With luck, there will seldom arise the need to remove them during ownership, but as time passes, window regulators, motors and locks start to fail and it soon becomes necessary to delve in behind them.
The door cards are interchangeable across the range. They are available in a choice of colour which was basically beige or black with a matching fabric trim.
Depending on the level of factory-fitments, it is possible to upgrade the 'base' level up to the 'hi-range' by adding the wooden trim strips and also fitting the extra speakers. All the necessary holes and locating points are present and they just need opening out to fit.
On Hx, the front left-hand window regulator failed and needed replacement (see 'Hx52 - window regulator'). Also the right-hand door lock and handle needed to be removed when the outer panel was re-sprayed. The hassle of having to remove the door-cards before the real work started was a bit daunting.
REMOVAL
Here is a diagram of the left-hand front door-card. All the other doors including the tailgate have similar fixings...
REMOVAL
Here is a diagram of the left-hand front door-card. All the other doors including the tailgate have similar fixings...
(1) - Two screws deeply recessed into the handle grip. They attach to the door frame but do not attach the handle to the door-card.
(2) - Single screw holding the plastic lock-lever trim-plate to the door frame.
(3) - The lock lever needs to be 'open' to gain access to the screw and to remove the plastic trim-plate.
(4) - Four screws deeply recessed along the bottom of the door 'bin'. They attach to the door frame, but they do not attach the door-bin to the door-card.
(5) - Location of the multiple plastic pronged rivets that hold the door-card securely to the door frame. There are no 'prongs' along the base of the front door-card.
(2) - Single screw holding the plastic lock-lever trim-plate to the door frame.
(3) - The lock lever needs to be 'open' to gain access to the screw and to remove the plastic trim-plate.
(4) - Four screws deeply recessed along the bottom of the door 'bin'. They attach to the door frame, but they do not attach the door-bin to the door-card.
(5) - Location of the multiple plastic pronged rivets that hold the door-card securely to the door frame. There are no 'prongs' along the base of the front door-card.
With all of the screws removed, the prongs can be detached by use of a flat, wide blade carefully inserted between the door-card and the door frame. Start at the bottom along the base and by applying careful pressure the lower plastic rivets on the side will be heard to 'pop'. It will sound like they have snapped-off and that has to be avoided at all costs. Make progress around the perimeter slowly working up to the top edge. Resist the temptation to pull or jerk the door-card free as the fixings and the door-card can be easily cracked at this stage.
Above image shows a typical stress crack that can develop on the reverse of the door-card from over enthusiastic removal. All that can be done in terms of repair is to fill the crack with some super glue and support the joint while it dries. The structure of the door-card base appears to be a mix of moulded foam/GRP with embedded metal plates for local strength.
Also shown is one of the plastic locating pegs. It's red base is bonded to the door-card structure while the white plastic prong snaps into place on the red base.
Don't worry about the door-lock 'button', it will take care of itself. I found the rubber glass wiper strip along the top edge to be more of a problem especially when re-fitting the door-card! It is not attached to the door-card so it could be removed at the start before removing the door-card if necessary. It is held onto the door frame by four spring clips. Gentle upward levering with a flat wide blade will soon free it from the frame.
When free, the door-card will just lift away horizontally using the door handle to balance the weight. The door lock button can easily be removed at this point.
First thing to check is the state of the plastic poppers, look for any weak or broken ones. They can be replaced but it is another hassle to avoid particularly if the red base breaks as they are moulded into the door card structure. In general, its best to avoid repeated removal of the door-cards to avoid the wear and tear. The door-card structure can easily crack or fracture around the mounting points and that is caused simply by over enthusiastic removal.
Refitting the door-card is as any good manual would say, simply a reversal of the removal. Once the plastic pegs have correctly engaged in their holes a gentle tap is all that is needed to pop the pegs back home. I found it was harder to re-mount the door-card and to get it's top surface located under the rubber blade of the glass wiper trim-strip. The screws along the bottom of the door-bin can easily be over tightened and break through their brittle plastic locations.
Modifying the Door-Cards.
Wooden Trims.
When I removed the door-card, I took the opportunity to fit the 'wooden' trim strips that I had previously sourced from E-bay. They have four short threaded studs on the base which pass through holes in the door-card to be secured by four nuts. The position of the four holes is marked out on the reverse of the card whether they are drilled out or not.
Additional Speakers.
All D2's have a door-bin mounted speaker as standard. An additional 'mid-range' speaker unit can be mounted near the top of the door-card. A suitable hole will need to be cut out of the door-card to accommodate the speaker but the position for the hole is again marked on the reverse of every door card. Furthermore, the vapour barrier attached to the door frame has the bowl shaped recess to accommodate the rear protrusion of the speaker case. Even the necessary speaker cable c/w plastic connector is present in the door loom. It truly is a case of plug and play.
The speaker is secured to the door-card by the threaded locking ring shown here
I have not fitted these speakers into Hx. At least not yet!. I have established how to do it and indeed have traced the wiring to do it with but when I look online for these specific speaker units, the prices are prohibitive. The last time I looked they were going for £50 a pair! The rear passenger doors can also be outfitted with these additional speakers, but it must be said that they are not interchangeable as their respective diameters are different.
Puddle Lights.
Having fitted additional foot-well lights onto Hx, it occurred to me to extend that circuit to power some 'puddle' lights mounted on the front doors. I decided the best position was actually to surface mount the LED strip onto the door-card and run the wiring into the door frame, through the fitted door loom and emerge in the foot-well area and connect to a supply circuit.
I sourced some weatherproof strip-mounted LED's from the Internet that proved to be ideal and easy to install...
There are 6 LEDs on each strip and they are encased in resin and have a 3M sticky-backed mounting. They are mounted along the bottom edge of the door card and nicely hidden from view. A small hole was drilled to route the supply wiring behind the door-card.
( photo of puddle light operation )
I have written elsewhere about their installation. See 'Hx52 - puddle /marker lights'...
Panel Trim Bling.
Bought some gold vinyl trim-line that was simply push-fitted into the joint between the differing panels on the door-card. The door-card does not have to be removed to do this.
This type of finishing strip is available in a range of colours and fitting it is simply a matter of cutting it to length, teasing it into shape around bends and then pushing it into the panel gap. It is held in place by friction.
In some places the panel gap was too wide to 'grip' the blade of the trim-strip securely, but I found that a rolled out piece of 'blu-tack' pushed into the gap helped to hold the trim-strip in position.
Refitting the door-card is as any good manual would say, simply a reversal of the removal. Once the plastic pegs have correctly engaged in their holes a gentle tap is all that is needed to pop the pegs back home. I found it was harder to re-mount the door-card and to get it's top surface located under the rubber blade of the glass wiper trim-strip. The screws along the bottom of the door-bin can easily be over tightened and break through their brittle plastic locations.
Last image shows the reverse of the front door card. Of note is the mounting of the extra speaker near the top and the four mounting posts for the wooden trim strip can be seen in between the red pegs along the top. The lower 'standard' speaker has been removed from the card in this image.
Modifying the Door-Cards.
Wooden Trims.
When I removed the door-card, I took the opportunity to fit the 'wooden' trim strips that I had previously sourced from E-bay. They have four short threaded studs on the base which pass through holes in the door-card to be secured by four nuts. The position of the four holes is marked out on the reverse of the card whether they are drilled out or not.
Additional Speakers.
All D2's have a door-bin mounted speaker as standard. An additional 'mid-range' speaker unit can be mounted near the top of the door-card. A suitable hole will need to be cut out of the door-card to accommodate the speaker but the position for the hole is again marked on the reverse of every door card. Furthermore, the vapour barrier attached to the door frame has the bowl shaped recess to accommodate the rear protrusion of the speaker case. Even the necessary speaker cable c/w plastic connector is present in the door loom. It truly is a case of plug and play.
The speaker is secured to the door-card by the threaded locking ring shown here
I have not fitted these speakers into Hx. At least not yet!. I have established how to do it and indeed have traced the wiring to do it with but when I look online for these specific speaker units, the prices are prohibitive. The last time I looked they were going for £50 a pair! The rear passenger doors can also be outfitted with these additional speakers, but it must be said that they are not interchangeable as their respective diameters are different.
Puddle Lights.
Having fitted additional foot-well lights onto Hx, it occurred to me to extend that circuit to power some 'puddle' lights mounted on the front doors. I decided the best position was actually to surface mount the LED strip onto the door-card and run the wiring into the door frame, through the fitted door loom and emerge in the foot-well area and connect to a supply circuit.
I sourced some weatherproof strip-mounted LED's from the Internet that proved to be ideal and easy to install...
( photo of puddle light operation )
I have written elsewhere about their installation. See 'Hx52 - puddle /marker lights'...
Panel Trim Bling.
Bought some gold vinyl trim-line that was simply push-fitted into the joint between the differing panels on the door-card. The door-card does not have to be removed to do this.
In some places the panel gap was too wide to 'grip' the blade of the trim-strip securely, but I found that a rolled out piece of 'blu-tack' pushed into the gap helped to hold the trim-strip in position.
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