How to remove a 98 Contour driver door panel.

June 2, 2005 6:21 AM

How do I remove the interior driver door panel on a 1998 Ford Contour?

Seems like it should be easy enough. I found and removed all the screws - except for one. The last troubling screw secures the molding around the inside door handle, window buttons, etc. It's covered (for asthetical reasons) by a little plastic disc that seems to snap over the top. It's flush with the molding and I cant, for the life of me, figure out how to pop it off without buggering up the surrounding plastic molding. What's the trick?

posted by whatisish to grab bag (3 comments total)

ah yes - "aesthetical".
posted by whatisish at 6:24 AM on June 2, 2005

Use a small knife (maybe an Xacto), or a very small-bladed flat screwdriver. The plug may be elastomeric (rubber-like) and so may spring back with no marks. You may leave a small mark, but you will be the only one who notices it.
posted by Doohickie at 9:46 AM on June 2, 2005

I don't know if this will help, but when I need to pry and not damage the surroundings, I use a piece of soft wood. Think free chopsticks. You can carve to make it as sharp or strong as you need. Just a thought.
(You may already know this but in taking the door panel off you probably need to break a series of plastic snaps then buy replacements for them when you reinstall. That's how my blazer was.)
posted by Corpus Callosum at 9:48 AM on June 2, 2005