I've been hunting for OEM used interior door handles for two years. Even got to the point of looking into making some up with my mill and lathe, but the cost was pretty high for materials and square bushing sleeves to fit my .310" shafts.
I finally located some on Fleabay that were reasonable, and the square shaft adapters were .390, but I can shim them with some thin aluminum and epoxy the shim in.


And I also broke down and got the converter cover for my TH350. Only $15 for a louvered chrome cover, so not a huge purchase.


Swapping out the starter today. It's been kicking out occasionally after just a few cranks, or not completely engaging. I'm afraid I'll damage the flexplate if I don't replace it, so putting in a new mini high torque starter today.

 

Did the annual children's hospital toy drive run today! Had a good time, and the rain held off until the trip home. The new drag radials I got early this year get great traction in the rain, so that was a plus!

 

New interior door handles came today, so rushed out and put them on. Glad to finally have one style handle and crank that all match, instead of 4 different styles that don't match and don't fit right.
The handles are fully adjustable to mount on numerous shaft types, plus they adjust to allow them to sit in any direction once the adapter and base are mounted.
Since they sent 3 pairs of adapters for each pair of handles, I ended up with 16 bushings 1/2" thick leftover. I'm sure these will come in handy as spacers for other car projects!


After the handles were done I did a tuneup on the Burb, and graphited all the door locks on it, and my wife's car. Winter always makes them a little sticky, and the powdered graphite keeps it all working in cold climate.

 

I always save the extra hardware from projects. It may never get used but it's also saved me numerous trips to the store! The handles look great! Very nice!

 

Thanks! Yes, I don't know how many times I've needed a bushing or spcer for something on the cars and had to go turn one out on the lathe. These will get used for sure!

 

My fancy new chrome flexplate cover wasn't deep enough! It rubbed on the starter ring and made a horrible whine with the engine running! Had to pull it off and space it down a couple washers. All good now! Cheap Taiwan stuff!

 

Like the new handles!

 

Thanks Bill!

 

Had the Austin out for a cruise today. Beautiful crisp, clear day in the high 30's. I was cruising along just enjoying the drive, when this black Mercedes E class coupe pulls up next to me with two young guys in it, and they began to play. After numerous jumps on the throttle to try to get a response, I finally decided to give them a little go.
I was only going about 30 mph, and I dropped it a couple gears to 1st and jumped on it briefly. When they came up beside me at the next light the passenger rolled down his window and asked, "What is that thing?" I told him, "It's a British Austin with a 4 cyl. that's had a little work."
The look on his face was priceless. I think he was actually wondering if I was legit, or pulling his leg.

 

Had to adjust my starter. I hurried and put the new gear reduction mini starter in, and it seemed to work fine. A different sound, but I expected that. After the engine warmed up while heading to the gas station, I stopped to fill up. When I got ready to go the starter wouldn't mesh! It simply hit the flexplate aand made an awful noise!
I called my wife and told her to bring some tools and a couple shims from my parts box. Dropped one starter bolt, and backed the other off enough to get both shims in, then tightened it down. Only took about 5 min. and I was back on the road. Sure glad it happened close to home, and the weather was nice!