Advice needed:Removal Interior Handles 37 Fleetwood

[Joseph P. McCormick CLC14142]

Hello,  I would appreciate any information on the removal of the interior door handles of a 37 Cadillac 75-19.  Is a special tool needed? Thanks in advance.  Joe

[Barry Wheeler #2189]

If these are like the 1941s, what you need is a slim awl..a very slim one. Push the round bezel back towards the upholstery and you should be able to see the end of a shiny silver piece of spring wire in a groove on the handle. It is shaped like a horse shoe, (kind of). The top looks like the top of an old 40s couch...a shallow oval. What you do is try to slip the edge of the awl under the edge of the spring, and gently pry up. When you see the top of the clip, try to slip the awl under it and hopefully this will land in your hand. Be careful, as these have a tendency to land half way across whatever room you are working. There is a tool that is supposed to slip these out, but Ive never had much luck with them, either. You might be able to get the tool at J.C. Whitney. Doug, any better ideas?

[Joseph P. McCormick, CLC 14142]

Hello Barry,  Thanks for your advice and fast response.  I will purchase a slim awl and give it a try.  Joe.

[John Washburn]

Joe,

I agree that the later Cads had the clips, but now when we chat about my 38 65 Series, there aint no clips. There is a pin in the middle that has to be pushed in to release the handles.

I hope you have the clips if not drop me a note and we can chat about the need for a left handed friend to help. Removing these have proved difficult for this fat boy.

John Washburn
CLC #1067

[Barry Wheeler #2189]

John, I wasnt sure how back the pins went. Either way, you do need a friend, or three hands. But I think the pins may be marginally better and easier to remove. Simply keep peering around until you see the end of the pin, I would imagine. And then place the awl or thin punch at the appropriate place. The trick, I imagine, is keeping the bezel out of the way of the opposite end that you are punching the pin out of, since it is spring loaded and will move the opposite way you are looking at.

[Porter 21919]

Barry,

Sounds just like a 60s car, a horseshoe spring. I use a cotter pin extractor tool, a tool with a screwdriver type tool with a hook on the end with a sharp point.

Just push the horseshoe clip back on the window crank handle prior to re-install and just pop the crank back on.

Porter

[Brad Ipsen CLC#737]

As John has stated there is a spring loaded pin in the handle.  The pin is a a 45 degree angle to the shaft coming out of the door.  If you look into the shaft hole after the handle is off, the pin is in a hole drilled at a 45 degree angle up into the arm of the handle.  The pin is held into the handle by some small tabs bent in to trap it.  The technique is to push this pin in which gets it out of the step in the shaft and releases the handle.  The real problem here is our favorite metal.  Most of the chrome on my 38 Cadillac handles was in excellent condition but still the pot metal had expanded or corroded enough to freeze some of these pins in place.  That is the real problem with this design.  I did not have to save the upholstery in my car so in some cases I cut around the handle to get the panel off.  This makes for less stuff in the way to allow more force to be put on the pin.  You will want to get every style of pin prick you can find.

[Barry Wheeler #2189]

Dear Bruce, YOu probably have, but you might make sure all of your tips like this are in the manuals. And again, thanks for sharing.

[Joseph P. McCormick CLC#14142]

Gentlemen:   Thank you very much for all you tips and help removing the interior handles of my 37 Caddy Fleetwood.  This is really a great technical website.   Joe