Studebaker Exterior Door Handles

 1953 to 1966 Studebaker Passenger Car exterior door handles (except Avanti) 

At a casual glance, the exterior door handles on ‘53 through ‘66 cars (also Champ pickups) appear to be the same.A closer inspection will reveal two different styles of construction.  The ‘53 through ‘60 handles (298974) are constructed of stamped stainless steel, fit together and providing a smooth surface on the inside where your fingers would wrap around.  The ‘61 and later handles (1338500, replaced by 1360980 on ‘64 models) are die cast zinc, polished and chrome plated.  There is a small appearance difference, in that the early (‘53 - ‘60) had a slightly recessed area in the outward handle feature, and the ‘61 and later die cast version had a positive “V” shape to the outward face.These handles are quite durable, unless they have obvious damage or excessive chrome plating pitting.  The only common yet repairable fault is that the pin guiding the push button can lose the “staked” feature holding it in place.  This will cause the button to stick out too far.  However, the remedy is quite easy.  Remove the handle - one screw, easily accessed - and using a suitable punch and hammer, upset the metal on the button pin to again hold as original.If needed, the 298316 push button is available (approx. $26.00 - recent price change) or the 1360980 handle is still available (approx. $75.00).  These handles can be universally installed ‘53 - ‘66 but not be necessarily correct for a ‘53 - ‘60 - important if you have a Speedster or a Golden Hawk show car.