[MAAD]

Ok, I have a 2005 V6 that I want to modify (interior). I want to change out the fabric seat covers for leather and paint the interior panels with Vinyl Paint.

I'm currently buying up the materials I will need in order to make the changes I want but I removed the door panel to get an idea of what I need to do to make the job easiest. I noticed that the armrest/handle section appears to be a separate part than the main door panel so I want to remove it in order to paint certain sections different colors. When I looked at the back side of the panel to find the fasteners, I noticed that there is a plastic cover that conceals the entire area that I need to get to. The cover seems to be glued to the door panel on every inch of the perimeter.

My question is:

Does anyone know HOW to remove that cover? Does anyone have any experience removing it?

I'm guessing I could try a heat gun to see if whatever adhesive they may have used will loosen up but I don't have much experience with this type of thing. I don't want to make a costly mistake that is going to set me back more money and time.


Any help and/or suggestions will be VERY appreciated.

Thanks!
MAAD

 

[dakine858]

Ok, I have a 2005 V6 that I want to modify (interior). I want to change out the fabric seat covers for leather and paint the interior panels with Vinyl Paint.

I'm currently buying up the materials I will need in order to make the changes I want but I removed the door panel to get an idea of what I need to do to make the job easiest. I noticed that the armrest/handle section appears to be a separate part than the main door panel so I want to remove it in order to paint certain sections different colors. When I looked at the back side of the panel to find the fasteners, I noticed that there is a plastic cover that conceals the entire area that I need to get to. The cover seems to be glued to the door panel on every inch of the perimeter.

My question is:

Does anyone know HOW to remove that cover? Does anyone have any experience removing it?

I'm guessing I could try a heat gun to see if whatever adhesive they may have used will loosen up but I don't have much experience with this type of thing. I don't want to make a costly mistake that is going to set me back more money and time.


Any help and/or suggestions will be VERY appreciated.

Thanks!
MAAD

I used to install auto glass and removing door panels was an everyday task. To remove the door panels you'll need a flat and phillips screw driver and some smaller sockets. there are a few screws you need to remove first; one is in the arm rest, one is by the door handle and there might be a few around the speaker. There is NO ADHESIVE SO DON'T USE A HEAT GUN!!! All around the border of the door panel are small plastic clips that clip into holes in the metal panel on the door. They make a special tool to pop these off; http://www.autotoys.com/pics/doorpanelremovaltooldeluxe.jpg
You'll also probably want to stroll by the dealer or an auto parts store and pick up a pack of those plastic clips because I guarantee you'll either break or destroy a part of at least 1 or 2 every time you remove door panels.

 

[Bnuts]

Ok, I have a 2005 V6 that I want to modify (interior). I want to change out the fabric seat covers for leather and paint the interior panels with Vinyl Paint.

I'm currently buying up the materials I will need in order to make the changes I want but I removed the door panel to get an idea of what I need to do to make the job easiest. I noticed that the armrest/handle section appears to be a separate part than the main door panel so I want to remove it in order to paint certain sections different colors. When I looked at the back side of the panel to find the fasteners, I noticed that there is a plastic cover that conceals the entire area that I need to get to. The cover seems to be glued to the door panel on every inch of the perimeter.

My question is:

Does anyone know HOW to remove that cover? Does anyone have any experience removing it?

I'm guessing I could try a heat gun to see if whatever adhesive they may have used will loosen up but I don't have much experience with this type of thing. I don't want to make a costly mistake that is going to set me back more money and time.


Any help and/or suggestions will be VERY appreciated.

Thanks!
MAAD

I think he knows how to get the door panel off but wants to paint the arm rest. I don't know how to get that off tho sorry man

 

[MAAD]

Yes Bnuts. That's my problem. Taking the panel off is no problem. Getting the plastic cover on the back of the panel off in order to get to whatever fasteners hold the armrest on, is the problem. The red outline is the perimeter that appears to be glued. I see no fasteners holding the cover on but I do see what might be adhesive residue on the edge of the cover in some areas.

Dakine858, thanks for the help though. I will look into getting more clips and that tool you linked to. I know a guy who has one so I'll be picking one up soon once I ask him where he got his.

*Note: the pic I'm placing here is not a pic of my actual door panel. I put my panel back on the car for now so I just found a backside pic online and I'm using it to illustrate my issue.

http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/3592/doorpanelmt4.jpg

MAAD

 

[MAAD]

Bump.

In case anyone with experience in this issue hadn't seen this thread yet.

MAAD

 

[justblaze2256]

I'm in a VERY similar situation. I have the tan interior and I want to change EVERYTHING to black and red. I want it to be exactly like the supersnake setup. That panel you are talking about...I've looked for every single way I could get it out and you cant without cutting into it...which would make putting it back a PITA!!!

The best thing I can tell you is to get the 3M green (not blue, that one's not strong enough) painters tape, and use alot of alcohol to remove wax and crap, and just tape off the area's you want to seperate. That's what I did, but it didnt turn out that great due to the fact I rushed through it and didnt take my time.

I ended up removing it all and I'm going to wait for a while to start all over again. Plus, I used the wrong paint. I used a regular enamel instead of a plastic or vinyl paint. VERY important not to use that...!!!

Good luck though, if you do end up finding a way to remove those, let me know...cuz I could sure use it.

 

[amustangrocks]

door panel

i pulled my 05 door panels to tint my windows. nut driver for the parimiter screws, the plastic panels for the door handle and the window swithes pry off exsposing the couple torx srews, the mirror knob cover prys off easy, and the panel lifts up off the door and there are no plasic push clips to break. where i went wrong, the first attemp i didnt reach behind after i poped it up to remove the wire plug for the power lock first before attempting to fully remove the panel and i broke the back off that lock switch. easy enough to change, but it cost me about 25.00 for the switch.