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Driver side "oh shoot" handle?

D

dbateman

CEG'er
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
113
Location
Virginia
Has anyone thought of putting a "oh sh*t" handle on the driver's side? I see they're only $15 from fordpartsonline. Ok it doesn't make sense if you're doing spirited driving, but just for cruising along it would be nice to hang onto one sometimes.

Also...for the rear seats, it looks like there's a plug where you could mount handles back there if you took the hangar hook off. Anybody tried this?
 
Could be. They want $4 for the hook (which is way high already), plus probably .20 cents for the plug, versus $15 for the handle.
 
the handle for the passenger above the passenger side window that is unconciously grabbed after the exclamation "oh s**t" as the driver does something reckless or narrowly avoids an accident...
 
I picked up one for $1 at a junkyard last year.
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I used to always hit my head on the one on the passenger side (in fact, when on the first test ride I almost walked away from the car till I realized there wasn't one on the driver's side). No way I would install one on the driver's side in a Contour.
If any one of you is remotely tall (I'm 5'9" with a long torso) and typically keeps the seat back fairly straight, I'd recommend going for a ride sitting in the passenger side before thinking of installing one.

Also - my 98 had the rear door handles but my friend's 00 did not, I figure it's another decontenting.
 
That was one of the mods that I did when I color matched the headliner & sunroof motor cover with the rest of the interior. You will need to drill holes for it. Best place is to go to a scrap yard and get it. Easy Mod.

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I'm kind of surprised the holes aren't there for it, being a world car. They are in the back. I got mine for the rear from a 96 Stique, and there are special coat hooks that go with them. That plug pops out and the screw hole is under it. Then remove the hook and use that hole for the hook and handle. You can see on any handle there is a recess notch on one end for the hook.

my 2 cents
 
Ok bear with me, I'm a little ignorant on roof drilling. I guess a handle will come with screws. So I mark and drill a couple shallow holes slightly smaller than the screw. However, isn't there just thin sheet metal there? Will there be enough up there to securely hold a handle?
 
When I installed my driver's side "OS" handle, I used a hole punch and a hammer to make the holes (my car didn't have pre-existing holes). I then used the screws from the junkyard handle.
I did notice that the car (I think it was a '98) that I removed the handle from already had holes pre-drilled on the driver's side. These holes were relatively large (and slotted). I then noticed that the other locations (pass. side, left rear, right rear) had the same large holes but with threaded nuts (or braces, I couldn't tell) welded behind the holes. The driver's side, of course, didn't have these threaded pieces (I suppose because no "OS" handle was present from the factory). On my car (a '00 model), the other "OS" handle locations simply had drilled or punched holes, much like the ones I made on the driver's side.
 
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