I can see signs of rust discolouring the paint on the underside of the rear handle too. But hoping that it stays affixed until the spring, when I can make it a job to attend to, on a more inviting warmer sunny day. Virtually every hippo I looked at last year, ahead of buying mine, suffered from this problem. (one such vehicle was described by the seller as being in
immaculate condition*, which when pulled away from the wall it was parked against, revealed the handle was being held in by two large wood screws, that had been driven in through the plastic, and had a large rust hole between the handle and numberplate. Apparently the owner had
forgotten it was there. (A wasted 170 mile round trip! - along with the others.
*immaculate condition... then when you turn up to see more than usual wear and tear, but damage, or things not working, you get told by the seller "it is immaculate condition for a x year old car". arghh! )
Anyway, in the meantime, I got my brakes sorted with new discs/calipers/pads/flexihoses on the front, and new cylinders on the rear, (don’t you just love manipulating the larger springs onto those shoes, when you can’t feel your fingers from the cold!). Rear backplates on the drums were not holding the cylinders entirely flush, having suffered from corrosion, and I think at some point, someone yanking them, so I used some silicone instant gasket to try keep water from creeping in.
New exhaust box on too, which was more straightforward job, after cutting the rusted clamp screw off. So after being three weeks taking up space in the garage, was able to take it out for a drive yesterday afternoon.
(upon returning home, spent a further hour clearing all the crud and soot that had flaked onto the garage floor in doing these jobs!, and cleaning/tidying all the tools that had taken a careful three weeks to scatter everywhere).
Also tried the new Pioneer DAB radio I got at Christmas, just FM mode for the moment, until I get a new aerial. But even so, the reception is an improvement. I’ve lost the steering wheel controls for the moment until I sort out one of those adapters. Re the aerial, I’m going to try and avoid using a windscreen mounted one, and to see how easy it is to replace the roof aerial with a combined DAB/FM one by taking out the headlining (3 door), which looks easier to do than on many cars. (I could be wrong of course!).
MOT looming next month, so will continue to get those brakes bedded in, and make sure everything is as well as it can be ahead of testing.
Jim
I also discovered why the heated rear window didn't work. So i repaired that while I was sorting out the handle. 
