Help: How do I remove the door panel?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 3,326
Likes: 0
From: Taylor TX
NCM Sinkhole Donor
Re: Help: How do I remove the door panel? (SILVER 97)
2 screws behind the pull handle, pry the release handle bezel off, pry the panel away from the door working around the bottom first then the sides.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 25,343
Likes: 222
From: Frisco, TX
Re: Help: How do I remove the door panel? (SILVER 97)
Those are the only two screws. Beyond that, however, there three more issues:
(1) you'll need to remove the plastic piece that encircles the interior door handle; to do this, pull the handle forward like you're opening the door, and use a flat blade screwdriver to pry inside the two small horizontal slots in the piece, one above and one below the door handle. Be careful as it is easy to scar the plastic.
(2) there are 5 plastic force fit connectors that hold the panel to the door. These are attached to the inside of the door panel, and they force fit into holes in the door. 3 of them are generally along the bottom of the panel, and the other 2 are just below and above the front door speaker. I found it easier to start along the bottom. Use a butter knife or a couple of small flat blade screwdrivers, and insert them along the bottom of the door panel. You might start toward the rear of the door, at the location where the door panel changes color if you have 2 tone interior, or where there are 2 panels if you have single color interior. You'll find one connector there. Put the screwdrivers on both sides of the connector and pry, being careful because the vinyl on the panel is paper thin. Once you've freed the first one then move along the bottom edge of the panel & you'll find the next 2.
(3) the panel along its top edge has a lip that fits inside the top of the door (i.e., where the window protrudes upward from the door). So, once you've gotten the above removed, then lift the panel out and upward, pulling the lip upward and out of the ridge in the door.
Good luck. :cheers:
(1) you'll need to remove the plastic piece that encircles the interior door handle; to do this, pull the handle forward like you're opening the door, and use a flat blade screwdriver to pry inside the two small horizontal slots in the piece, one above and one below the door handle. Be careful as it is easy to scar the plastic.
(2) there are 5 plastic force fit connectors that hold the panel to the door. These are attached to the inside of the door panel, and they force fit into holes in the door. 3 of them are generally along the bottom of the panel, and the other 2 are just below and above the front door speaker. I found it easier to start along the bottom. Use a butter knife or a couple of small flat blade screwdrivers, and insert them along the bottom of the door panel. You might start toward the rear of the door, at the location where the door panel changes color if you have 2 tone interior, or where there are 2 panels if you have single color interior. You'll find one connector there. Put the screwdrivers on both sides of the connector and pry, being careful because the vinyl on the panel is paper thin. Once you've freed the first one then move along the bottom edge of the panel & you'll find the next 2.
(3) the panel along its top edge has a lip that fits inside the top of the door (i.e., where the window protrudes upward from the door). So, once you've gotten the above removed, then lift the panel out and upward, pulling the lip upward and out of the ridge in the door.
Good luck. :cheers:
