broken door handles

[davidc89]

Hey guys,

I am a new owner of an 81 DeLorean, from Minnesota, and I went to open my doors in these cold temperatures. Now I have to broken door handles...

Any ideas on how to open the doors? I don't really want to break the window, but if it comes down to it I will have to. It is not locked.

Thanks,
David

[DavidProehl]

Hey guys,

I am a new owner of an 81 DeLorean, from Minnesota, and I went to open my doors in these cold temperatures. Now I have to broken door handles...

Any ideas on how to open the doors? I don't really want to break the window, but if it comes down to it I will have to. It is not locked.

Thanks,
David


Congrats on ownership! Is this your car? It was spotted on Feb 15th and posted to the MN Cars & Coffee Facebook page:
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=33040&stc=1

I used to live in Maple Grove, and will be moving back this November. Looking forward to seeing you at club events!

As for the door handles, the original plastic is known to be brittle, the cold doesn't help either. Never heard of both breaking at the same time before though. Is there any part of the door handle still visible that you could pull with a couple needle nose pliers?

I wonder if a locksmith could force the latch for you. That may also be an option.

[davidc89]

No that's not my car. I bought mine from a guy in Fargo. I live in the Alexandria area. On the drivers side there is a piece that I can grab with a pliers, but this cold doesn't let anything work. I will have to wait until it warms up a bit, then maybe it will open. The passenger door is not really an option... I was just going through my options. I have to get the doors open to install the new metal handles. I just really don't want to break the window. I emailed DeLorean and received no response.

I am new to forums and realized this is not the place to post questions. Sorry moderator!

[Dangermouse]

I would wait until it is warmer and then use pliers on the piece that you can see. Obviously once one door is open, then you can open the other from the inside.

Sometimes the door sticks to the outer door seal and I would imagine that any moisture would just make that worse, so you probably won't have any success until it warms up. I assume your car is outside? If it in a garage or other enclosed space, you could try a space heater to get the ambient up, and then give the pliers a go.

[dn010]

If you can reach with pliers that is the best bet just take care not to damage the stainless. Once you get the one side open you can open the other side from the inside and begin working on it. Obviously right now you can't get in so parking or moving the car to a heated garage is out; is the handle broken enough to expose any holes in the door that you could blast some warm air with a heat gun in?

[davidc89]

My car is in a garage, but its not heated. I would probably cry if I saw it outside covered in snow and ice hahaha. Before you had to hold the handle up for a few seconds and then it would release. I don't know a lot about how these doors unlatch. I figured that the cold maybe was making it act this way? I am not sure.

[DavidProehl]

No that's not my car. I bought mine from a guy in Fargo.!

Was his name Andy? He's restored a few DMCs in the Fargo area and has come to a few events in the Twin Cities. Great guy who knows his stuff.

If you haven't already, be sure to join the MN Club's Yahoo group (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/mndmc/info) and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/DeloreansOfMinnesotaClub). That will keep you current on club events.

[DMCMW Dave]

On the end of the handle closest to the front of the door, move the broken handle out of the way look through the hole. You'll see a steel ball connected to the release cable. Pull firmly on that with a pair of pliers and you can release the door.

[DMCMW Dave]

Was his name Andy? He's restored a few DMCs in the Fargo area and has come to a few events in the Twin Cities. Great guy who seems to know his stuff.

If you haven't already, be sure to join the MN Club's Yahoo group (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/mndmc/info) and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/DeloreansOfMinnesotaClub). That will keep you current on club events.

Andy moved to Kansas city and now seems to live on an airplane. . . .

[DMCMW Dave]

Hey guys,

I am a new owner of an 81 DeLorean, from Minnesota, and I went to open my doors in these cold temperatures. Now I have to broken door handles...



You are lucky. There was a story a few years ago (I'm not sure the owner is on the list here but he's still an owner) where he snapped off both door handles in the winter like that. With the engine running.

[davidc89]

[QUOTE=DavidProehl;166969]Was his name Andy? He's restored a few DMCs in the Fargo area and has come to a few events in the Twin Cities. Great guy who knows his stuff.

No, his name is Jason.

[davidc89]

No, I bought it from a guy named Jason.

Thanks guys for all the help!

[DavidProehl]

Andy moved to Kansas city and now seems to live on an airplane. . . .

Out of the bitter cold, good for him!


No, I bought it from a guy named Jason.

Thanks guys for all the help!

That would have been my second guess! Saw his post that he was selling (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/mndmc/conversations/messages/1934), but don't think I ever met him.

[Josh]

Is this your car?
My brother sent me these pictures a few weeks back when he was moving. Taken somewhere between Fargo and Minneapolis.

3304133042

[davidc89]

Yes that is my car! I was picking it up in Fargo. That was the day I bought it. That is definitely not the only picture that was taken that day. It was a huge hit on the interstate.

[Alan]

Congratulations. I looked at 2347 last fall. I'm planning on buying in spring and wasn't quite ready at that time. Jason was cool. The car was in very decent shape and reasonably priced. Enjoy it. Had it still been there in April or May, I might have enjoyed it. 😉

[davidc89]

Oh ok. I am very excited about it and have some cool plans for it.

[davidc89]

I got my doors open!!!

[Dangermouse]

Soooooo. How'd ya do it?

[davidc89]

I waited until it was about 30 degrees out and I was able to get into the front hole in the door with a small needle nose pliers. I was able to grab onto the broken plastic handle piece and pull. Needless to say I rolled the window down after that. Now time to order new door handles. I was also thinking about doing the Wings-A-Loft, but I have not heard back from them.