Good day to you all - I recently sustained a dent to the rear drivers side door of my galaxy 07 vehicle. It was parked in the local supermarket car park and somebody (persons unknown) scraped down the side of it. I have managed to pull part of the dent out with a suction device, but now need to try and push the rest out. Can anyone guide me through the procedure for removing the door card please? I am also slightly concerned about the potential for the curtain air bag to accidentally inflate. The alternative is a reasonably costly body shop repair.
Thanks in advance, Steven
Hi Steven, welcome along. Can't help with the removal on a Mk3 but most Ford's I've worked on are held with screws around the outside lip of the card.
With regards the air-bag you don't need to worry - curtain bags are up in the headlining and inflate downwards. There is nothing in the door itself relating to the SRS system.
Thanks for your prompt rely Mirez. I tried unscrewing the 5 screws around the edge of the door card, but the panel seemed reluctant to come away along the top edge. I'm wondering if the door opening lever/handle is stopping the panel from separating from the door?
I should have said " thanks Mark".
No worries! Nearly all door cards have bolts to hold the handle on - typically, there will be a way of popping the handles cover off to expose two or three bolts. Fords of old had a small rectancle hidden on the underside which you could put an allen key in to lever the cover off.
have you tried gently pulling the door card upwards?
so it unhooks off of the door itself?
Just to add it's usual to lift the door card upwards to release top edge once everything else is off.
Ok, thanks for the advice gents. I'll try unscrewing the five screws and lifting upwards. Didn't want to force it in case I broke something. Failing that I'll also see if I can locate any retaining bolts/screws on the door handle. Cheers for now.
Just a quick update to say that I managed to remove the door card. Luckily, the majority of the dent was accessible via removing the speaker from the door. It pushed out reasonably well. Just need to glue the exterior door trim, which has lifted near the b pillar. Guess epoxy adhesive plus a clamp is best solution. Thanks again for the advice. I will book mark this site, as I think it is a good source of knowledge. Cheers.