The chrome on my handles is severely pitted, so I want to replace them while I’m refrubishing the rest of the car ('68 XR-7). I got a used pair from a forum member, but they’re a little different than my existing ones, and I wasn’t able to make them work. Evidently there’s more than one style?
Anyway, I found some repops (probably Chinese) on eBay for ~$40 shipped. This sounds too good to be true, so I wanted to see if anyone here had used these and could provide a review.
At that price, I’d be buying two sets! Admittedly they are different to yours, but I replaced the pitted handles on my 73 XR7 over 10 years ago with some Chinese ones, and they have been just fine.
I think that’s about the price they normally go for. They are OK, throw the hardware away and find some original to replace it with. The clips for the push button release are not as good as originals, so use those if you have them.
It seems like the ads I’m seeing (including WCCC) say that they fit both Mustang and Cougar.
To circle back to my original post, the problem I had with the set I got from a forum member was they came without the linkage. The bolt holes were different than my originals, so I wasn’t able to swap it over. Otherwise, they probably would have been fine.
My recollection was that the Mustang set I got did not work. I had to reuse the buttons and the linkage that were part of my original handles. Maybe the ones I bought would not have worked with Mustang either. The basic casting also looks a lot like Falcon so that might be a clue.
The new handles arrived today so I went ahead and installed them. They look great. They work great, maybe not quite as solid as the originals (that could all be in my head). The only thing I’m not wild about is the metric fasteners. But that can be our little secret.
