I just looked at my door handles. ( I have them off while the Spitfire is being
repainted). The nylon push rod does end in a half circle and there is a circlip
holding the spring in place on the push rod. I can't tell how deep the groove
is, but it looks as if there is a little tab that stick out on both sides of the
push rod on the side away from the spring. One of the tabs appears to be bent
and almost broken off on mine. So, I would guess that might be part of your
problem.
Roger Elliott
Dianne & Ree Gurley wrote:
> Is anyone intimately familiar with the rigging of the exterior door handle
> mechanism on the 1500 Spits? When you pull the handle, it pivots and forces
> a spring-enclosed nylon push-rod (inside the door) backwards. My nylon
> push-rod has a fork (180 degree half-circle) which rests upon the inside pin
> of the handle piece. The push-rod fork and the spring were not staying in
> place against the inside pin. My first thought was that the fork was the
> remnants of a broken circle which completely enclosed the pin; however, the
> edge of the fork looked too neat to have been broken. Then I noticed a
> slight groove around the forward area of the nylon push-rod and thought,
> AHA - MISSING CIRCLIP. I fortunately had a circlip that fit beautifully
> after compressing the spring somewhat. It works great for the moment; the
> circlipped spring keeps forward tension on the push-rod, thus keeping it
> snug against the inside pin of the handle piece. My concern is that the
> groove (for the circlip?) is mighty skinny and may not support the circlip
> very long against the fairly heavy spring pressure. My question for you
> experts is: (a) Is this push-rod supposed to have a circlip holding the
> spring? or (b) Is the end of the push-rod supposed to be a complete circle
> enclosing the inner door-handle pin? Though I've looked in both Bentley and
> Haynes and also Porter-Williams, along with various printed and on-line
> catalogs, I can't find a clear depiction of these details; I can, of course,
> pull off the passenger-side door-panel and look, but I'm concerned about
> crumbling the card-board backing (like the driver-side cardboard is crumbled
> now).
>
> Thanx much, Ree Gurley in Silver Spring, MD - 78 Spit FM73070U O
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