As part of my winter preparations I decided to replace the ropey perished and split door handle gasket, and because the seal had failed the nuts were rusted to the studs, but living in Scotland I'm no stranger to rusted fastners, yet I still managed to snap a couple of the studs from their plastic. Initially I thought, not a problem, I'll buy a new one, if I order it sharpish I'll have it for the weekend...
...Then I seen the (list) price...
£270
Yup, you read that right... Two Hundred and Seventy Pounds...
Really?
Like; Whiskey Tango Foxtrot??
What is the damned thing made of? Tusks of an exotic variant of Heffalump? Some interstellar paste comprising of dark matter suspended in a glue of melted down Extra-Terrestrial beings toenail clippings? Distilled ink pigment from an extinct subspecies of octopus?
I'm guessing that given how brittle they are, it must be the tusks, but none of those options wouldn't warrant a £270 list price for a stupid lump of plastic. Sure, you can get the lookie likey ones for a third of that price, and even the allegedly genuine ones but still, £90 for a silly little lump of plastic?
Had it been half of that, as in the £90 = £45, my debit card would be a little bit bruised and my freelander feeling a bit pampered, but no, £40 gets you a fecked up used one covered in green slime, lemme think abou.... NAW!!!
So yeah, I'm spitting bullets, and I'll do some jiggery-pokery with some M6 nuts, bolts, washers and 2 part epoxy paste nae doubt making for an abotchination of a thing, that thankfully will be hidden on the inside/underside of the handle.
Ring around your local scrappers and mention you'll take a broken one (bolts pulled out). There's bound to be plenty about that can be fixed the way Jayridium suggested, I've fixed three or four in the same way.Thanks Jay, but my one had been bodged by the previous owner and now has split in half.See picture attached.
You'll probably have to be standing in front of them to get decent service.Thanks Alibro, done that. Scrappies either don't have them or just don't get back. Same as those on Ebay that are breaking.
MAN!!! That makes my "Abotchination" look exceptionally well repaired!Thanks Jay, but my one had been bodged by the previous owner and now has split in half.See picture attached.
Thanks Nodge, gone for it off Ebay. £95 is better than some of the other prices. And as Andy said £72 for a rusted one is a lesser option.
Aftermarket parts often need a bit of fettling so not really surprising.Fitting the old lock into the new handle was a pain. It was very tight and had to use a dremel to enlarge the hole
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