Cadillac Repair: 85 eldorado, side cutters, chincy

Question
Have a feeling you might know this answer from what I read
of your background.
 Have an 1985 eldorado ,  The passenger inside handle not
functioning.  I can still open it from outside.
Was told to remove the door panel as it is probably the
linkage has come loose and needs to be reattached somehow.
Any help on taking off the inside panel would be appreciated
I can't even find the screws that need to be undone.
            thanks

Answer
Hi,

I have an 83' Eldo which is basically the same. I have pulled many of these trim panels and I will warn you, it's not fun! They are made kind of chincy as well with a card board and fiberglass backing.

Before attempting to remove the trim panel, contact me. Read my response completely.

You are going to probably going to break some plastic clips which you will need to get at an upholstry shop or dealer.

I have a tool for removing these clips, but it does not work that great either. When removing the clips, I commonly used side cutters to grab the clip going into the door and pry outward, but be careful not to put too much squeeze or you will cut the plastic clip.

It's been a long time since I have done one of these and I will have to go look at my car to refresh my memory as to where all the screws are.

The most common problem on these is that the inner door handle that hooks to the linkage breaks. First, you need to find a handle because I don't think they are available at the dealer. Some were screwed in with bolts and others are riveted. You won't know any of this until you get the panel off. If riveted, you need to drill the rivet heads. Then you need a 1/4" rivet gun and rivets. This is not a normal hand held rivet gun. I have one which takes two hands to use.

Write me at my personal email later robo14@aol.com and I will tell you where all the mounting screws are and how to remove and replace the trim panel.

You may even be able to see the problem by just removing the chrome plate at the handle. The panel will need to be removed to replace the handle, but you may be able to see the problem. There are one or two screws behind the handle. Pull the inner handle outward and remove the screws. Once removed, pull the chrome plastic plate outward and spin it so the plate clears the handle. If broken, you should see the remains of the handle attached to a rod. Maybe you will luck out and find out the rod popped off.


Rob

http://www.autotheftexpert.com