getting rid of door handles

[omega]

I would like to get rid of the door handles and have a remote control opening on my project car but my mate says you cant do this no more as it wont pass the mot,so is there anyway round this? I just like the smooth look.
just found out a tvr had this system but has buttons under the door mirrors so is this the way forward,but if so how is the car locked?

[colnerov]

Hi, the method of opening the door has to be mechanical, but the locking or unlocking can be electrical. The TVR,s button is I believe mechanical. I seem to think it was early Renault 5,s or Fiat Panda,s that had a depression in the wing to get your fingers behind the edge of the door and just had a small button on the door to press or a lever in the door shut itself. Or the Range Rover had the handle as part of the trailing edge of the door.

Colin

[sb]

The solution I saw to this is to put the handle under the sill. Think of a bicycle brake and run the cable to the door mechanism.

Its hidden, simple and mechanical.

[igor]

Nov 8, 2015 18:33:03 GMT sb said:

The solution I saw to this is to put the handle under the sill. Think of a bicycle brake and run the cable to the door mechanism.

Its hidden, simple and mechanical.

...and guaranteed to get covered in filth almost immediately and be a huge PITA to use due to poor reachability. Other than that a cleverly engineered solution.

[sb]

Nov 8, 2015 20:15:24 GMT igor said:

Nov 8, 2015 18:33:03 GMT sb said:

The solution I saw to this is to put the handle under the sill. Think of a bicycle brake and run the cable to the door mechanism.

Its hidden, simple and mechanical.

...and guaranteed to get covered in filth almost immediately and be a huge PITA to use due to poor reachability. Other than that a cleverly engineered solution.

Yes it will be a bit of a dirt problem, but put it on the outside of the seam and you should cut down on a lot, still not clean but shouldn't be caked.

Also you can still run a remote popper, but the handle is there when the MOT man needs it or the popper inevitably stops working.

[Deleted]

On the TVR the button pops the door open to the secondary catch and you then open the door manually I believe.

[SamR380]

Looking at the MOT rules a slightly different way, what is the reason for needing a mechanical release handle? Is it just because it makes the car impractical if the battery is flat or is it a safety issue for rescuing the car's occupants in an emergency?

[79cord]

Alternative might be a small, finger sized mechanical button or pull on the window sill like Ferrari dino & 308


I've also considered making new door pillar trims so they could be pulled to function as door release.

[colnerov]

Nov 9, 2015 8:57:18 GMT SamR380 said:

Looking at the MOT rules a slightly different way, what is the reason for needing a mechanical release handle? Is it just because it makes the car impractical if the battery is flat or is it a safety issue for rescuing the car's occupants in an emergency?

Hi, the second one, rescuing occupants in an emergency. Which incidentally the, idea of the handle down by the sill would be frowned on because it's not immediately obvious.

Colin

[composimmonite]

What about a flap, like a fuel item, with handle underneath ?

[sunbuilder]

there is an opel gt on the classic opel gt forum that has doors that unlock and open using a remote fob like an alarm. The manual handle is located in the wheel well.

www.opelgt.com/forums/forum.php

you will have to do a search.

[mk2cossie]

the TVR setup is a button that operates a solenoid for the door lock.
And it doesn't always open the door past the secondary latch, only relies on the door seal springing it open

As for MOT wise, if they can use it on a TVR and old British sports cars (and poxy old Land Rovers) that don't even have a mechanical means of operation from the outside then fit away I say

[downside190]

My dad has removed the door handles on his ford consul. He replaced the handles with a push button about the size a 1p coin so it sits flush with body work. You can still see its there but looks a lot better than a full sized handle. Its all perfectly legal too as its still a mechanical door entry as such.

I might be able to get pictures tomorrow if you want them.

[omega]

Nov 13, 2015 13:01:50 GMT downside190 said:

My dad has removed the door handles on his ford consul. He replaced the handles with a push button about the size a 1p coin so it sits flush with body work. You can still see its there but looks a lot better than a full sized handle. Its all perfectly legal too as its still a mechanical door entry as such.

I might be able to get pictures tomorrow if you want them.

thanks would like that.
I wanted to remove the handle and weld up the space so it was all flush but maybe a button is the only way now

[downside190]

Nov 13, 2015 18:12:24 GMT omega said:

Nov 13, 2015 13:01:50 GMT downside190 said:

My dad has removed the door handles on his ford consul. He replaced the handles with a push button about the size a 1p coin so it sits flush with body work. You can still see its there but looks a lot better than a full sized handle. Its all perfectly legal too as its still a mechanical door entry as such.

I might be able to get pictures tomorrow if you want them.

thanks would like that.
I wanted to remove the handle and weld up the space so it was all flush but maybe a button is the only way now

Bit later than planned but heres pics of the setup on my dads car. Excuse the mess as its very much a working garage and needs a tidy up

[Dez]

the really trick way to do it in the 50s (before remote control electrickery based systems existed as such) was to hide the mechanical button under the end of the trim- not as easy as it sounds as it would usually require some form of linkage to put it in the right place- but so you then pressed the end of the trim (which was slightly raised by the button sitting against the back of it) and the door popped open.

it was also common to have a valve spring mounted in a little pocket in the door jamb that was compressed by the door when closed, so it properly popped the door open rather then it staying on the first catch.

[omega]

thanks for the picture
so really you need 2 systems one to lock/unlock and one to open.

[BT]

I had an old Escort turbo many moons ago which had the door handles smoothed by the previous owner and they opened off of a remote key fob and it also had a button under each door mirror.

I only ever MOTed it once and when i did the reason it passed was because the boot lock and opening mech was mechanical. This was the way i think the previous owner got around the mot issue because you would be able to climb through and open the door by the handle which was still cable operated.

I even heard once, many moons ago when the show cars were a big thing that people were getting around it by leaving their windows open for the test. Obviously, doesn't sound legit to me.

[mk2cossie]

Window open used to be the get around for it, but the wording is now a means to open the door from the outside

[omega]

Nov 17, 2015 20:10:57 GMT mk2cossie said:

Window open used to be the get around for it, but the wording is now a means to open the door from the outside

hi
are you sure that is all it says?
dosnt it say it has to be a mechanical way of opening the door? that is what I was told else otherwise a remote would be okay[I think}