large_x7

iTrader: (1)

Just curious. I don't mean the interior door panel (already have that off), I mean the whole door. I'm wiring in a new stereo, and I'm trying to run speaker wire from the cabin to the door. The problem is getting it past the dumb wire harness coupler in the body. After four hours of unsuccessfully trying to route the speaker wire, I started to do some serious thinking (as one always does when at that stage! arrgghh!) I thought to myself: Hell why not take the whole damn door off? It's only six bolts!! The service manual makes it look easy enough. I think with an extra set of hands, I could have the door off, my wire run, and the door back on in an hour or two. The only problem is that I doubt my ability to make the door close properly and with an even gap around the edges.

So, my question is, has anybody taken their door off before? How hard was it to get off and (more importantly), put back on? Thanks for your help in advance!

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

why dont you just use the wire thats already there?

mike

large_x7

iTrader: (1)

mostly because that wire runs in a harness to the head unit (dash area). i need to run speaker wire to an amplifier in the trunk.

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

It doesn't take 6 bolts it's only 4!

Take off the bolts that attach the hinge to the door, not the bolts that hold the hinges to the body. That way you don't break the seam sealer. The 4 that hold the door to the hinge are unpainted (ie silver).

Otherwise that freakin' connector is the hardest part about removing the door. The factory manual is wrong, there is a little dealy to push in to get it to release. I don't remember if it is on the bottom or the top of the connector.

Jeff
Removed a few doors before

large_x7

iTrader: (1)

It looked like you have to take the bolts out of the guide hinge (don't know what it is called) as well? Or does that just come apart when you get the other four bolts off? I already unplugged the harness, but I can't remove it because there is not enough clearance. And yes it was a bitch. My biggest question is, though, how hard is it to get the door to line up properly when you reinstall it? Thanks.

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

I've R+R'd a few doors. Realignment was a snap. I just put all 4 bolts in. Very SLIGHTLY tightened one on top and one on the bottom. Close the door very gently to check alignment. Adjust by opening door and lift/push down depending on direction needed.

Open door and retighten.

The other thing your talking about, the door catch or whatever it is called? The black plastic piece that keeps the door from opening to far. Is this what you called the "guide hinge"? Just knock the little pin out of the end of it. Easy.

Oh and tape up the car and the bottom edge of the door to prevent scratching. The door isn't that heavy. With the panel and everything it is under 50lbs IIRC.

Jeff

SnowmanSteiner

Never removed an FD door but when I took the door off my truck it was a bitch to get back on. I don't know if the fd is easier to adjust but mine took me a long time to get back on. But maybe that is because I had to drive home about 3 miles with the driver's door open, wouldn't close. Peice of s***t truck.

- Steiner

jimlab

The first time we removed my doors (to paint them Purpleen) I knocked out the retaining pin and still couldn't get a hand in to work on the connector no matter what I did. We ended up unplugging the door harness (yeah, from under the plastic, where the black sticky stuff lives... ) and pulling it out of the door, then removing the hinge nuts. It worked, but it was a major pain in the ***, since the wiring had to go back afterward.

The second time we removed my doors (to paint them Electron Blue), we had a bitchin' (I'm allowed to use that word, I've owned an F-body) stand that cradles the door while you work on it. You open the door, fasten the cradle to it, and it supports the door while you work on it. I removed the retaining pin from the "swing stop" arm, removed the hinge bolts, and then slid the door away from the car so I could work on the connector. It turns out that if you roll back the rubber cover, there are retention clips at the top and bottom, something I never would have been able to manage while the door was on the car. However, once you have adequate room to fiddle with it, it's easily unsnapped, and you just slide the door away from the car.

Obviously if you don't have access to such a stand, then a buddy will work, as long as he's able to support the door for a reasonable amount of time without gouging up the car. The advice on applying tape to the door and sill edges is excellent. When it's time to reinstall the door, it's a life saver. A roll of 3M 2" masking tape is perfect, and all you need to do is fold it over the lip of the sill where the door edge will be when closed. You don't have to pat it down or anything, just put it between the paint and whatever might tend to screw it up.

Taping the edges of the door, especially the front, should be done with narrower 3/4" tape that you won't have trouble getting back off after the door is on the car.

The one place that you're most likely to cause damage to the car is right where the door transitions into the window, at the rear of the door, where the body line curves in. You're unlikely to hit the bottom of the sill, but misalignment of the door will likely cause it to hit at the rear, so close the door gently when you get it back on the car.

Follow Jeff's advice on realignment of the door. It's not difficult, since there's not a lot of articulation allowed with all four nuts semi-tightened by hand. The only difficult part is getting the door back on the car to put those nuts in place without scratching anything, and the tape should help, but don't get carried away just because you have the edges protected with tape.