: Debra Halcrow (de…@aurora.york.ac.uk) wrote:
: >
: > The drivers side door handle on my 1981 Golf has just broken. I took the
: > handle off, and it seems that the piece of metal which the door lever
: > moves has cracked, so there isn’t the force to release the door catch.
: >
: > Since I’m bound to get sick of getting in through the passenger side,
: > is there anything I can do about this?? For example, if I picked up another
: > handle from a scrapyard, is it possible to change the lock barrels over
: > easily??

: On the Mk2′s (A2), the lock cylinder came out with a little coaxing.  It
: was a long time ago, but I think I just unscrewed the one phillips head
: screw on the back and carefully pulled up the "V" lever, the spring, and
: then the lock cylinder.  Note how the spring is in there! I picked up a
: handle from a Mk1 (A1) and put it on the Mk2 (A2) with no problem.

Good advice.  I would add that in order to keep the lock cylinder from
disassembling when you pull it out of the handle keep the key in the lock.
Then put it into the new handle without removing the key from the lock
until you assembled everything the way it was in the old handle.  It
is not a difficult job.

Zvi.

> The drivers side door handle on my 1981 Golf has just broken. I took the
> handle off, and it seems that the piece of metal which the door lever
> moves has cracked, so there isn’t the force to release the door catch.

> Since I’m bound to get sick of getting in through the passenger side,
> is there anything I can do about this?? For example, if I picked up another
> handle from a scrapyard, is it possible to change the lock barrels over
> easily??

On the Mk2′s (A2), the lock cylinder came out with a little coaxing.  It
was a long time ago, but I think I just unscrewed the one phillips head
screw on the back and carefully pulled up the "V" lever, the spring, and
then the lock cylinder.  Note how the spring is in there! I picked up a
handle from a Mk1 (A1) and put it on the Mk2 (A2) with no problem.

Brand new replacement door handles over here are available from the
aftermarket for under $20.00 if you shop around.  Just remember to order
the "passenger’s side" one if you’re ordering from an American
company…..

-Arthur

On 18 Jun 1996, Debra Halcrow wrote:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

> The drivers side door handle on my 1981 Golf has just broken. I took the
> handle off, and it seems that the piece of metal which the door lever
> moves has cracked, so there isn’t the force to release the door catch.

> Since I’m bound to get sick of getting in through the passenger side,
> is there anything I can do about this?? For example, if I picked up another
> handle from a scrapyard, is it possible to change the lock barrels over
> easily??

> Cheers,

> Debra

> —
> +—————————————————————————–+
> |Debra Halcrow                             E-mail: de…@aurora.york.ac.uk       |
> |Space Geophysics Group                    Phone: (+44) 1904 430000 x 2279       |
> |Dept of Physics                   Fax: (+44) 1904 432214                |
> |University of York                                                              |
> |York  YO1 5DD  UK                 WWW: http://aurora.york.ac.uk/        |
> +—————————————————————————–+

On 18 Jun 1996, Debra Halcrow wrote:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

> The drivers side door handle on my 1981 Golf has just broken. I took the
> handle off, and it seems that the piece of metal which the door lever
> moves has cracked, so there isn’t the force to release the door catch.

> Since I’m bound to get sick of getting in through the passenger side,
> is there anything I can do about this?? For example, if I picked up another
> handle from a scrapyard, is it possible to change the lock barrels over
> easily??

> Cheers,

> Debra

> —
> +—————————————————————————–+
> |Debra Halcrow                             E-mail: de…@aurora.york.ac.uk       |
> |Space Geophysics Group                    Phone: (+44) 1904 430000 x 2279       |
> |Dept of Physics                   Fax: (+44) 1904 432214                |
> |University of York                                                              |
> |York  YO1 5DD  UK                 WWW: http://aurora.york.ac.uk/        |
> +—————————————————————————–+

: The drivers side door handle on my 1981 Golf has just broken. I took the
: handle off, and it seems that the piece of metal which the door lever
: moves has cracked, so there isn’t the force to release the door catch.

: Since I’m bound to get sick of getting in through the passenger side,
: is there anything I can do about this?? For example, if I picked up another
: handle from a scrapyard, is it possible to change the lock barrels over
: easily??

 Normally this can be done, but VW did change the latch design
 at one point and the old locks can’t be used with some of the
 new replacement latches.  In theory the new latch will not break
 as easily.

 … Erich

 ’82 Ragtop, 148k miles, separate key for drivers door.  :(

It’s very easy. I’ve done this on both A1 and A2 driver’s door
handles, after watching a locksmith re-key my GTI’s driver’s door (to
match all the other locks) when I got it. Apparently the previous
owner had not bothered to do this. It takes maybe 10 minutes.

Here’s what you do: (tools needed: 1 jeweler’s (small flat-blade)
screwdriver, 1 medium Philips (+) screwdriver)

1) Get your new/slightly used [driver's side] door handle, sans lock
cylinder.

2) Remove the trim plate at the front of the on-car handle by prying
at the rear edge of the trim plate with a small screwdriver, revealing
a Philips-head screw near the front of the handle. Open the door (from
inside, of course) and find the other Philips-head screw attaching
the rear of the handle, on the part of the door that you can’t see
when it is closed. Remove both these screws, wiggle the handle a bit,
and it comes away in your hand.

3) Remove the Philips screw holding a little bird’s-foot piece of
metal and spring onto the end of the lock cylinder. (Working with the
old broken handle here.) Observe the proper orientation of these
doodads for reassembly. Insert your key into the lock cylinder, twist,
and carefully remove it from the old handle. Don’t shake it or the
tumblers might fall out, which would be bad.

4) Stick the lock cylinder into the new handle. Put those doodads back
on the end of it.

5) If your new handle came with the seals where the handle touches the
door, use the better of the new or old ones – otherwise never mind.
Jiggle the handle back into the door and reinstall those two screws.
Open, close, lock, unlock the new door/handle to your satisfaction. If
it works, put back the trim plate and away you go. If not, take it
apart again and stare at it for a bit.

Hope this helps,

Henry Harper
1988 GTI 1.8 16v, 144k miles, TT 2.25" cat and stainless cat-back,
K&N, Bilstein Sports, carpet pad under the spare which I just found
out absorbs more noise than the pieces I put in the c-pillars,
ticket-me red, runs great, racking up the summertime miles

Hi, you can move the lock from your car to a handle from a wreck.
I have used a drill to remove the rivit that holds that little
piece of pot metal you refer to & replace it from another car.
You can reuse the rivit if you make sure the head is up so gravity
helps to keep it in place.  (If you worry, use some glue or JB weld
to keep it in place–I didn’t bother & it hasn’t given trouble..)
I had to do all 4 doors on my 82 Rabbit fix-up car.  Kept the original
keys since I didn’t want to have two or three keys for one car!
If you remove the little screws & put the key in the lock, you can
remove the cylinder.  Getting the handles off the car is no problem,
use a knife tip to remove the crome strip.  There is one screw under
that and one inside the door jam–take care not to tear the rubber
seal.  I was tempted to use JB weld to fix the broken metal but
since I had a spare car ($75 towed off the freeway & delivered to
my house!) I managed to get all the parts I needed.  Grease the
sliding parts if you want it smooth & maybe last a while.
All the best