1995 Roadtrek 190 Pop rear door replacement inside handle

[Grizzly Bear]

We are restoring a 1995 Roadtrek 190 Popular on a Chevy G30 Van. The passenger side rear door needs a replacement inside handle. I am hoping someone can provide a picture of this hardware. I have searched and searched but very little to be found for that rear door. There seems to be an abundance of information about the front and side doors but this right hand rear door gets missed. I have the Chevy Service Manual and this door latch and handle is like a blank page. I have found a couple of different parts listed but I am not sure what I need to be looking for. A picture of a functional handle would be very helpful but I'll be glad for any suggestions.

[markopolo]

Would it use a handle like what's at this link? -> https://www.dormanproducts.com/gsear...n=YMM&q=handle

I found this post with a photo of a 1990 rear door -> https://chevroletforum.com/forum/exp...acement-84196/ - kind of looks like there was no interior handle ........

No interior handle on this one either -> https://www.kijiji.ca/v-auto-body-pa...ern/1499376512

[Grizzly Bear]

I have looked at that Dorman handle and one other but I can not picture how they would work with the current latch. I am attempting to attach a picture of the current handle which is very floppy and appears incomplete. It also appears DIY. The picture should be rotated 90 to the right.

[rowiebowie]

My, my. The surrounding housing and door panel look unmolested. But where the handle would connect is another story. Looks like someone stuffed a shiv of red painted metal in there.

Does the door even latch like that?

[Grizzly Bear]

Yes, the door latches OK. The standard push button on the outside works to open the door but the key lock has to be turned as far as possible. That inside handle is nearly useless to open the door. You have to try and hold it position and then tilt it up. Sort of liking to answer a question for the dentist when they have both hands in your mouth. As this is the sleeping area, one does not feel very comfortable with this as an excavation route .

[markopolo]

Hopefully some G30 owners will see this topic and post a photo. Any interior photos of pre 1997 Chevy van rear doors would be very helpful.

[markopolo]

The cargo van version doesn't appear to have a way to unlock the rear door from inside:




The Sportvan looks to have a lock release pull knob - item 27:

[Grizzly Bear]

Yes, the Sports Van Diagram looks like our van. View B shows the outside handle and #9 is the latch mechanism. With # 27, the door can be locked and unlocked from the inside. There is a plastic insert in the hole right over the latch that appears to be formed for a recessed handle. The metal piece shown in the picture has been been painted with rattle can chrome and is now mostly rust. With the inside way to lock and unlock and the location made for a handle, well one would think there should be a handle to open this door. Every thing else is there.
Thanks everyone.

[mkguitar]

looking online I couldn;t find much- I was looking fr a "body manual" which is what i use for my old cadillacs rather that the mechanical service manual


I did find power lock servos...I wonder if that would be practical and you could mount a switch


really though, left to my own devices I'd probably end up with a piece of rope..


Mike


( this post originally had a poor attempt at humor- Moderators edited it out
Thank You and Sorry)

[Grizzly Bear]

I had hoped to find a part prior to disabling the door to remove the latch. This handle was apparently added to the latch mechanism and painted. The idea is good as the outside button has a plunger that pushes the latch forward pulling the locking rods. This handle is meant to do the same thing when pushed down. There is a rivit that has worn causing too much play thus the lever would bind when pushed down. I'm painting it black, will get that rivit tighter for the pivot point and that should work for awhile. I still wonder what the original was or was this all there was??

[markopolo]

I found this photo of the door on a 1993 Chevy Roadtrek:

[Grizzly Bear]

Yepper, that looks like the same item. I believe mine is a repair job. I am going to try a temporary fix. Still looking for a replacement. Thanks for looking and the picture.

[JEmmelkamp]

Hey Grizz.
GM as far as I know, never put an inside latch on the rear door. They did however, install a power lock actuator ,or a vertical manual lock knob, which would lock & unlock the door.
A few years ago I rigged a inside latch which would unlock the door from the inside and act as a release handle. Since you have the inside vertically operating door lock button on your door, then you are most of the way there. The inside latch only has to give you a way to duplicate the action of the outside pushbutton from the inside.
When the pushbutton outside handle is pushed the open the door, it pushes in on the paddle-shaped part of the latch mechanism #9. If you remove the upholstery from the inside of the door, you can see the bolt #48 (Sportvan image) to remove the outside handle. From there you can see the way that the pushbutton works on the latch mechanism.
From the inside you have to come up with an inward-moving 'pull handle' which will unlatch the door.
If this doesn't explain it well enough, perhaps a trip to your local pick-n-pull auto wrecker's is in order. If you can find a 'conversion' travel van based on any of the GM G-style bodies, you should be able to take one rear door apart to see how it works.

[Grizzly Bear]

It seems peculiar that there is a nice fitted plastic binzel, with a shaped cutout for a handle, and the hole in the inside door sheet metal is factory stamped. The mechanism is there to open the door from the outside and no handle inside, just a hole? Strange indeed. With a bed and/or a dinette there, Roadtrek may have modified that. Also, see the EXIT on the inside of the door ???????

Once inside the the door I found a power lock actuator with the rod disconnected and a vertical manual lock knob. A small piece of angle had been welded to the mechanism as a handle. By whom and when, who knows. The idea is good, just too much play for it to be functional. I have attached two springs. One pulls the handle to the left and the other pulls up on the left end of the makeshift handle. Not real smooth but it works. The power door lock is now also functional. Ought to be good for another 25 years or so! Thanks everybody!

[rowiebowie]

Thanks for posting an update and not keeping us hanging. Nice work.

[pine_beetle]

Attached are four images (please excuse the poor quality) of the right rear door handle area of my 1995 Popular.
The handle looks like a piece of steel that has been formed and a should attach to the door mechanism with (2) bolts.
The handle only opens the door and will not actuate the lock mechanism.

[Grizzly Bear]

Thanks Pine_Beetle. Your pictures help confirm what I found for our door. Ours looks like a piece of angle iron spot welded to the door mechanism. Maybe I can improve the appearance some but from your description, I believe the function is the same. Thanks again.

[simon_ca]

Found this thread searching for a solution to my door troubles... I have a 1990 Roadtrek 190V base don the G30 van chassis. My lock and inside handle are working, but my exterior latch is broken...

Reading through the thread, I expect some of you will have explored inside the door and maybe could point me in the right direction....

I see the push button with a rod and spring, but nothing holding the button in place. I expect perhaps some sort of retaining clip is missing from the door handle, wondering if any of you who have had the door apart remember...

[simon_ca]

Resolved by crafting a replacement retaining clip out of sheet metal.