Door Handles from Hell!

[Greg Linstad <gregl@xxxx>]

Attention Group!
I have always known that both door handles are molded plastic, but never
thought about their reliability. Well, this past weekend our club went on
our annual Blarney Ball Rally from Seattle to the Oregon coast. On the first
day as I went to open my door the handle snapped off from behind in my hand.
It broke off from the inside where the plastic is REAL thin, leaving only
the empty slots where it came out of. Bummer, I thought, another thing to
fix but my Wife's side (which has seen MUCH less use) is still OK and I'll
just unlock my side from there. The very next morning as I unlocked Her side
and went to open it (I'm sure you all guessed it by now) the freaking handle
broke off in my hand. I stood there in shock for a while and then realized
"I can't get into my car!!!" To make a long story short, there was a tiny
piece of the plastic sticking out (since this handle broke in a different
spot) that I could CAREFULLY grab and pull with some needle-nose pliers to
finally open the door. I then just left a window open for the rest of the
weekend and had another DMC park REAL close to that side (Thanks, Knut!) for
some security.
I've since got one replacement from our resident parts guy (Darryl at
Specialty Automotive) that is die cast aluminum and will last forever (sound
of crossing fingers). Once I got to remove what was left and see the whole
assembly, I was actually surprised that it lasted as long as it did. The
plastic is very thin in what I would consider critical areas and was cracked
in places that did not totally fail (this time).
I guess from seeing both broken assemblies, I'll say to everyone to pull
slowly and carefully on your handles and don't release them and let them
'snap' back, just slowly let them down.
The rather complicated handle assembly only pulls a bicycle type cable just
like the hood and trunk release and (rhetorically speaking of course) could
have been much simpler and more reliable. Oh well, FWIW.
Be advised,

Greg Linstad
Pacific Northwest DeLorean Club
VIN# 3507 118,000+ miles
Washington plate "RUSTLSS"