Now slide the screwdriver around the bottom edge of the door panel until you can get your fingers in there and pull. The door panel is held on by plastic clips inside which will pop loose.

At the top edge of the door, however, the panel fits into the window groove, so once everything else is loose, the panel lifts up and off. This is also a tricky step and should be done gently, using a rocking motion. The panel will remain connected to the car by a few wires. Set it down

Removing The Door Handle

Now you will turn your attention to removing the exterior door handle. Pull the plastic liner off the whole left side of the door, and leave it hanging. Mine was stuck on with some annoying tar-like adhesive that, while dirty, was easy to replace later.

(If this plastic protector gets torn beyond use, you can use a plastic garbage bag or a piece of vinyl drop cloth as a replacement. Don't put the door panel back on without the plastic protector. V.C.)

You may be dismayed at this point to realize that you can hardly see the exterior door handle and have very little room to work on it. That is very true. You need one of these ratchet set handles (I don't know what it's called, but it looked like a screw driver handle to me) with about a 10mm attachment for unscrewing bolts.

I found that with the exception of one bolt which WAS easily reached, I had to loosen the bolts with this tool and then stick my hand in there to finish taking them off. There are three bolts that have to be removed, the one that is easily seen and reached, and two more inside the hole pictured to the left.