Saturn Engineering Marvel

OK, I give up! Is there any way to get the inner door panel off a '99 SC2
without forcing the entire latch/lock assembly through the cutout in the
door? On a "normal" car, you remove the screw that's behind the handle and
the cover slips around the handle, but on this car, it looks like it's all
one piece. Am I missing something?

Steve

 

After removing the screw, slide that assembly forward. It'll pop out.

The lock and door release lever are connected to rods which have locking
clips on them -- this is the tougher part because you don't have a heck of a
lot of room to get in there and rotate the clips to remove the rods.

Once the rods are free and and the assembly is out of the way, just lift the
panel upward, it will come right off provided you removed all the screws.
(You may have one of those "sail panels" above the door panel, too, that has
to come off first.)

Now, to get those rods back on and clipped, I've found that hooking a piece
of wire around the rod and gently pulling it helps to get it back on the
assembly.

Hope this was helpful.