On my '91 Townace the casting has broken at the lower of the two hinge points for the bit you squeeze on the sliding door outside handle.
Does anyone, perhaps who's had to replace that door, have a handle assembly to sell? or any other advice?

- (#11227) Dave Mason (Sussex), 19 Oct 03 3:18

Dave , have sent a pic of the one on our breaker let us know if its any use.
regards chris

- (#11228) chris, 19 Oct 03 8:46

Thanks Chris but no, yours has an inward bulge pressed in the door panel where the handle goes, mine has a chromed casting fixed into the door ... so I'm still asking ...

- (#11318) Dave Mason (Sussex), 20 Oct 03 10:01

Breakers - Spacecruiser one the same but will be black - or is it possible to be welded/bonded?

- (#11319) Clive, 20 Oct 03 10:30

Mine broke and I fabricated a small angled bracket which is pop riveted to the back of the handle. The bottom pin is replaced with a small bolt. It's been working a treat for over a year now. You can see the two pop rivets if you look at the handle but so what.

- (#11501) Brian Workman, 3 Nov 03 5:27

I got a very smart 2nd hand one from BBC Spares for about £30 rather than spend time trying to repair.
When I saw how it worked and lubricated all the bits I'm not surprised that it broke - it takes a lot of load when you grab the handle if the parts are dry/corroded.

- (#11502) Dave Mason (Sussex), 3 Nov 03 5:53

Also noted on the Day Jam that it is a Royal Lounge and not like the Spacecruiser one, good job you did not go down that path.

- (#11537) Clive (Bristol), 3 Nov 03 12:25

Putting my preventative maintenance hat on here, does that suggest that Royal Lounge owners should remove and grease, or lube the handles Dave?

- (#11538) dave Bright, 3 Nov 03 13:02

I squirt a bit of WD40 around every handle and lock as part of my service routines. The sliding door handle gets special attention considering its size and exposure.

- (#11539) Ian Dunse, 4 Nov 03 1:41

Yes, I guess I did write that comment with preventative maintenance in mind, but what I noticed is that the first link in the very long "chain" to the back of the door where the lock is, and therefore the one under most stress, requires a lug on the back of the handle to slide directly against the end of the next lever - rather than having the usual push/pull rod. That's probably not very clear but when I saw it I realised that the dry-to-rusty state of those sliding surfaces was (a) why the door had become stiff to release and (b) putting unnecessary strain on the handle hinge, causing it to break.
If a hopeful squirt of WD40 doesn't improve things you have to remove the upper trim panel (do it when its warm, the clips come out easier) and then pulling back the top corner of the lower one.

- (#11540) Dave Mason (Sussex), 5 Nov 03 10:47