Install interior door handles in roadster pickup.

Since I don't have any real work at the moment, I spent the afternoon installing the door handles in the roadster pickup. First I measured how big an opening I would need in the door, and cut out a hole of the correct size in a peice of cardboard. I decided where I wanted the handles in the door (in line with the bearclaw latches), then used the cardboard template to mark the door with a pencil. I cut out the hole in the door with a small air cut-off wheel. These handles have one screw thru the sheet metal "basket" that houses them. The surface of that housing is about 7/8" below the flange that sets against the upholstery. I allowed for 1/4" between the flange and the steel door to accomodate the 1/8" upholstery panel and nuagahyde, and doing a little mechanics math decided that I needed to bend up a peice of #14 gauge sheet metal and weld it into the door to correctly position the handle. This was quickly accomplished with my sabre saw, vice, and hammer, and the peices welded in with my mig, then ground smooth. I will make up some control rods to run from the new handles to the latches tomorrow.

And this picture shows the preperation on the door.

Brian, Thanks for your usual useful tutorial. I am now wondering whether I can install stock A-roadster latches or will I have to adapt a latch as you have if/when I get a 'glass roadster body. I'm just wondering why you chose not to use the stock latches and put the latch in the way of a possible stock window glass since your doors are from a sedan. I would REALLY like to have wind up cabriolet style windows, but roadster doors are way too thin. Anyway thanks for showing us your fabrication steps. I am still learning about roadsters in the sense that recently
I realized that a lot of roadsters have no windshield wiper at all and the guy (Bill) at BeBops told me that many states don't require windshield wipers for totally open cars and in fact they sell a top kit for a windshield with only a glass edge at the top. Since you have sedan doors (but apparently no windows) I guess you would qualify for the no-windshield wiper status here in some states in the U.S. but I have no idea what your regulations are. Just musing over future problems with a 'glass roadster as I watch you build your steel RPU. Maybe someone else might comment on the windshield wiper question. At present I would lean toward a simple mechanical hand wiper but that would require a round top frame on the windshield and you seem to have cut off the top edge (or the previous owner did). Please excuse my rambling questions, I will have to solve these problems soon and I really did not think about them until I saw your door latch mods. Can you tell us what the source of the latches is?

Best Wishes,
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

The door handles are from one of the early Mazda cars, one of the boxey looking ones, probably circa 1985 or so. You should be able to use stock model A latches on your glass roadster, but they are not as dependable as bearclaw latches, and they cost a fortune. When I got my project, the original latches were just plain wore out, and had to be replaced. As far as wipers go, they are a "must have" in Ontario. I got around the issue on my glass 27 roadster by milling a slot in a small block of aluminum, the width of my windshield glass x about 3" long, and having it stick up high enough above the glass edge to run a 1/4" shaft thru. I put a little chrome lever on the inside of the glass, and a shortened windshield wiper arm and blade on the outside of the glass. I stuck it on top of the glass windshield with some water soluble glue. The law states that you must have a windshield wiper on the drivers side, but it doesn't state that it must be motorized. After getting the car safety certified, I ran some water on it to dissolve the glue, took the stupid thing off, and thru it under the seat. I never got hassled by the cops, and I never put it back on.

They look great, another job well done !!!!!!

It's 12 noon on Saturday, and we have functioning door handles on the roadster pickup. A little creative fabricating required to get the length of control rod correct was all that was required. I cut the control rod into 2 peices, both longer than necessary. Installed one half in the door handle lever, and the other half in the bearclaw latch, and let them overlap one and other by about 3". I then reached up inside the door and marked the 2 overlapping rods, removed them, and welded them together at the mark. I left the overlap to get a good weld area, then reinstalled them. Perfect fit, and very little effort required at the door handle to actuate the latches. Now we move on to speaker installation in the doors.