R/R door handle on 98 E350

[muhoo]

The driver's side door handle has gone tango uniform on my E350. I bought the replacement part.

Now the hard part: how to get the old one off. What's holding it in appears to be something like a threaded rivet, but larger. It's got a threaded bolt, that goes into what looks like a one-way, single-use nut on the outside. The threaded part extends out the center of the nut, but there's nothing to grab onto to remove it with (and it's rounded enough that a vice-grip won't hold on it).

So my choices look like, drill it out, grind it out, grind flat edges into it and vice grip it out, or maybe a few others.

Next thing after that will be what to fasten in the new one with. I've got some 1/4" carriage bolts and nuts which fit well enough to do the job, I think.

The old part was metal, and of course the new replacement part is plastic. It did not come with any kinds of bolts.

If anyone has done this job on this kind of vehicle, I'd love to know what worked best for getting the old handle off.

[Chop]

Are you replacing the interior handle or the exterior handle ??It does sound as if you are replacing interior,if so these are quarter inch rivets,I believe.You can either drill them out or grind the heads off.Unfortunately this large rivet uses a large rivet gun most people do not purchase.You can substitute bolts and nuts or find someone with a big riveter to complete your install