DROOPY DOOR HANDLE FIX - submitted by Doug Hendrickson (Portland, Oregon)

I have a cure for droopy door handles and a fix for the inside lock problem in worn doors.

Remove the door handle mechanism (regulator) and drill out the rivets holding the two halves together. Be careful when you remove one side from the other so that you know how to put it back together because the parts fall out in this process.

There is a small pin that is smaller on the ends that on the center. It fits in a worn out slot; you will replace that pin with a 5/16 inch or 1/4 inch ball bearing (I can't remember what size I used now) - file the slot out with a needle file on both halves of the door lock regulator. The slot should be filed so that it has angled sides that the ball bearing will roll in. Put the ball bearing into the filed slot. Discard the pin.

The part that moved the pin now should be welded to add metal and then filed to the original shape. There should not be too much weld, but just a little to replace the worn out metal.

Countersink the holes in the regulator halves that the drilled out rivets were in and re-assemble with countersunk flat head screws with nuts on the other side.

The door locks work smooth and positive now and the door handles don't droop. This whole process takes about one hour per door. This works and is fairly simple to do with a minimum of tools.

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