Front Door removal

[igreenrover]

Hi

I need to remove the front doors from my 89 SE in preparation for re-spray, ok looks no problem with just two nuts on each door – I’m fine for this part.
BUT how do I get the surround away form the 'A' pillar around the window to get to the top of the two bolts???

The Manual says: remove surround (see section V) but I cant find anything!

Cheers,
Gareth

[igreenrover]

Anyone have any idea in this? I'm stuck and don't want to damage anything else!

Gareth

[madmike]

igreenrover said:

Hi I need to remove the front doors from my 89 SE in preparation for re-spray,

As opposed to removing the the rear doors?

Sorry, couldn't resist

[igreenrover]

Erm..... well I cant think of getting out of that one. Still need to get the DOORS of though

[wedg1e]

Wild stab in the dark, but you don't pull off the interior pillar trim to find some screws, do you...?

Ian

[igreenrover]

The trim appears to be quite solid, but I might have to try a little more force and see what happens… I cant see any fixing around the dash so maybe its just stuck on there somehow.

Maybe if I try and remove the trim above the doors I will be able to see something at the top of the 'A' pillar trim.

[igreenrover]

Just in case anyone is ever interested, the door pillar trim panels just pull off, they require quite a lot of force (more than I wanted to apply) but the clips are made from spring steel so that’s why.

I ended up with a black eye with the passenger side one, but learnt my lesson when it came to the drivers side!

Once off, the front doors are very easy to remove.

[Dr.Hess]

I gave up trying to pull the A pillar thing when I was wiring in my Valentine One. I just stuffed the thin wire under the edge. I didn't want to put that much force on it. Any hints on where to grab or a screwdrive to pry or anything?

Dr.Hess

[igreenrover]

The fixing clips run along the front edge of the trim panel near to the window (about ½ in from the edge), there are three of them.
I pulled the leather away from the door end and then used a large flat screwdriver (pushed from the back) behind the panel and right to the front edge, then tried to lever it at the clips. That worked fine on the drivers side.

The passenger side I did first and just applied more force until it hit me in the face Once I had recovered and was able to see the clips I decided on the top approach!