Car door handle
 

The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

A new assembly isn't too expensive, but doesn't come ready painted - it's
colour coordinated with the body. And having it painted triples the
price...

The clean break is near enough a straight line along the entire length.
What would be the chances of repairing it with epoxy etc - and if so which
one?

--
*The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

....AKA crapite. As distinct from that other favourite material of the
automotive industry -- polycrackathene.

To answer your question, given the temperature extremes it is likely to be
subjected to, I wouldn't think an epoxy repair would last long.

Steve S

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

A new assembly isn't too expensive, but doesn't come ready painted - it's
colour coordinated with the body. And having it painted triples the
price...

The clean break is near enough a straight line along the entire length.
What would be the chances of repairing it with epoxy etc - and if so which
one?


What chance have I of doing your job Dave !...

About nil I expect. :~((

In article , SteveS
writes

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

...AKA crapite. As distinct from that other favourite material of the
automotive industry -- polycrackathene.

To answer your question, given the temperature extremes it is likely to be
subjected to, I wouldn't think an epoxy repair would last long.

Maybe not, it's got to be worth a try with some araldite though.
--
Tim Mitchell

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

A new assembly isn't too expensive, but doesn't come ready painted - it's
colour coordinated with the body. And having it painted triples the
price...

The clean break is near enough a straight line along the entire length.
What would be the chances of repairing it with epoxy etc - and if so which
one?

Is this the handle that you use most often? If so, can you replace the
broken one with another handle from your car, then make an epoxy attempt at
a repair. As long as it's not used that much you might be ok.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

A new assembly isn't too expensive, but doesn't come ready painted - it's
colour coordinated with the body. And having it painted triples the
price...

The clean break is near enough a straight line along the entire length.
What would be the chances of repairing it with epoxy etc - and if so which
one?

Not very good. If joint kept under pressure and stoved it might hold,
but its not the sort of thing thats easy to achieve.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

A new assembly isn't too expensive, but doesn't come ready painted - it's
colour coordinated with the body. And having it painted triples the
price...

The clean break is near enough a straight line along the entire length.
What would be the chances of repairing it with epoxy etc - and if so which
one?

--
*The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave,

Give Araldite (not an epoxy substitute) a try, its pretty good stuff.

Brian G

In article ,
Graeme wrote:
Is this the handle that you use most often? If so, can you replace the
broken one with another handle from your car, then make an epoxy attempt
at a repair. As long as it's not used that much you might be ok.

Not possible, I'm afraid. Handed and the fronts have key locks.

--
*Many people quit looking for work when they find a job *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
SteveS wrote:
To answer your question, given the temperature extremes it is likely to
be subjected to, I wouldn't think an epoxy repair would last long.

And I thought they glued planes together...;-)

--
*Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Graeme wrote:
Is this the handle that you use most often? If so, can you replace the
broken one with another handle from your car, then make an epoxy attempt
at a repair. As long as it's not used that much you might be ok.

Not possible, I'm afraid. Handed and the fronts have key locks.

Ah, bum!
Do you know anybody with the same make/colour of car ;-) ?

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
SteveS wrote:
To answer your question, given the temperature extremes it is likely to
be subjected to, I wouldn't think an epoxy repair would last long.

And I thought they glued planes together...;-)


Yes, but they don't make them out of crapite. Or so I hope. I may be wrong*,
but I suspect they only use epoxy where the glue and material to be joined
have similar expansion coefficients.

Steve S

* Unlike SWMBO, The only time she was ever wrong was once when she thought
she was wrong, but she wasn't.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article ,
SteveS wrote:
To answer your question, given the temperature extremes it is likely to
be subjected to, I wouldn't think an epoxy repair would last long.

And I thought they glued planes together...;-)

They do.
Only at three points though.

On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 15:26:06 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

A new assembly isn't too expensive, but doesn't come ready painted - it's
colour coordinated with the body. And having it painted triples the
price...

The clean break is near enough a straight line along the entire length.
What would be the chances of repairing it with epoxy etc - and if so which
one?

Hi,

Try a metal filled epoxy like JB Weld. It could be worth cleaning it
with a wirebrush in a dremel if the pot metal might have tarnished
when exposed to air.

cheers,
Pete.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
SteveS wrote:
To answer your question, given the temperature extremes it is likely to
be subjected to, I wouldn't think an epoxy repair would last long.

And I thought they glued planes together...;-)

Aircraft are "mod'ded", kept up to date and in flying
condition by the approval of a 'Technical Change Committee'.
Submissions are made to the committee for changes giving
details of the 'change' requested, the effect on spares holding,
weight and balance and everyother thing that mankind can
think of. Your posting reminded me of one Technical Change
Proposal for the XXXX - it included a plaintive note from
the engineer ;- "We've tried everything, and not even Araldite
will hold it!". Pop-rivets, holding, qty (lots) were approved.

--

Brian

The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

I would try a local Scrap merchant if your car is fairly old and has a
popular colour.





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"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

A new assembly isn't too expensive, but doesn't come ready painted - it's
colour coordinated with the body. And having it painted triples the
price...

The clean break is near enough a straight line along the entire length.
What would be the chances of repairing it with epoxy etc - and if so which
one?

Dave
I've used 'Plastic Padding Super Steel' and find it's far superior to
Araldite for repairing metals especially where tensile strength is needed.
It comes in two Araldite size tubes for mixing and sets in 5 minutes.
Definitely worth a try.

Subject: Car door handle
From: "Dave Plowman (News)"
Date: 09/09/04 15:26 GMT Daylight Time
Message-id:

The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

A new assembly isn't too expensive, but doesn't come ready painted - it's
colour coordinated with the body. And having it painted triples the
price...

The clean break is near enough a straight line along the entire length.
What would be the chances of repairing it with epoxy etc

Nil. No adhesive is going to have anything like the required shear strength.
--
Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines (www.pumaracing.co.uk)

"Graeme" wrote in message
...
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Graeme wrote:
Is this the handle that you use most often? If so, can you replace the
broken one with another handle from your car, then make an epoxy
attempt
at a repair. As long as it's not used that much you might be ok.

Not possible, I'm afraid. Handed and the fronts have key locks.

Ah, bum!
Do you know anybody with the same make/colour of car ;-) ?

Don't you have a local scrap yard?

We kept cars going from scrap yards for many years.

Mary

I'd give JB Weld a try rather than Araldite. a smearing "on the joint faces"
and a good ridge along the rear face. It will take up to 24 hours to cure -
don't use forced heat to speed up the curing time or the joint will be
severely weakened! Bloody good stuff! I repaired a cylinder head with it
years ago and its still going strong!
--

Reply address is spamtrapped. Remove theobvious for valid e-mail address

I'd give JB Weld a try rather than Araldite. a smearing "on the joint faces"
and a good ridge along the rear face. It will take up to 24 hours to cure -
don't use forced heat to speed up the curing time or the joint will be
severely weakened! Bloody good stuff! I repaired a cylinder head with it
years ago and its still going strong!
--

Reply address is spamtrapped. Remove theobvious for valid e-mail address

In message , Tim Mitchell
writes
In article , SteveS
writes

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

...AKA crapite. As distinct from that other favourite material of the
automotive industry -- polycrackathene.

To answer your question, given the temperature extremes it is likely to be
subjected to, I wouldn't think an epoxy repair would last long.

Maybe not, it's got to be worth a try with some araldite though.

Or better, JB Weld, they make all sorts of claims concerning it's
strength

I use it, but not for it's high strength properties

Of course, it goes without saying you should keep the mating surfaces as
clean as possible until you try sticking it together. Also give some
thought as to how you're going to hold the broken bit in position until
it sets

--
geoff

In article ,
Mary Fisher wrote:
Don't you have a local scrap yard?

I don't honestly know where the nearest one is anymore. All the local ones
closed ages ago.

We kept cars going from scrap yards for many years.

It's also rather too new to get bits easily.

--
*If at first you do succeed, try not to look too astonished.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
SteveS wrote:

To answer your question, given the temperature extremes it is likely to
be subjected to, I wouldn't think an epoxy repair would last long.


And I thought they glued planes together...;-)


Yes, using special jigs, special epoxy , special surface prep and
special temperature ovens to do it...

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

A new assembly isn't too expensive, but doesn't come ready painted - it's
colour coordinated with the body. And having it painted triples the
price...

The clean break is near enough a straight line along the entire length.
What would be the chances of repairing it with epoxy etc - and if so which
one?


I'd give JB Weld a try rather than Araldite. a smearing "on the joint faces"
and a good ridge along the rear face. It will take up to 24 hours to cure -
don't use forced heat to speed up the curing time or the joint will be
severely weakened! Bloody good stuff! I repaired a cylinder head with it
years ago and its still going strong!
--

Reply address is spamtrapped. Remove theobvious for valid e-mail address

On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 15:26:06 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

A new assembly isn't too expensive, but doesn't come ready painted - it's
colour coordinated with the body. And having it painted triples the
price...

The clean break is near enough a straight line along the entire length.
What would be the chances of repairing it with epoxy etc - and if so which
one?

How about getting one the right colour from a scrapyard?

On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 14:36:02 GMT, "SteveS"
wrote:


"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

...AKA crapite

aka 'monkey metal'

In article , sPoNiX
writes
On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 14:36:02 GMT, "SteveS"
wrote:


"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

...AKA crapite

aka 'monkey metal'

What exactly is that stuff made of?.....
--
Tony Sayer

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Mary Fisher wrote:
Don't you have a local scrap yard?

I don't honestly know where the nearest one is anymore. All the local ones
closed ages ago.

We kept cars going from scrap yards for many years.

It's also rather too new to get bits easily.

What is the make / model? There are loads of scrap yards on-line nowadays.
http://google.find-a-part.com/ has always worked for me in the past.

In article ,
tony sayer wrote:
...AKA crapite

aka 'monkey metal'

What exactly is that stuff made of?.....

Muckite? IIRC it's properly called zinc alloy.

--
*OK, so what's the speed of dark? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Steven Campbell" wrote in message
...

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Mary Fisher wrote:
Don't you have a local scrap yard?

I don't honestly know where the nearest one is anymore. All the local
ones
closed ages ago.

We kept cars going from scrap yards for many years.

It's also rather too new to get bits easily.

What is the make / model? There are loads of scrap yards on-line
nowadays.
http://google.find-a-part.com/ has always worked for me in the past.


FFS, he would still have to match the paint, that is the real problem here,
not finding the handle (Dave has already said that), with colour variations
and fading etc. even if he got the a S/H handle painted in the correct paint
code there is little chance of it matching.

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote

The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

A new assembly isn't too expensive, but doesn't come ready painted - it's
colour coordinated with the body. And having it painted triples the
price...

I had the same problem on a car that I owned around 20 years ago. I
believe that you will have little success attempting to glue monkey
metal back together. On something like a door handle that is subject to
high forces you will find that the epoxy to monkey metal bond will
_always_ fail in a short time. On examining the break you may find that
the metal is still stuck to the epoxy and the break is the next layer of
grains in the metal.



--
Alan

In article , Dave Plowman (News)
writes
In article ,
tony sayer wrote:
...AKA crapite

aka 'monkey metal'

What exactly is that stuff made of?.....

Muckite? IIRC it's properly called zinc alloy.


Yes..Hence the original question, what's in the alloy?.....
--
Tony Sayer

In article ,
Steven Campbell wrote:
What is the make / model?

It's a BMW E39.

There are loads of scrap yards on-line
nowadays. http://google.find-a-part.com/ has always worked for me in the
past.

Thanks for this - I've given it a try.

--
*Am I ambivalent? Well, yes and no.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

tony sayer wrote:

In article , sPoNiX
writes

On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 14:36:02 GMT, "SteveS"
wrote:


"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...

The exterior handle on my car has broken off. It's a flush fitting lift up
type about 4" long. It appears to be made of 'pot' metal.

...AKA crapite

aka 'monkey metal'


What exactly is that stuff made of?.....
Mezac?

Google it.

Brittle alloy for die casting.

tony sayer wrote:

In article , Dave Plowman (News)
writes

In article ,
tony sayer wrote:

...AKA crapite

aka 'monkey metal'

What exactly is that stuff made of?.....

Muckite? IIRC it's properly called zinc alloy.



Yes..Hence the original question, what's in the alloy?.....
Zinc mostly.

Its called 'pot metal' in the states

http://www.muggyweld.com/gap.html
http://budgetcastingsupply.com/Metals.htm

You can certainly solder it with a torch, but here goes yer paint finish.

If the car is that new, get a replacement under warranty, if its that
old, get one from a acrappie,

If its the wrong colour., get it painted you cheapskate. Or live with
it. Or get a decent insurance policy.

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
If the car is that new, get a replacement under warranty, if its that
old, get one from a acrappie,

Read the other posts on the subject.

If its the wrong colour., get it painted you cheapskate. Or live with
it. Or get a decent insurance policy.

All of which involve aggravation. I'd rather DIY - strange given the name
of the group.

You got car insurance which covers things breaking? And you'd claim for
around 100 pounds? Get real.

--
*Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
In article , Dave Plowman (News)
writes
In article ,
tony sayer wrote:
...AKA crapite

aka 'monkey metal'

What exactly is that stuff made of?.....

Muckite? IIRC it's properly called zinc alloy.

When Spouse was a metallurgist in the 60s and 70s it was called muck metal.


Yes..Hence the original question, what's in the alloy?.....

Largely zinc, alloyed with various other white metals. It has a low casting
point and plates well but has little strength. It was very good for cast
toys such as Dinky models.

We once locked ourselves out of a Transit and although he's not a big man
(5' 5" x 9 stones) he simply exerted arm pressure on the back door handle
and it broke. We were in.

Mary
--
Tony Sayer

"Steven Campbell" wrote in message
...

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Mary Fisher wrote:
Don't you have a local scrap yard?

I don't honestly know where the nearest one is anymore. All the local
ones
closed ages ago.

We kept cars going from scrap yards for many years.

It's also rather too new to get bits easily.

What is the make / model? There are loads of scrap yards on-line
nowadays.
http://google.find-a-part.com/ has always worked for me in the past.







I've used that service in the past too and have been very impressed. As I
remeber you fill in a form and then over about 2-3 days various scrappies
who have the part phone you up and give you a quote. Cheapest one wins.

My old cavalier was running on an engine acquired through them for a few
years. As far as I know it's still going...

":::Jerry::::" wrote
| FFS, he would still have to match the paint, that is the real
| problem here, not finding the handle (Dave has already said
| that), with colour variations and fading etc. even if he got
| the a S/H handle painted in the correct paint
| code there is little chance of it matching.

Why not get a set of replacement handles from the scrappie in a contrasting
colour.

(A matching bonnet and boot and some burberry seat-covers would complete the
urban ned look.)

Owain

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

A new assembly isn't too expensive, but doesn't come ready painted - it's
colour coordinated with the body. And having it painted triples the
price...

Check out FAB Recycling (www.fabdirect.com); they specialise in mail
order BMW parts and seem to know their onions. They get E39s and newer
in (accidents & fires, etc.), so you should be in with a chance. Also,
www.linwar.com: Not tried them but they do mail order, although they
seem to specialise in older models.

--
Scott

Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?