door handles drooping

This is an interesting topic, anything to do with a Cord specificly is over the top. I have restored three Cords and many partials rehabs. I must say they all have shared similar problems. The spring thing became an issue for me when I had to replace a broken spring. I spent many hours in flea markets looking for the correct spring and the sample was a huge help, this gave me the correct configuation, and they are many springs to choose from. Most older cars used these srings to return the tongue to its proper postion. Even with this new spring in place the handle seemed to droop some, so in order to have the handle return to its proper resting place I had to heat the shank of the handle and twist it to appear straight. As you know the stepped wedge on the door have more than likely have been chromed or cad plated or have been replaced completely so who knows what the factory workers did to make these handles fit. All the bodys had there share of lead put into them to make things fit. My phaeton (2167H) had fourty pounds of lead just in the cowl and door post on the drivers side. There was one other thought I had, one of the Cord sedans I worked on had the tongue hit the door post, it seemed that the tongue came out to far, in a closer look at the locking mechanism I found a rubber stop which cushioned the tongues before it return to its normal resting place was rotten. I replaced the rubber block and also needed to shim the locking mechanism a tad to bring it away from the door post. I just think that there was to much lead in the post. Send me your spring and I will fix you up.

Henry,

Are the springs identical to another application ? I'd like to replace my springs but don't know how to source them.

To All , Today I examined some extra door latches that I have. It appears to me that the primary problem with droopy handles is the clock spring becoming weak or worn so that it does not push the bolt out completely or the internal friction of the mechanism does not allow that to happen. Keep in mind that the bolt must extend completely or the handle will not stop in the correct position . Wear on the flat side of the bolt can also stop the bolt from fully extending when the door is closed . Wear seems a minimal part. I'm 13 years older than my 31631F . Henry

Mike,

I'm only eight years younger than my Cord. Nevertheless, I still resemble your remark!

Elliott

Old cars are no different than old people, things start to droop.
CORDially Mike

If it makes you feel any better, my Auburn does the same thing. Remedied the handles on my 31 Auburn the same way. I hate droopy door handles. Frank

Henry and Ethan,
Thanks for the helpful replies. I suspected that twisting the handle shafts was the remedy - I had an extra old handle that had clearly been heated and twisted.
I've completely disassembled the doors and locking and window hardware, bead blasted everything, and then had the latch/lock mechanisms cad plated. So everything is as restored as much as possible. I discovered the drooping problem when I was reassembling the doors.
Three of my handles are missing the spring-loaded tabs that hold them in place, so I'm using some U-shaped, spring steel retainers from GM to hold them in place.
Any idea why Cord's design of the pieces resulted in the droop? Are the door latch/lock mechanisms or the handles from another car? Did they make the door handles wrong? Or was there supposed to be a guy on the Cord assembly line torching and twisting every handle?

Henry you are 100% correct with this, most Cords I've scene have this problem, however removing the handle maybe a concern therefore I recommend a little investigation before attempting this arduous task. If you know for sure that the orginial handles were used than insert a tool through the access holes in the door edge to press the tabs down on the top and bottom of the escutcheon this will remove handle as original designed. I have seen some after market escutcheon that fastens from the inside of the door before the door panel was installed so know what you have before doing this project.

Elliott, If what you say is correct that the springs are OK ; that they are properly oiled ( not greased ) ; the bolt extenes fully & therefore the handle ALLWAYS stops in the same position , then you are correct . Hold the end of the 5/16" square shaft in a vise to the depth that you see the wear marks , heat the shaft enough that you can feel it yeald & bend it to the proper position & then quench it in a bucket of water so as to not ruin the springs in the escutcheon. I use asbestos gloves for this project. Henry P.S. You are better off to remove the escutcheons & TIG tack the washer back on when assembled.

Can anyone help me fix the door handles on my Westchester? All of them droop - that is, they aren't horizontal when they're at their return position. All of the springs are working properly, and the mechanisms are not worn out, there is no significant "slop" in the units. The square holes in all four mechanisms are simply oriented so that when you insert the square rods of the outside handles the handles slope downward at about a 20 degree angle. It appears that all you can do to correct the situation is heat up the square bar stock of the handles with a torch and twist them until the angle is correct.

This seems rather drastic. Am I missing something? Is there some other reasonable fix? Why do I see so many 810/812s with this problem?