"How To" Remove Door Card & Speaker Grill on VT-VX *Detailed*

[VX S-speeddemon]

hey would this be the same procedure for auto windows because i am about to remove my trim because my window of the frivers side has managed to come completely off the rails but the motor still brings the rails up and down
sso if its the same this post is a great help

 

[LthlThrt]

it is simpler, you dont have do worry bout the winder, just be carful of the electrics, had the same problem w/ my VT a few months ago, ended up welding the rails together, works like a dream

 

[Chilly]

How long does this take, i was thinking of getting a start on this whilst the folks are out today.

EDIT: This window winder is being a B***h!!! any tips?

 

[Chilly]

Sorry to double post,

Had a go at this myself, Dissassembly was going smooth until i got to the vent cover trying to remove it (slowly) and the clip happens to snap..no biggie i can fix this with industrial strength super glue ( I couldn't) and so i continue and everything goes smoothly. Re-assembly was fantastic all i had to do was put the door lock back on...but it wont go on... the lock case was fine the rod-thing? wouldn't go in properly so i spent hours trying to fix it all to no avail, so now my car has no door lock. Thankfully it still functions properly, i can still lock and unlock the car, however it looks like the rod that goes into the button/case is slightly bent and is the cause of all this trouble. Am I able to replace it??? To make things soooo much better I happened to drop my precision screwdriver, it happened to fall into the lock case, right between the hole and fall somewhere into the door card. So i will have to spend another day taking it all apart and fixing it again -_- /end rant

EDIT: FIXED IT! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[VXjeremy]

Grab your flat screwdriver and pry the clips off carefully.

if only it was that easy, i sat there for an hour with a pin tool prying each little tab up in the clip until it came off. you'll find some come off easy with a flathead screwdriver and others NOT!

by the way if your REALLY anal about little damages in your car(like me) i recommend drilling a tiny holy in the orange tab on each door lock (step 2) rather than sticking something flat in and prying it out because chances are you'll leave tiny marks. atleast with the tiny hole its neat incase you wanted to leave it or you could buy new orange tabs without having to buy the whole plastic lock

good post though i'd be completely lost without it

 

[Haydo]

That trick with the cloth to remove the Jesus clip is effing brilliant!

I thought they were called Bastard clips. They haven't changed a bit, I remember loosing a couple in my old VC. Grouse tip though.

 

[EPU: energy saving]

dam, wish i found this about a month ago, i just ripped it all off :/

 

[Mk2]

A couple of questions:

1) Why did Holden give me a spare screw for the door card? Oh well, I guess I'll keep it safe until the next time I take it off and find where I missed it.

2) If you're an idiot like me and you pressed the lock down too far so that it now sits with the red tab halfway below the recessed plastic how in the hell can I get that thing back off? It is functioning fine but I need to take the door cards off again when I get the right tools to remove my exterior handles. At the moment if I try and pry the red tab out it gets about halfway but is then caught by the card itself and won't budge. The lock basically sits at about half height when compared to the other doors.

3) Also, if anyone has gone one step further than this how to and removed their exterior door handles is there anything I should specifically watch out for? I am replacing my standard handles with Stato chrome ones and given my car has central locking I'd rather not break something there like I did below.

And one observation referenced above:

1) Be very careful when you actually pull the card off and go to rest it down somewhere. I was paying more attention to the electric mirror wiring that I didn't notice the super short wires running to the courtesy light and I ended up snapping one of the metal tabs when I sat the card on the ground and the wires tugged against it.

EDIT: I realised just now that it was the screw behind the door handle I forgot to put back in. Is this going to be much of an issue for now?

 

[LthlThrt]

A couple of questions:

1) Why did Holden give me a spare screw for the door card? Oh well, I guess I'll keep it safe until the next time I take it off and find where I missed it.

2) If you're an idiot like me and you pressed the lock down too far so that it now sits with the red tab halfway below the recessed plastic how in the hell can I get that thing back off? It is functioning fine but I need to take the door cards off again when I get the right tools to remove my exterior handles. At the moment if I try and pry the red tab out it gets about halfway but is then caught by the card itself and won't budge. The lock basically sits at about half height when compared to the other doors.

3) Also, if anyone has gone one step further than this how to and removed their exterior door handles is there anything I should specifically watch out for? I am replacing my standard handles with Stato chrome ones and given my car has central locking I'd rather not break something there like I did below.

And one observation referenced above:

1) Be very careful when you actually pull the card off and go to rest it down somewhere. I was paying more attention to the electric mirror wiring that I didn't notice the super short wires running to the courtesy light and I ended up snapping one of the metal tabs when I sat the card on the ground and the wires tugged against it.

EDIT: I realised just now that it was the screw behind the door handle I forgot to put back in. Is this going to be much of an issue for now?

i knew that would of been the one that you had missed out on, nah it shouldnt be a problem seeing as you are taking them off soon, i am not sure what you are trying to explain by the lock part. BUT i did a DIY video for removing the outer door handles to install chrome door handles. here is the link. YouTube - ‪How to Remove VT/VZ Door Handles‬‏ any Q's, give me a shout

 

[Mk2]

Cheers, I'll have a look at that video when I've got a minute to tackle them again.

As for the locks here are some comparison shots with both doors in the unlocked position (sorry for the huge pictures if they are, they're from my phone). I butchered the #### out of that little red tab too.

Also I've noticed this horrible scraping sound when I wind down the power windows to about three quarter or half way. :/ I'll be keeping it up until I get the card off again.