Chrome Exterior Door Handle Insert Trim Tape (many colors)

[69hurstolds]

If you like "restoring" your car to what it once was, this may be of interest. Been working on a little side project with door handle tape that NOBODY seems to give two sh*ts about. Yeah, you may luck up and find some NOS tape somewhere, but there's so many colors in so many shades, it's not even funny. Plus, the NOS stuff ain't cheap. Many times on a 30+ year-old car, the decals have a tendency to peel or crack at the corners and chip off as they dry out and become brittle. Plus, they love to capture all the wax and polish people used over the years which gets under those decal edges helping to their demise where they just look like crap.

I went and measured the dimensions of the 85 and 87 442 door handle insert stickers to get the dimensions correct as it came from the factory. Interestingly, the factory inserts are just a TAD narrower than the over the counter GM replacements. The factory deals are just a hair under 1/2" wide while the OTC NOS ones are 1/2" nominal width. That did take me a bit by surprise. Obviously, if you have a car with black door handles, like a Monte SS, you don't need these at all.

I've also researched a TON of vinyl colors from all sorts of vendors. And I'm not even close to being part way through. With that said, I do have a list of some 84 and 85-87 colors. And maybe 88, too. Depending. There's always black and white. Those don't change.

IF you need some, I have the following colors matched up as close as possible to the original GM colors. Although close, some are not dead-on while some others are. Check your upper body color code and compare it to this list. $10 shipped per pair, $15 if you need all 4 for your 4 door. If you have a special need for a different size, let me know and we can go from there. Check or money order. I don't have any Paypal or that sort of stuff anymore.

Here's a sample of the inserts. Not a color matching an actual factory G-body color, but I had this extra piece of vinyl from another project left over...never mind the non-quality application. I just stuck it on dry. Some of the B, D, X and E bodies have similar handles, so if you need any for that, just lemme know the color and we can work from there. Not sure if the sizes are any different, but it's not an issue if they are.

So far, color choices are only 11 at the moment.

1984 colors:

(very close) 62 Light Sable Brown Metallic
17 Silver Metallic (H/O)
59 Pastel Beige
19 Black
11 White

1985-87, and possibly 88 colors, although I haven't researched those at all:

19 Black (442)
11 White (85 442)
15 Med. Gray Metallic (442)
(very close) 58 Light Chestnut
12 Silver Gray Metallic
(very close) 54 Yellow Beige
(very close) 25 Light Teal Metallic
(very close) 31 Dark Teal Metallic (86-87 442)
(ver close) 79 Burgundy Metallic (86-88)

 

[69hurstolds]

I THINK I found a good substitute for the burgundy metallic gloss. That sh*t's so dark it almost looks black. I've been able to find all sorts of lighter shades...

Until now. I MIGHT have something really close. Closer than anything else I've tried and closer than what GM says is the correct substitute in the parts book. But first, I need a volunteer with an 86-88 Cutlass in BURGUNDY METALLIC paint code 79. You should see a WA8529 as the upper paint code on the SPID sticker. For the price of your mailing address and some feedback on the color match, I'll send you a FREE sample set of burgundy metallic vinyl door handle tapes, pre-cut. Just clean off your door handles down to the chrome, remove all wax and dirt, and just peel and stick these to your door handles. These are pre-cut to original factory-applied size. There is supposed to be a SLIGHT gap on the chrome top and bottom of the stripe. See previous pic of door handle. They're not quite 1/2" wide, per factory.

 

[ck80]

Just a suggestion for whoever chooses to help out - try matching a double spots on the body, say, door while open near the gvwr label after washing and drying it, underside of trunk lid, etc before installing on the pull handles, places like that since the burgundy paint seemed to have as many aging issues as the interiors did for color fading and oxidation.

Other colors were a lot easier to revive and often a lot slower to fade in my experience, except maybe the silver going a bit flat.

 

[69hurstolds]

WELP...I believe the burgundy vinyl I got may work out. Although GM parts calls it "dark red" on the stripe, yet "79 Burgundy Metallic" in the sales books.

I forgot I had a complete burgundy 442 stripe set, so I got one of the door stripes and ever so carefully peeled back the transfer tape covering the wrap-around end of the stripe.

Turns out it's a pretty good match. IMO. With my bad eyes, anyway. Tried to get a sunny picture of it but it's mostly cloudy today, so that is tough. But best I can determine, this may work. The factory stripe has a tad more metallic look to it, but it looks pretty good. YMMV.

Funny, the door stripe number is 25529173 on the box and in the parts information, yet the stripe itself had 22529173. Someone, somewhere wrote over the second 2 to fix it to make it a 5. I know I didn't do it as this was the first time I ever took them out of the box. Weird.

Anyway, pictures don't do this color any justice. Like I said before, the sh*t's almost black, but lights up burgundy in the sun.

Dark Red or Burgundy Metallic. Tomato...tomahto.

 

[88hurstolds]

I bought some white ones for my 85 442, was way too white... I could use a few sets of white, black and a set of silver.

 

[69hurstolds]

White looks like it's off the table for now as well. I asked a company that offered an off-white version, along with a more of an antique white version.

I finally got the samples and no, they're still f'n wrong as compared to the color chips in the ordering books. These are too dark, while the Oracal and 3M whites are too bright. There one more version that claims an off-white/soft white gloss version, which on the screen appears pretty close, but I'm getting the feeling this one is the last hope. They're in California, and I'm waiting on them to respond to my email request, so it's going to take a bit.

 

[69hurstolds]

Ok, here's some tape pics I took today.

The blue is close to the teal, but again, teal has a tinge of green in it. But still, pretty close. Close as I can get.

I did find a place that can custom color adhesive vinyl to match factory paint colors, but yikes! The cost is to the moon. Outrageously expensive. I'm not that dedicated.

Blue and med. gray looks pretty close

And the 84 Silver looks pretty close match as well. PITA to even take a picture of this stuff.

And here's my 87 door handle with the original tape, and I just lightly placed the "new" tape on top of it. Look close and you can see there's a division line where the dark blue meets the teal. Pretty close, but again, depending on the light and angle, it's not an exact match. But if I had nothing, I'd use it myself.

 

[88hurstolds]

White looks like it's off the table for now as well. I asked a company that offered an off-white version, along with a more of an antique white version.

I finally got the samples and no, they're still f'n wrong as compared to the color chips in the ordering books. These are too dark, while the Oracal and 3M whites are too bright. There one more version that claims an off-white/soft white gloss version, which on the screen appears pretty close, but I'm getting the feeling this one is the last hope. They're in California, and I'm waiting on them to respond to my email request, so it's going to take a bit.

I'll take a few sets of black and a set of silver. If off white becomes available I'm a buyer for a few sets.

 

[69hurstolds]

Still waiting on the samples. I’m hoping they’re not ivory. That’s more like a cream color and that ain’t right.