, or may not be something big, but for task oriented me is a huge thing to check off the list so that I may move on to the next thing.
Thanks for reading.
