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Exterior Door Handle Help


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I'm getting ready to take the exterior door handles from my 1932 Dodge Brothers DL sedan to the chrome shop.  I'm trying to figure out how to remove the decorative escutcheon from the handle itself.  As you can see in the photo, the escutcheon is held to the square shaft by the round washer, which in turn is held in place by two peened extensions on each side.  If I file them off to free the round washer that holds everything together, how do I put them back together after the chrome is applied - there won't be anything to peen over?  This looks like one of the few instances on these old cars where something was designed NOT to be taken apart.  I'd love to hear from anyone who has dealt with this in the past.

 

IMG_6397_zpsvkiawyik.jpg

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I had the same problem with mine but mine has a locking collar as well to hold the retaining ring in place. I did think of using a pin as suggested above but I thought this may weaken the shaft as there is considerable pressure applied to this area as I saw on some of my shafts that they had slightly twisted over the years. I ground down the peening on mine and then used the collar to hold in place. I was thinking of using a washer, filing out the centre to suit and having the rest of the centre bent upwards and flaring this onto the shaft....sort of burring it on if that makes sense.

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Do the same thing again. File off or hammer down with a punch the upstands, take apart, build up with spot of weld, make square, reassemble and reinstall the pressure ridges using a pressing tool. This will be where the creativity comes in. A pin hole or c-washer groove will weaken the shaft. Clearly the factory thought that was no good. The heat from welding might also help reverse any recrystallization of the steel in the shaft due to redistribution of built-in stress and to operational torque stress (as commented on by Ian).

Edited by Spinneyhill (see edit history)
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You are probably correct, but they used a pin on the locking handle, which I assume takes as much stress as the other three. I think I will go with the weld and remaking of the ridges. Decisions, decisions...

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The handles I recently purchased for my '31 Chrysler CD8 roadster project have the pins as noted above in both handles, neither of which is locking. The pins are smaller than 1/8", perhaps 3/32", and the spring keeps them tight in the hole. The nice thing about this method is you can do the drilling and pin fitting before you send them out, and would not have to mess with the handles once you get the chrome work done. 

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