Removing door lock buttons EDIT !!!!!(WARNING)!!!!

[vintageb3]

Hi Guys

I bought little alloy pins with the "S logo" on top for those little push buttons that lock the doors. (Yes I know...its the little things)

Anyone removed the original black plastic ones before?

I had a pair of pliers on them tonight thinking that they would be screwed on...nope..think they may be glued on.

Failing that...what is the procedure for removing the door panel?

And will I break clips?...If so...how many should I buy?

Thanks!

mark

(WARNING)

The story so far:

Bought a couple of alloy door pins with the little "S" logo on them on ebay from Autochrome UK. When they arrived I thought they were good quality and pleased enough with the purchase.

So...it comes to fitting. With most every vehicle I have owned in the past...the door lock pins usually screw off so that you can remove the door panel. I assumed a simple screw off of the old pins...and on with the new. Not so. So I thought they may be glued on. They were going in the bin anyway...so I took a pair of pliers to them. Although I managed to get a good grip on them...I still took care that I didn't put too much pressure on them so as not to break the locking mechanism.... still wouldn't budge. They are now pretty chewed up.

I read on MINI2 (after the above procedure…DOH!) that great care was to be taken over how much pressure you put on the door pin...as the rod is located into a green clip. If the clip gets broken...you will end up in tears. Luckily I did no damage.

Next stage was to take off the door panel...did that today. The plastic top of the pin is actually about 2" (50mm) long and is cranked to follow the shape of the door. The rest of the linkage is made of round steel rod...and that too is cranked. Removal of the linkage is simple....so I removed it to work on it further. Turns out that if I removed the plastic tip of the pin…the steel rod stops way short of the length required to fit these new pins. You also lose the cranks required to go through the hole in the door panel. This means that there is no way that the new pins would fit this rod linkage.

I contacted the seller on eBay. He says he has sold loads of them...with no comeback....hmmm not buying that. He says he will give a full refund…but I would still like to get these working. I may alter this linkage to receive the new door pins.

So…if you don’t want hassle…. don’t buy these pins. Don’t put a pair of pliers onto the original plastic door pins.

I’m gonna contact Chris Swan to see if the rod linkage has been altered at all…and see if I can get this to work using a BMW part. If not…I may alter what I have….or send the pins back.

Hope this saves someone on here a heartache.

mark

[ajamesj]

Where did u get your door pins from

Andy

[vintageb3]

quote:Originally posted by ajamesj

Where did u get your door pins from

Andy

Ebay James...Autochrome UK

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120095081576

Hope this helps

mark

[AndyP & Lenore]

Mark, do you think the eBay bloke could have been selling these push buttons for a pre face-lift Cooper S? It's the only reason I can think of for them not fitting. Other than the possibility that the eBay bloke is telling porkies. But then, he is offering a refund, so makes that unlikely.

A.

[vintageb3]

quote:Originally posted by AndyP & Lenore

Mark, do you think the eBay bloke could have been selling these push buttons for a pre face-lift Cooper S? It's the only reason I can think of for them not fitting. Other than the possibility that the eBay bloke is telling porkies. But then, he is offering a refund, so makes that unlikely.

A.

Andy...first thing I thought of... I like to give people the benifit of the doubt. I know the design changed after 02'. Going ask Mr Swan what the other part looks like.

Wait a min...theres a OEM psrts site somewhere isn't there? will have a look there tonight.

Thanks for the post mate!

mark

[Scottie]

I so wish I had read you thread back when you posted it.

I could have told you they wouldn't work.

we bought these also when I had my silver mini. Lucky for us we were able to have a good look at redpoint rallying mini at Arbroath which didn't have the door cards on Allan quickly saw they wouldn't work we just chucked them in the bin after that.

[AndyP & Lenore]

quote:Originally posted by ScottieCoop

I so wish I had read you thread back when you posted it.

I could have told you they wouldn't work.

we bought these also when I had my silver mini. Lucky for us we were able to have a good look at redpoint rallying mini at Arbroath which didn't have the door cards on Allan quickly saw they wouldn't work we just chucked them in the bin after that.

Thats shocking. And the guy is still selling them. Surely he know's they can't be fitted.

[vintageb3]

quote:Originally posted by ScottieCoop

I so wish I had read you thread back when you posted it.

I could have told you they wouldn't work.

we bought these also when I had my silver mini. Lucky for us we were able to have a good look at redpoint rallying mini at Arbroath which didn't have the door cards on Allan quickly saw they wouldn't work we just chucked them in the bin after that.

Did you buy them from Autochrome UK?...did you contact the seller?

Thanks!

mark

[Scottie]

can't say honestly who I got them from other than off ebay and they are the exact same ones you have in your link.

Was a wee while ago now the mind is not what it once was

[BJN]

I've never seen these, but dont they just lide over the top of the existing plastic bits?