Door Handles Don't Fit

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Kilgon

Kilgon

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Location
Ross, Ohio
My Car
71 Sportsroof Bright Red.

Had to replace my outside door handles due to two broken springs.  Purchased two repos and am having issues with them fitting in the door pocket.  The factory ones fit fine.  The sheet metal in the pockets is not bent and shows no sign of being repaired or modified in any way.  Car is an early 71.

Measure the width of the repo door handle pocket and found out it is  a  1/8" wider than the factory one causing it not to seat properly.  The overall dimensions flange to flange is the same as factory. See pics.  Attach is a picture of the passenger side handle installed.  You can see how it keeps the handle from seating flush.  The driver side is worse than the passenger.  Tried to bend the top of the door pocket today but did not make any progress. 

Wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how did you resolve it.    Hate to take a grinder to the top of them.  The one needs as much material move as it thickness is.

New handle.



Old handle





 
Last edited by a moderator:
I bought a set of the repo ones several years ago but never had to use them. I need to check them .117 " is a lot to miss something like that. Zinc parts are the easiest to make when you calculate the shrink it always comes out right. Not like plastic or stamping which varies due to process.

 
I bought a set of the repo ones several years ago but never had to use them. I need to check them .117 " is a lot to miss something like that. Zinc parts are the easiest to make when you calculate the shrink it always comes out right. Not like plastic or stamping which varies due to process.
Click to expand...
If you can check them soon I would appreciate it.  If they are correct let me know where you got them from and I will try to send mine back and order them instead.  I have thought about ordering a couple more from different vendors and try to find a set that fits and then return the rest.  Problem is I would end up with $100 or so in shipping charges.

 
I got mine from OMS, and they fit like a glove.

FM-BD026C (driver side), and FMBD026B (passenger side)

 
It is the same brand

All might be - I always see KOA on the back

I will take one and see how they fit in a used door this weekend

 
Some of the early one ( 20 yrs ago) were Ford LTD. They didn't fit as good as original mustang without some work.

 
Had the opportunity to take the new handles and try in a 73 vert that is in the shop where my car is.  The passenger side was real tight and would need some work.  The driver side fit ok.  It seems that each individual door pocket is a hit or miss.  I tried my original handles and they fitted in both doors fine. That extra 1/8" width on the repos does make problems for some of the door pockets.  They hit the top of the pocket. The outer flange at the top of the handle is narrower than the factory one due to the extra body width that also causes the issue.

I tried to open the pockets up on my doors by prying but no success.  Ended up taking hammer and punch to the door pockets since trying to be gentle was not getting anywhere.  Not a fun thing to do on a freshly painted car.  Also worried about bending sheet metal at handle opening. Took grinder to top of handle to remove some material also.  Finally  got enough room for the handles to seat and fit properly.    Sorry, forgot to take a picture with handle in after the fix.



 
Last edited by a moderator:
I bought a pair back in 1989, they are reproductions but with FOMOCO logo on them and EOVB-5422468-AA AND some other marks and numbers on them. And they fit like a glove! No KOA on them though.

 
NOT A T5,

If the handles you bought had a Ford engineering number on them,  then you lucked out and ended up with some genuine Ford handles. The original handles, D1AZ-5422405-A (left) and D1AZ-5422404-A (right) were sourced from the 71-72 LTD. At that time the flush handles were only used on the full-size 71-72 Ford and 71-73 Mustang and sister Mercury vehicles. This particular handle had four engineering revisions to correct breaking springs and the arm that connects to the release actuator rod breaking. The D1AZ handles were serviced replaced with the E25Y-5422405-A and E25Y-5422404-A.  EOVB-5422468/9-AA is the engineering number for the E25Y handles. The revised handles were also used on 72-76 Thunderbird, 82-87 Lincoln Continental, 82-89 Lincoln Town Car and 72-83 Lincoln Mark series. If you do happen to be fortunate enough to still have a salvage yard that hasn't crushed all the older model vehicles, you still may be able to find some of these original handles. The benefit of them being originally listed for a Lincoln, such as on E Bay, is that they won't be "Mustang" priced!

The other markings you saw on your handle would be "FoMoCo" inside a rectangle, country of origin (normally Canada) and a date clock with the year of manufacture in the middle. Most repo manufactures will not include that info on the part or push their luck with Ford licensing lawyers.

I hope this additional info helps some of you find some original handles without paying $$ Mustang $$ prices!!   :)

 
NOT A T5,

If the handles you bought had a Ford engineering number on them,  then you lucked out and ended up with some genuine Ford handles. The original handles, D1AZ-5422405-A (left) and D1AZ-5422404-A (right) were sourced from the 71-72 LTD. At that time the flush handles were only used on the full-size 71-72 Ford and 71-73 Mustang and sister Mercury vehicles. This particular handle had four engineering revisions to correct breaking springs and the arm that connects to the release actuator rod breaking. The D1AZ handles were serviced replaced with the E25Y-5422405-A and E25Y-5422404-A.  EOVB-5422468/9-AA is the engineering number for the E25Y handles. The revised handles were also used on 72-76 Thunderbird, 82-87 Lincoln Continental, 82-89 Lincoln Town Car and 72-83 Lincoln Mark series. If you do happen to be fortunate enough to still have a salvage yard that hasn't crushed all the older model vehicles, you still may be able to find some of these original handles. The benefit of them being originally listed for a Lincoln, such as on E Bay, is that they won't be "Mustang" priced!

The other markings you saw on your handle would be "FoMoCo" inside a rectangle, country of origin (normally Canada) and a date clock with the year of manufacture in the middle. Most repo manufactures will not include that info on the part or push their luck with Ford licensing lawyers.

I hope this additional info helps some of you find some original handles without paying $$ Mustang $$ prices!!   :)
Click to expand...

Great info.   ::thumb::  Thanks for posting it.  Isn't it amazing how once they hear the word "mustang" the price doubles.

 

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