How To: Convert Door Pull Straps From Old Style To New Style

[Ron]

https://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=33866&d=1429107470

[Helirich]

Thankyou Ron,

I decided to attack it today before I saw this. I will give my two cents for others. If McChucky does it, I’m hoping he replies also. Don’t think there is only one way to do this.

In my case, I wanted to use the old straps without cutting off the rings.

First, remove the door panels. On this note, I want to show a modification I did to make this job easier. I made two holes with a hole saw to get at the door pull bolts.

68321

My car had bolts on one side and screws on the other. Not sure which is stock, but I like the bolts better. Anyways, I covered the holes with chrome plugs I got from Lowe’s.

68322

Back to the job at hand, I wanted the pull to come off with the panel instead of feeding it through every time I remove the panel. So I located it slightly aft of where I saw pics of stock ones. This allowed me to attach the ring to metal. After finding the spot, I marked it on the vinyl with a pencil. I drilled two small holes at the mounting spots and another two 1/4” holes at the ends of the slot. Cutting the vinyl is not for the faint of heart.

68323

I cut the slot from the back side with a razor. In this pic you can see the 1/4” hole in the metal where the ring will attach.

68324

I would have liked some stainless countersunk screws to mount the trim piece. Of course, I didn’t have any that small. I did have some black Allen screws that went in the counter sunk. On the inside, I just put a washer and nylock nut. You can see the big bolt/washer holding the ring here. This is one thing I would like to change. I think little cable clamp would be better than a penny washer. There are two panel mount screws in the holes above the ring that make that angle rigid.

68325

All together, it turned out nice.

68326

It’s very solid and when shut from the outside, it doesn’t get pinched by the door.

68327