1981 Corolla Door Handles

[Sedin26]

I've got a 1981 Corolla 4-door wagon and the front door handles on both sides are broken.

These are not made any more and I can find no aftermarket suppliers either. This likely means that I'll need to try to source from a junkyard.

Even the Junkyards don't seem to have many and I'm wondering if other models, such as the Tercel, also used the same handles? I'd be curious to know what range of years would fit too.

 

[jsnyder49090]

I really dont know what to tell you the junkyard uses a Hollander manual that will tell you what will interchange if any with your vehicle.A lot of the auto places carry or can order parts like that mirrors small things like that i dont know about your application though.There is always ebay a lot of the time it will give you another application or what years work anyway.

 

[Sedin26]

This one just seems to be a black hole of information. Nothing on ebay. Multiple dealers don't have any info (or don't want to be bothered looking since there isn't a sale in it for them) and a number of wreckers I've talked to don't know either - it seems most don't have much stuff that old.

I'm probably going to dig around a bit more but then I might just have to make a semi-educated guess and order something.

 

[FusilliJerry82]

Interior or exterior?

 

[NHGUY]

Theres the rub right there....Toyota is always ballyhooing how long its vehicles last,and that you can pass them down from generation to generation..however,if they get THAT old,what if you need parts? Toyota is no different than any other carmaker in not supporting its past products after a period of time.Leaving the "everlasting" model with no parts support and over time will fall apart where it cannot be driven.Besides,they dont want you to keep a 30 year old car alive...they wouldnt sell any new ones would they? And new Toyota owners arent just new "conquests",they are repeat owners (why are they repeating,if their current one lasts forever?).
Try doing some searches on www.car-part.com for other items and if some come up,possibly a yard has the whole car there to part out.

 

[JHZR2]

Toyota may not support that long after the sale, but some do. Mercedes has so many parts for my 30yo diesels, it's great.

Even still, there are some parts that have to be tracked down because they are impossible to find. Color matched sun visors for diesel coupes are an example. Problem is that an old mb holds a lot more value than an old corolla. So people keep parts.

But it is more or less a treasure hunt, need to dig. Who knows, you may need to buy a rust bucket car or a whole door to get the parts you want.

Good luck!

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: Sedin26
I've got a 1981 Corolla 4-door wagon and the front door handles on both sides are broken.

These are not made any more and I can find no aftermarket suppliers either. This likely means that I'll need to try to source from a junkyard.

Even the Junkyards don't seem to have many and I'm wondering if other models, such as the Tercel, also used the same handles? I'd be curious to know what range of years would fit too.

I had two of those models, an '81 and an '82. Breakage of the door handles was ubiquitous. It resulted from the metal backing plate collapsing under the constant pounding as the pull-handle was released. Eventually the pull handle would recede until it touched the door, and you couldn't get your fingers under the pull-handle to open the door.

I think the '80-'83 Corolla may be your only sources for these handles.

Try this place: http://car-part.com
It's a catch-all site for wrecking yards across North America. You need handles from a car that was wrecked early in its life.
I'm seeing a bunch of them for sale in the US.

 

[oilmaven]

In 1981 I was in a car pool for my job at the time. One of the "poolers" had just bought a new 1981 Corolla...I remember thinking how odd the interior colors were...various shades of tan/brown/orangey something throughout the car. Funny what you remember as you get older (and please don't ask me where I parked the car at the mall...I probably can't even remember which car I drove much less where it's parked).

 

[JC1]

Originally Posted By: Sedin26
I've got a 1981 Corolla 4-door wagon and the front door handles on both sides are broken.

These are not made any more and I can find no aftermarket suppliers either. This likely means that I'll need to try to source from a junkyard.

Even the Junkyards don't seem to have many and I'm wondering if other models, such as the Tercel, also used the same handles? I'd be curious to know what range of years would fit too.

Visit Toyotanation.com and post your question.

Regards, JC.

 

[Sedin26]

Thanks for the advice.....I have looked at car-part.com and the downside to it is that 9 out of 10 of the parts they list were sold long ago. Inventory doesn't seem to get updated on any reasonable basis.

I do have a better "handle" on what I need so I'll make the plunge and just get something shipped up here and see what happens.

 

[eljefino]

Obvious question is obvious, what about the rear ones?

I had a 91 prizm where the driver's front interior door handle was the same as the passenger rear flipped upside down. Odd, but true.

If you get us pictures of the broken one we may have some ideas.

My dad's 1980 Ford Fairmont, circa 1982, already was hard to get color matched interior parts for. A seat belt "slot" guide for the rear retractable belts kept breaking because we, ahem, used the things. The new ones only came in black vinyl not blue like the car. I guess we could have painted them...

 

[Sedin26]

I could move the rear ones up front but the rear seat is used for a child seat so those doors really need to open too. That's a last resort because it will still be inconvenient.

I do have a couple of leads and am fairly sure I can come up with what I need next week....only time will tell, though

Failing that, I'm confident I can fabricate something.

 

[Sedin26]

I was looking for some other parts today so went on a junkyard tour of Southern Vancouver Island. No luck on the handles but by searching on car-part.com and calling everyone on the list I was able to find a wrecker who had a few 4-door 81 Corolla's so I have some handles on the way.
Lots of effort involved but they are out there.

Interestingly, the dealer says they are no longer made but they do have 1 handle for the front passenger side in stock in California. I guess the next person who buys that will receive the last one stocked by Toyota.

For anyone looking in the future, it appears that this site:

http://www.toyotapartsoverstock.com/

also stocks these and has a large selection

 

[Tegger]

When you get your "new" handles installed, take a tip from this veteran of '80-'83 Corollas: When you open or close the doors, let the handle down SLOWLY AND GENTLY!

This will prevent the handle from slamming down and pounding the backing plate until it distorts and breaks.

 

[Sedin26]

I spoke too soon - the wrecking yard called back and said they made a mistake and handles were actually from an '84. Back to the drawing board.

Can I definitely use the handles from 80 to 83? Do you know if handles from 2-door models will work with 4-door?

As for being gentle, there is a kid involved so that may or may not happen

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: Sedin26
I spoke too soon - the wrecking yard called back and said they made a mistake and handles were actually from an '84. Back to the drawing board.

Can I definitely use the handles from 80 to 83? Do you know if handles from 2-door models will work with 4-door?

As far as I remember, from long ago...

- The fronts for both 2-door and 4-door were the same. The rears on the 4-door were different from the fronts even though they looked the same on the outside.

- '80 to '83 were all the same construction, but I think some were black and some were chrome.

 

[Sedin26]

Installed the handles today. I can confirm that the 2-door and 4-door models used the same handles for the front. The rears on the 4-doors are different.

The replacement for the driver side was already breaking a bit when I received it so we made a bit of a bracket for the back side and it should hopefully hold.

If there's anything positive about the job it would be that the actual work of replacing the handles is very easy compared to other vehicles for which I've done the same.