Removing the door panel from a Toyota Corolla '96

I had to remove the door panel from my Corolla yesterday in order to remove the lock. I had to remove the lock because some idiot tryed to break in and they stuffed it up! It took me ages to figure out how to get it off, with this guide it should be possible to do it in about 10 minutes.
The following photos I took with my mobile phone, the super cool Mororola E398. unfortunately the camera doesnt have a very good focus so some of the images are a little blurry.

Step 1:
Remove the screw on the door opener.
This is the most obviuos screw and so I decided to remove it first.


Step 2:
Remove the door winder.
This is a little tricker than I first thought. At first I tryed to pull it off, but that didnt seem to work. I had a brief look online and found a few sites saying that there is a clip that has to be removed and that a "special tool" is reqired to remove it. These "special tools" apparently are avaliable from car parts places. Lucky for me I already had a "special tool" - a flat head screwdriver!
Here is how the clip holds the winder on

Using a flat head screwdriver you can just push the clip off

Here is the clip removed


Step 3:
Remove the arm rest.
This took me awhile to find, but under the arm rest there are two screws. It can be fairy easily removed just by getting either your fingernail under it, or a screwdriver.

Once removed it reveals the screws underneath


Step 4:
This is the easy part. The whole panel is now held on only by push in clips, they can be easily pulled for them to pop out. They are located all around the outside of the panel and look like this

Once they are removed carefully guide the door handle opener through the hole to remove the panel.


Step 5:
To get to the inside of the door the plastic seal has to be removed, this isnt too hard but its sticky. Just peel it away from the plastic



Step 6:
This next part is where it can get really frustrating. There are two screws that hold the door handle on. The first one is visible and not too bad to remove.


The second one was a little harder. The folowing picture was taken through a small hole in the door panel, but you can see the lock and the screw above it. I used a socket with a rachet to remove it


Step 7:
The lock can now be removed by pushing the door handle from the bottom to swing it out. There is a spring that holds the door handle in at the top, I didnt try to remove the whole thing as I'm guessing the trying to put that spring back would be a world of pain. Just grab the lock and twist it anit-clockwise, it should just pop out.


Step 8:
There is a rod connected to the lock which goes to the central locking servo, this can be removed by uncliping the plastic bit on the side and the pulling the rod out of the hole. If at all possible try not to disconned the rod at the bottom, where is connects to the servo - This would be VERY bad as it took me an hour to get the little bugger back on.


Step 9:
All done! I was able to take this bit to a locksmith - with the key, where they were able to fix it. I took it to Marion Locksmiths and they did a great job - thanks!


Step 10:
Putting it all back.
This should be as simple as going backwards, however if you accidently disconnected the servo rod like I did then like Mr T says - "I pitty the fool!".
The rod is fixed to the servo with a little plastic clip similar to how it connects with the lock. The trick is to put the bent bit at the end into the hole and then swivel the plastic clip onto the rold to hold it there. This is how it looks once connected

And this is a closeup of the rod cliped to the servo bit


I should also mention putting the door winder back is a little fiddly, but using the "special tool" its not too bad. Just put the clip half on, then put the winder on and using the screwdriver push the clip on. it required a little force, but not too much.


Well I hope this is useful!