yup, that'd be one of the hardest parts to tackle

 

OK, so I exaggerated for effect

 

Home Depot sells a Husky allen kit - not t-handle, normal ones, but they come with a plastic adaptor so you can use the long side.

as for prep, hit them with an emery pad, tape up anything non-chrome, wipe with a cleaner to get oil and dust off, spray with a self-etching primer...a light tack coat, then 2 or so light coats. Let it dry....light tack coat with your paint, then 2-3 light coats. It helps to let everything cure for a few days before handling...the label says 'dry to the touch in 20 minutes' but they lie

 

Thanks PGT, but I think I am going to have my cousin paint them since that what he does. He is going to do my new bumpers, so I will give him everything at once.

 

lucky! I had to DIY with a rattle can in the garage - I bought a spare set so I wasn't rushed to get them back on the car. Came out great and look same as new even after six months

 

That's the look I am going for. Those look awesome.

 

pfffft dan's car is ugly

 

so ugly, nobody would dare copy it

 

exactly, not worth duplicating, evar

 

Wow, just finished the second door. From walking into the garage to turning off the lights was 31 minutes. After you've done this once, it's a piece of cake. Highly recommend however a socket torx30. Of the 30 minutes, over half was loosening or lightening the screw holding in the front end of the door handle. I have a torx30 bit, but it requires a socket adapter to go on my ratchet and there isn't room. I went to go buy one and the salesman suggest an Allen wrench instead, as they are less likely to break or strip. Wrong...get the socket, your knuckles will thank you.

 

 

Thanks to all the great information from all of you and due to special New Years Eve help from OctaneGuy, ImagoX, Sin MINI and especially, glnr13, my checkered door handles are FINALLY installed! While the first door was a PITA (due to some problems documented in another thread), I did the second door in 35 minutes. As many advised, I used a mini socket and a T-handle, ball head hex set purchased at Sears. Here is the result:





And here are my new JCW checkered floor mats too:

 

 

Nice!

 

good job minibee

 

So I looked at the door today and it looks like the window track is in the way of the front bolt. Did anyone else have this problem? How should I get around it?

 

When you say front bolt do you mean the one closest to the edge of the door? If so, you access that one by lifting the rubber flap at the end of the door and passing the hex wrench the hole under the flap. The other one is best accessed with a mini socket wrench and hex bit.

 

Thanks MINI Bee. I was talking about the one in the middle of the door. I bought my t handles today and a mini screw driver thingy. I am going to take them off tomorrow if the rain lets up a little bit.