my experience with door panels....

[Pontiac Racer]

i got my 25 door panel clips in the mail because a lot of my clips had broken and the panels were just hanging there. on the passenger side door, i started by removing the two torx screws from behind the handle as i thought that would be the most difficult because i didn't have any tor bits lying around, or so i thought. anyway i found one that fit the screws so i unscrewed those and boom, first one falls down inside the panel. no big deal i thought cause i have to take the panel off anyway. well the panel i tried taking off didn't have any broken clips, i was just gonna do it to put some new ones on so it wouldn't break in the future. well i couldn't get the panel off no matter how hard i yanked (you know what i mean). i gave up on that and that one screw is still inside the door panel so only one is holding it on but thats enough, i pulled on it and it seemed good. oh and i couldn't get the door lock switch connecter undone to remove the lock and window assembly in the door. so i move to the rear passenger door now. this panel had at least 3 broken clips. since some clips were broken it was easy to remove the door panel. replace the clips and realize yet another screw fell down after i put the new clips in. well in the procedure to remove the panel with new clips, the new clips were frustratingly hard to remove and i broke a couple. well again i only i got one screw in by the time i finished so now the whole passenger side of the car has only 1 screw holding the door on per door. and it took over an hour to do half of the car. mmmcmmm i feel stupid and wasted a ton of time. FML

[FordMan77]

Sounds like you could use one of these-->

Besides that, there isn't much to these panels. I can pull a panel, replace the window regulator and motor and have it reassembled in less than 40 min (and that includes a break for a curious 6 year old, lol..). All they are is 2 torx screws, a few plastic clips. Pop the wire harness from the switches and light (if equipped) and off they come. A small flathead screwdriver helps to pop the harness clips loose.

To restart the screws I use an extendable magnet to get it set in the hole, then while holding it in place with the magnet use a small flathead screwdriver that fits inside the torx bit to get it started, then tighten up with the torx bit. Saves me from dropping the screws inside the door panel over and over, lol.. They aren't always at the correct angle when trying to screw them in and they fall off the torx bit. I've thought about changing them out for some regular 6-point screws just so I can use my magnetic sockets on them.