How about a third choice, "It doesn't matter". To me a door handle is a door handle, new or used. I'd go with whatever looked better.
Dave
How about a third choice, "It doesn't matter". To me a door handle is a door handle, new or used. I'd go with whatever looked better.
Dave
I own an MGA.
What are door handles...?
Yah you do! It's that cable thingy on the inside of the door!
Dave
DneprDave wrote: Yah you do! It's that cable thingy on the inside of the door!
So THAT'S why it has been such a pain getting in and out of the car....
Actually, the only MGA I drive on the street any mre is a coupe (the rebodied Jamaican doesn't count) and it has very nicely styled external handles.
As for parts, original beats new every time. There is so much second rate (and I am giving it the benefit of the doubt in saying second rate) that I would rather rechrome an original and know I'll end up with quality.
On some cars like my MGA coupe, an old Jensen and the Lambo, no repros exist anyway.
No repros for old Volvo door handles either. Some of the other trim that is available new for them is actually better quality than original, though, so I have no qualms about using those repros.
Only door handles I've ever had break were on VWs or Audis -- junkyard cars would either have no handles, or be broken in the same places as mine.
Some -- some -- of them were redesigned, and the replacements are beefier.
Real vintage stuff, I guess if it ever broke, I'd rather go original/rechromed than new repro.
Matt
Depends on the brand of vehicle. Domestic car/truck stuff I'd go new repro as they tend to make the parts out of better, more modern materials.
British stuff...man, the quality of a lot of Brit repro parts is horrid. And the original stuff wasn't great. I love my Mini, but the quality of the bits it's made of is just 3rd world.
Italian...usually original is better. Repro is often not made in Italy and it shows.
There are those few cars like Yugos where the tooling gets sold to someone else (they were Fiat designs). The Fiat parts are vastly superior. Used to sell a lot of Fiat parts to Yugo owners back when those cars were new. The Fiat clutch would last 4x as long as the Yugo one.
This happened to me. The original door handle was pulled while the door was still locked and it broke in two. I was fortunate to find a used part with a similar... patina. Now I won't need to rebuild the entire car to live up to a bright perfect new door handle. A new handle cost over $120 instead of $15 used. The same item is sold for Ferrari Mondial and some Alfas. These likely cost a second mortgage.
Cheers Ron
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