Be aware of the "new" 365GT4 2+2, 400 series Door Handles being sold

Good day All,

Just a heads up to anyone thinking about buying any of the new 365/400 series door handles... Be advised that a number of the handles being sold look the same as ours, but are actually incompatible. I say this, as I recently purchased a pair and found a number of issues with them:

a. the lockset "hole" diameter is way too large
b. The lockset "hole" depth is far too shallow and has a slightly differently "keying" mechanism
c. The interface between the handle and the door lock is completely different.

From checking the Internet I found that our door handle style was also used on Alfa Spiders (another Pininfarina design)... Given that this is the case I suspect that vendors seeing that the door handles "look" the same incorrectly assumed that they were interchangeable... So, before you buy a set check the items I listed above with the vendor first.

In my case... thankfully I was able to return them and so I only lost the return shipping charge.

Cheers,

Sam
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Good day Jim,

Anything is possible... but it would be a lot of work if you wished to reuse the original locksets. If you wished to use the original locksets/keys you would need to fill the hole (lead, etc) and then drill a new one in the correct diameter... and then mill to the correct depth and then mill the correct lockset engaging key... then rechrome the assembly... a lot of work... for me anyway.

If your original assembly had a broken moveable handle, then you could salvage the moveable handle from these new ones.

Cheers,

Sam

 

Good day Arvid,

Thanks for the suggestion about the Fiat part. They might work... One would need to check the lockset diameter, depth, and "keying" mechanism to be sure. If there were more pics of the backside of the handle I could comment further if I think it could be used with my door lock mechanism.

As for the inside matte finish... I have yet to see any "new" ones that were anything but chromed. My guess is that it is a lot easier to manufacture these assemblies fully chromed... if anything one less manufacturing step.

Thankfully my original handles are fine, but are a little weathered. I was simply hoping to purchase a new fresh set in order to spruce up the car a bit. My next step is to take my handles to my local Plating shop to see what they can do. I will report back with what I find out.

Cheers,

Sam