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Reconditioning or Restoring XC90 Exterior Door Handles

13K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  06XC90 
#1 · (Edited)
I have a 2004 XC90 2.5 AWD that I am detailing and renewing. The matte black finish is nearly gone, apparently mostly to oxidation. The handle itself seems to be made of some sort of fiber reinforced plastic.

Since a majority of the car is coming back to like-new condition, the condition of the handles is very apparent. I thought I would post here to get ideas on restoration of the finish on these handles.

I have considered several alternatives:

1) Tape off the area around the handles, and mask the area around it. Paint with black rattle-can semi-gloss. The disadvantage of this is that its difficult to get paint behind the handle, and mist from paint will contaminate the other areas of the car.

2) The ever-popular and ubiquitous Plasti Dip, but the nature if this coating is it is designed to be peeled off, so I doubt it would hold up to the daily wear of the handle. this would have same issues with overspray.

3) Remove the handles and paint off of the car. As near as I can tell this would require removal of the inter door panels and probably other door assemblies, which would be very time consuming.

4) Replace Door Handles. Same labor issues as repainting, and replacements would be cost prohibitive at about $100 each.

5) Similar to aftermarket door handles on many trucks, it would be nice if there was a cap or cover that would fasten over the existing handle. I am not aware of any such cover available for the XC90. Given the number of XC90's on the road, and how many I now notice in this condition, I wonder if contracting with some of these door handle cover manufacturers to produce a cover for the XC90 handles might be a an option for IPD.

6) Possibly wrap handle in vinyl by professional or DIY. Given the shape, this would be challenging, and might tend to peel off over time.

If you have restored these handles on an XC90, your experience and perspective would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
I went with option 1. I taped the area around, especially the windows and sprayed them with semi gloss black. They look great, a lot better than the crapy faded color they originally were. Its easy to mask the area around, use painters tape to tape the area around the handle itself and for the windows and panels i just used a couple of garbage bags. Made a hole on the garbage bag as big as the handle, then put the bag over the handle. Very easy, it took me two days because i did the proper way. Sanded down the handles a bit so the paint sticks, gave a coat of primer, let it dry. Gave it a second coat of primer, let it dry then 3 semi glass coats. I did two handles a day (driver side Saturday and passenger side Sunday).
 
#3 ·
As a point of perspective, if you wanted to replace handle and cover outright with new, would cost you ~ $93 per door including shipping.

But then you have to start thinking about when you're going to replace the graying front and rear bumper covers plus eventually the side molding.

And that gets pricey...
 
#4 ·
What erald said ^^

I've had fantastic results with sanding, Duplicolor Adhesion Promoter (Click) + Duplicolor Trim Paint (Click. Cheap products but was still holding up on my A4's grill a year after when I sold it.
 
#5 ·
Do the later model year door handles that were painted from the factory fit? E.g. Could you get a set of 2007+ door handles at a junk yard for <$250?
 
#6 ·
#7 · (Edited)
CarPro DLux



Odd that you'd say that. I just finished detailing the car with CarPro Cquartz. I used Optimum compound to buff out the handles, then CarPro Essense, then coated them with the CarPro CQuartz DLux. They turned out really good, enough so that I won't need to refinish them, assuming the coatings to hold up well. The only exception is where the black finish has come off on the leading edge of some of the handles, and on the top inner part, but it barely shows, and I think the coatings may stop this from progressing further.

I thought I'd take a gamble on using these products, figuring what did I have to lose, and I'm glad I did. We'll see how these coatings hold up. If they don't, I will probably use a combination of erald01 and Eleximp224's suggestions and repaint them (thanks for the specific recommendations).

See also post in Technical & FAQ's section, The Detailing Forum http://forums.swedespeed.com/showth...products-for-your-Volvo&p=3646065#post3646065 regarding detail products.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I ended up going the plasti-dip (equivalent) route after testing it on some old XC90 parts I had lying around.

There was definite noticeable wear on the handles relative to the rest of the car. I am not a particular fan of removing the inside door panels because of the plastic clips that can easily break when coming off or putting back on. I didn't like the labor or cost involved with buying brand new handles and they aren't that easy to come by in my opinion (and being in Canada). I prefer to only remove the interior panels if there is (and has been) an issue with the door handle cable mechanism (because of the plastic housing). All things considered 'tape and paint' was the best option. The handles aren't conducive to wrapping. I was able to get paint overages in the inside of the handle. You just have to be patient and do at least 4 coats and a clear coat cover if possible (to fend off any possible peeling issues).

I first sanded all the handles then cleaned them with soap and water. The passenger side was particularly bad and there were some bumps along the top of the handles I tried to sand down as best I could. I went with four coats of a black matte and they look at lot better compared to other XC90s with the same issue when I pull up beside one on the road. It's has been about 2 weeks now and they hold up under cooler temperatures and rain. The next test will be the summer sun and just seeing how they hold up from use. There isn't any early signs of peeling.

I would say a paint option is a good first step to try and save the costs associated with buying brand new handles. Maybe that's a second option if the paint doesn't hold up.

Before/After...pictures are different handles but same outcome.

 
#9 ·
I have a 2007 S80, so it's a P3 generation car whereas the XC90 is a P2 car. However, the handles are the same in type (compared to other P2 cars that have the flush, folded in handles e.g the V70).

My handles look okay, but the driver side door "behind" the handle looks really scratched up after ten years. Turns out that to remove the handles, you just need to remove a plastic cap on the side of the door and then twist a torx screw a number of turns (not too far or I think it could drop into the door, at which point you would have to tear down the whole door to replace it). After 2-3 turns you should be able to pop out the lock and after that's out of the picture the handle pops out. And, of course, with the handle gone you could do all the detailing you want to both on the door and the handle itself.

I'll check in VIDA later if I remember to, if the procedure is the same as in my car. If it is, then it's a pretty simple job.
 
#10 ·
Hello everyone,

Could anybody tell me if the procedure described right above by Schmoyoho also works for the exterior door handles on the rear doors? I have some rust/paint that peels off on a 2007 xc90 which starts right under the rear door handle, so I thought taking the handle off would be the best way to fix this properly.

Thanks,

Nestor
 
#11 ·
I’m also interested to see if anybody has a shop manual that shows the procedure. I have a 2006 and I’d like to remove all four handles, fully sand, and paint front and back without having to mask and risk overspray elsewhere. There are two black plastic plugs on the front doors but the rear doors have a visible torx screw which when removed, did nothing to free the handle.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Just finished my project. Getting the handles themselves out is easy. It's best to leave the small plastic piece that remains on the door and tape around it and paint in place. They break if you pry them out and it's not worth the time to try to disengage the clips from inside the door. I broke one, carefully removed another (took forever), and painted the two on the front doors in place.

Pro tip: you can swap the actual handles side to side. So take the side that's chewed up and use it on the opposite side door where it will be on the bottom.

Preparation is key. Use multiple light coats or you will texturize them. I used a drywall sanding block, 2000 grit paper, and Duplicolor Black Bumper and Trim Paint. If it doesn't hold up after this, I won't be doing all of this work again. I will just price out having a body shop match to the body color or replace with new handles.

After all of it my wife said, it looks good but it wasn't worth all of this time. You should have just bought new handles.

Passenger front was the worst:



 
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