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holy crap, replacing the door handle is pretty hard work! I got it in but now i can't get the inner door panel back on!

It has to fit in the ridge by the window but the inner door handle and lock is in the way and i can't get the door panel back on!!

can anyone help?

its the window weather strip molding im having trouble getting back on cuz of the inner door handle/lock piece that bulges out .

I've taken off my door cards/pannels a few times, and it's rather easy to get them back on, all you have to do pull the inner door handel and slide the door card / pannel back into place, then angle the door card / pannel closest to the interior mirror cap (make sure you roll down the windows to do this part, as it makes it easier) use your hands to tap or hit it back into place, you may have to push it up a little, then simply put in your first retaining screws in and let go.

cool i actually got that now and its easy yep...i was trying to slide it in before. thats why it was impossible lol.

Now a new problem! All the doors are pretty much the same except the driver's side door. I can access 1 of the star screws but the 2 star screw is sort of blocked by this huge metal piece that wasn't on any of the other doors.

How do i get past this? My screw driver can't meet the screw straight because of this huge metal bar in the way. Can i move that metal bar by unscrewing the bolts?

ok i got it. I basically took the torx bit off the driver and put it in the screw first, then i put my screw into the torx bit.

It wouldn't fit through the hole together but separately i got it to work, phew!


Here's some pics so far. But i noticed that the color is a little off?
The can i used was Duplicolor Silver Frost (code: TS) and TS is the exact code on the side of my door label.

Why is the color a little off...it looks a bit darker...is it because i didn't clearcoat enough or maybe because it's not polished?

what step did you take to paint handle?
sanded, primered, base coat, clearcoat??
unlike solid flat color, metallic color needs more coats to show its color..

if you did take these steps, then you haven't shake the can enough..
when paint sits long time, fomula inside seperate, and it takes lots of time to mix them together..can says 2 mins but needs more than that..

It could be one of two things that made the colour different.

Actually, it's more than two factors.

First, you may not have put on enough costs to cover the door handle properly. And if you didn't prime it first, that may be the case.

Second, paint will fade over time from the sun and outside elements. So getting an exact match would be near impossible, even for a body shop.

Also, metallic paints tend to go darker if you apply to heavy of a coat. It may not run on you, but it will appear heavier in some spots and lighter in others. We call this modeling. That seems to be the case with what you have done. A final very light coat would have fixed this issue.

Another suggestion I might make is once you have applied the primer, put on a coat of clearcoat before you start appling the base coat. You will get better adhesion and a shinier finish.

^^^^ who the hell made you paint god :rolleyes:

thanks, i guess it could be anyone of those reasons -

1) i'm pretty sure it's not because i didn't put enough coats - i put at least 3 coats of paint

2) it might be i didn't shake the can enough or wait longer than 2 minutes
3) possibly a very light last coat would have helped.


But i think it might be because the paint i used from dupicolor (code TS which is exactly the same code as on the side door sticker), the seller told me not to use aftermarket paint cuz it's never exactly the same. He told me don't buy it from us, go to your dealership and buy the paint from there....that is the only way to get the EXACT same paint.

i think it looks ok.... better than the old black handles