'69 Inside Door Handles

[Dennis W.]

I am rebuilding my doors. The inside door handles and lock knob are in good condition but there is very minor pitting and the chrome is showing through the black paint. The paint on the Corvette logo is also worn. I don't want to buy new handles. I've looked through NCRS Driveline and didn't see anyone restoring these pieces.

Any leads for me? Thanks in advance. Dennis Wright

[Joe L.]

Re: '69 Inside Door Handles

I am rebuilding my doors. The inside door handles and lock knob are in good condition but there is very minor pitting and the chrome is showing through the black paint. The paint on the Corvette logo is also worn. I don't want to buy new handles. I've looked through NCRS Driveline and didn't see anyone restoring these pieces.

Any leads for me? Thanks in advance. Dennis Wright

Dennis------


The round emblem is an insert. The old one can be gently pried out and replaced. Inserts are available from Dr. Rebuild and, perhaps, other Corvette suppliers.

The black-painted portion of the handle (serrated grip surface) can be stripped with paint stripper and repainted using SEM Trim Black paint.

As far as the pitting goes, that will require stripping the chrome, restoring the zinc-dicast to a smooth surface and re-chroming. That will require finding a specialty chrome plater and will be costly. If you want to go this far with the restoration, I would suggest you just replace the handles.

[Jim T.]

Re: '69 Inside Door Handles

Reading the latest issue of Driveline I saw the early C3 handles for sale.

[Dennis W.]

Re: '69 Inside Door Handles

Thank you, Joe & Jim. I was fortunate to find a numbers matching original car. Other than the A/C compressor, everything is original other than things I've replaced and I rebuild/restore everything possible. So, it's unlikely that i will replace the handles but I will definitely look into the Driveline ad in the next issue to see if the dates match.

If the Driveline resource doesn't work out I will probably rechrome. I've seen the logo replacements but didn't look at them closely enough. Thanks for pointing that out. Dennis Wright