- Tools Needed:
Small Flat Head Screwdriver
- Phillips Screwdriver
- Plastic Scraper or Squeegee
- Towel or Blanket to lay the door panel on
- 3M 77 Adhesive Spray
- Scissors
- High Temp Hot Glue Gun
- Hot Glue Sticks for Plastic (See Pic)
- Possible need for Pliers or Needle Nose Pliers
- Second Set of Hands (not absolutely necessary but a helper comes in handy for several steps.)
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| 1. With a small, flat bladed screw driver, pry off the plastic panel behind the door handle. |
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| 2. Remove the screw behind the panel with a phillips screwdriver. |
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| 3. Push in the center of the plastic plug until it pops in. See photo insert for plug detail. Popping the center in narrows the diameter, allowing the plug to come out. The plug itsself will likely pop out when you pull the door panel off. You don't need to worry about prying it out right now. |
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| 4. On the underside of the silver panel over the door handle is a small slot where you can pry the panel off with a small, flat bladed screwdriver. The panel is held on by small tabs around the perimeter. Once you can get your fingers in there, you can gently pop it out. |
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| 5. The silver panel will be held on by a blue leash that's screwed into the door. Remove the screw holding it to the door with a phillips screwdriver. |
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| 6. There are two screws in holes on the underside of the armrest/doorhandle. Remove these with a phillips screwdriver. |
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| 7. Pry off the small plastic panel above the door. You should be able to grab it and pull it off. It's held on by a metal clip over a plastic tab that slots into a hole in the door. If the piece comes off but the metal clip stays in the door, squeeze it with a pair of pliers and pull it out and push it back onto the plastic tab. |
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| 8. Using a plastic scraper (or any other tool you can wedge in there and pry with but not scratch the door) pry the door panel away from the door. You can peek in and see where the tabs that hold the door into place are. The arrow in the picture is about where one of them should be. Once you know you're prying in the right spot, gently get a flat bladed screwdriver in there and pop the plug out. You can see all the plugs on the back of the door panel in Pic 13. The little black push-in type plug from step 3 may have shot out of the door. Be sure to grab it and set it aside for reassembly. |
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| 9. Repeat step 8 just around the bottom side of the door. Once you get this second plug popped out, you should be able to get your hands in there and pop the rest of the plugs loose. The door will still be hooked at the top and connected by a plug and the cables for your lock and latch. |
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| 10. Lift up on the door and unhook it from the top. It's helpful to have someone holding the door at this point since next you need to unhook the plugs and cables. |
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| 11. Unplug the connector for the power windows. There's one small tab that you have to depress with your finger to pull the plug out. |
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| 12. The cables for your door lock and latch are held in by 4 plastic clips (driver's side clips are black.) They're a little tricky - you have to pivot them off the cables to get them loose. The larger one opens up like a clamshell. A small screwdriver may help pop that one open. |
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| 13. Now that you've got the door panel free, you can lay it face down on a towel or blanket to take out the piece to be covered. If any of the white plugs that held the panel to the door stayed in the door instead of coming out with the panel, you can pull those out with a pair of needle nose pliers. Be careful not to scratch the door. Slide the plugs into the appropriate places on the door panel so they'll be ready for reassembly. |
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| 14. Pull the white papery padding off at the three spots where it's attached to the panel insert. It will be reattached later. |
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| 15. Remove the screws around the perimeter of the door panel insert with a phillips screwdriver. |
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| 16. In addition to the screws, the panel insert is fixed on with some welded plastic bits. You'll have to drill the top of these just enough to break the panel loose from the posts beneath. Some of these aren't very tall - don't drill through to the front of your door panel! You shouldn't ever have to drill very deep - a few spins of a wide bit should be enough to allow you to pop the two pieces apart. |
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| 17. Drill the three plastic welded spots to remove the foam piece. There are more phillips head screws underneath. |
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| 18. Release the tabs and unhook the panel insert from underneath the metal bracket indicated in the picture. You can now lift the panel insert away from the rest of the door panel. |
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| 19. Peel up the edge of the material on one side and then pull the entire piece off of the panel. It's easiest to do this by having one person hold the panel while you pull the material off. |
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| 20. Go ahead and lay the material on the panel insert to get an idea for where the notches should line up and to make sure you have the correct side!
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| 21. Spray the back of the material and the front of the panel insert with 3M 77 Adhesive Spray. The 77 has a nice, even spray pattern, making it pretty easy to work with. You just need to get a good, even coat across both pieces. Let off the spray nozzle at the end of every spray stroke rather than keeping it down while you change direction. Be sure to get the edges around the perimeter of the raised part of the panel. The directions say to coat both pieces and wait a minimum of 30 seconds for a strong bond. That's about how long it will likely take you to pick up the material and get it lined up and be ready to stick it down. |
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| 22. It's helpful to have someone else hold one side of the material while you position it and begin sticking it to the panel insert. We had good luck with holding both ends up and lining the middle up where it is notched around the raised round screw hole. Then, lay one side down, smoothing the material down with your hand from the middle out towards the end. Next, lay the other side down, again smoothing the material from the center out towards the end. If you have any wrinkles or things aren't lined up right, you have a little time to pull the material up, make adjustments and stick it back down. The 3M 77 is pretty forgiving this way. |
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| 23. Snip the material so that it tucks around the edges in the hole at the pointy corner and wrap the pieces around the edge of the hole. You may also have to snip the sides of the tab at the other end to allow it to wrap around the edge. |
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| 24. Press around all the edges and grooves and make sure the material is stuck down all the way around the piece. |
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| 25. Cut the material away from the holes that were drilled out. You need the plastic exposed for reattaching to the door panel with hot glue. Also trim any material that's covering up screw holes. |
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| 26. Lay the panel insert back in the door panel, making sure to tuck the panel under the metal bracket. |
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| 27. Screw the panel pieces back together with the 15 phillips head screws. While you do that, plug in your hot glue gun so it can start heating up, if you haven't already. |
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| 28. Prop up the corner of the panel that has the speaker grill in it so the two indicated holes line up well with the posts they were originally attached to. |
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| 29. While holding the panels tightly together, fill the holes with hot glue. Let the glue completely harden before letting go of each section. |
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| 30. Reattach the foam piece by filling the holes with hot glue, too. You don't need to fill these to the top but they will still be a pretty thick spot of glue and, consequently, take a little while to harden. Also tack the paper padding back down with three little spots of hot glue. Resist pushing these spots down with your finger - they're hot! |
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| 31. Once all the glue has hardened, you're ready to start putting the panel back on the door. First, plug the power window wires back together. |
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| 32. Clip the cables back into place. The larger, clamshell clip has ridges on it that need to line up with the ridges on the sleeve of the cable in order for it to close. Be sure to also snap the cables back into the clips on the door itsself (not pictured.) |
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| 33. Take the assembled panel and hook it back onto the top of the door. You may have to wiggle it a little and pull it away from the door to get it to settle all the way down into place. Once it's in place you can tap around the panel to pop the plugs back into place. |
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| 34. Take the plastic cover that goes above the door panel and tuck the bottom into the door and then snap in the metal clip that holds it into place. |
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| 35. With a phillips screwdriver, replace the screw that holds the blue leash and silver panel onto the armrest. Tuck the blue leash into the hole and snap the silver panel back into place. |
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| 36. Replace the two screws in the underside of the armrest. |
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| 37. Grab the little black push plug and push the center the other way so it sticks out from the middle and the outer part can collapse small at the other end of the piece. Push the plug back into the hole and then push the center in so it's flush on the front and locked back in place in the door panel. |
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| 38. Replace the phillips head screw that goes behind the door handle. Tuck the back of the little plastic cover in and then snap it into place. |
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| 39. You're done! Repeat the process on the other side. |
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