Topic

This is a simple enough job and should not take to long to complete.

I happened to have 4 chromed plastic bezels from the internal door handle bowls (escutcheons is the term, I think, but I will stick to bowls or inserts) of the MG ZT, which are the same as the 75. I know some have adapted the entire 75/ZT door handle to fit but I always look for the easier option and this is an easy enough job to do requiring few tools and not a lot of time, maybe an hour at best.

I bought a couple of these door handle bowls for a reasonable £5 for the pair from the famous MG emporium in Glossop. Usually, with upgrades, I try to keep the original parts and modify second-hand bits instead.

The first thing I noticed is that a lot of the plastic bits in the TF LE500 (and presumably the 135 and 85th 2008> models) are slightly different. The faux Allen or Hex head bolts in the gear gaiter surround are one example and you can see in the next two images that the bowls are also subtley different, but this should not affect the fitting of the bezels as I used >2005 bowls anyway.


The peg is no longer used on the rear.


There is a distinct edge to the LE bowl that isn't on the >2005 bowl.

You will need to unclip the bezels from the 75/ZT door handle units and then remove the four tabs with a pair of pliers carefully. You can bend them gently till they snap, or use wire cutter pliers to nibble the tabs away. Each bezel is marked either L or R and you will use the bezels accordingly for the left and right. However, having cut the tabs away, you will find on test fitting that the Top of the bezel is not a good match for the curve of the door pod whereas the lower part is perfectly matched so you will use the bezels upside down.


The bowls are too big to fit the bezel so you need to remove the lip of the bowl. I used a bench grinder to gently work away the material but that's probably not good practice and you need to go in slow careful grinds so you don't take too much away. A 'Dremel' type tool may be better. Keep test fitting the bowl to the door and try the bezel over that and you will find you may need to reduce the height of the bowl at the forward end, too, to ensure the bezel sits neatly against the door pod and doesn't sit proud of it. A bit of sand paper will take off any flashing from grinding the plastic.


Keep test fitting and keep grinding, as you can see a fair amount of the lip needs to come off by comparison to the original bowl.


Then once you are happy with the fit, glue the bezel to the bowl. I sat the bowl slighly up from the natural position to ensure clearance of the lower part of the door handle when opening. Remember the bit marked 'Top' goes to the bottom. Don't put too much glue round the top part as there are several clips in the door pod so too much glue will prevent the bezel sitting neatly into these clips.


And the finished job...unfortunately black, chrome and flash light are not ideal condtions and it looks seriously good, much better than the photos suggest, but I will try and get some more shots in the daylight.


As Jill said about their LE500, it's very dark inside with all the black and these bezels really lift the interior adding a touch of class!


Just as an update the hot-melt glue was not working too well, so in the end I used black silicone sealant and eased the bowl edges into the sealant and left them to dry over night and subsequently they have stayed nice and secure without coming off.

Also, with careful drilling to enlarge the hole and then cutting away the pegs below, these door lock pin surrounds from the 75 & ZT can be glued to the door card for added class.



RayB used this guide to add this mod to his own car, shown in the pics below -

Oh no

Another thing to add to the list of possible future enhancements.

MartinW thank you, that's a great How To

One word - Excellent!

im of to the scrappy tomorow

Great job Martin. Now in the 'how to' guides section.

Interior door handle chrome surrounds from 75/ZT - 'How to mod & fit' guide.

my latest mod from t-bars HOW TO

That pic compliments Martins' great guide. I'm sure he will be glad that it was of use to you. Well done Goldie and thanks for sharing how it turned out.

A small but subtle upgrade that is possible owing to the source being hidden by the ZT bezels...

I bet John's already started on this mod.

I guess the trick would be to have them illuminate when you need to find them in the dark.

At the minute they wired into the footwell lights so they're active until the engine is started and come on again when switching off. In the dark it really stands out, but not overly bright as it is just the one white LED in each, same as I fitted above the ignition key on the steering column.

A tip to getting the wires through the loom grommet is to use a longish cable tie (roughly 6"). Insert the wire into the back of the cable tie where you would insert the tail of the tie. This will then grip the wire. Remove the main speaker for access and then feed the cable tie tapered end first through the convoluted sleeve into the car and fish the tapered end through from the footwell and this will pull your wire through cleanly. Simple, no fuss, and no need to release the rubber sleeve from the door or pillar.