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I want to remove an interior door panel, but am worried about damaging it or the door.

Does anyone have some pictures of the process, pictures of how it is held together, or words of wisdom on how to do this done without damaging anything?

Thanks,
Rob

It's a fairly straight forward process & the only risk is pulling the panel clips out of the panel rather than out of the door & damaging the holes where they attach to the panel.

Wind the window down then remove the window winder, armrest & unfasten the door latch. If you have a push down type lock then unscrew the finisher knob. Remove anything else like speakers, lights etc then get a reasonably sized flat-head screw driver & pry the panel retainer clips out of the door. Starting at a bottom corner gently pull at the trim panel until you feel where a clip is then get the screw driver right up against the clip & twist. You might find you can just pull the clips out without a screw driver but this is the path of most destruction. The clips generally have a wide head which is attached to the panel so you want to be pushing against that rather than the panel itself. Once all the clips have been removed lift the panel up & out of the window channel. Done


Never say die. At least not while you're still breathing.

If you have the later square type door button there is a small allen screw in the front of the button to undo, then pull the plastic button off. Then, hidden behind the flat metal bar is another screw in the trim finisher around the button (the one I always forget and curse because the panel won't come off).
If you have lights in the door panel these also pull out (gently), note the wiring connections (3) and pull off the spades. Door speakers will also need to be removed.

Alan
Saab 9000 Stg 1
Saab 9000 2.3 FPT Auto
'81 TR7 DHC

hello,

I use a long flat blade like a knife or paint scraper to pry the door panel clips off the door frame. This seems to give a more even pressure, I used to break panels when I used other tools. If you break a plastic clip do not worry, they are available from many sources.

Jolyon

you can also use a door panel removal tool, fairly cheap, and have many other uses..............

exactly , the door trim removal tool/fork is your best bet for not damaging an expensive door trim...heck if your real carefull, you might even be able to re-us the pushpins too......




Ron.

Thanks everyone. I feel better about it now.

Rob

You can remove the door panel without removing lght first but you have to be careful when removing it that you don't stress where the wiring connects to it and gently remove wire connections while holding panel with other hand. This gives you the ability to heat up plasic light parts with hair dryer to make the old plastic less brittle and less likely to brake the brittle holding arms. After I take the light out I glue on tails from nylon ties on the backside of the feet to reinforce them (as the lights are no longer available). I glue them with shoe goo which is a flexable glue.



TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra