removing mirrors and door handles

[justanotheradikt]

does anyone have any idea how to remove the mirrors and outside door handles? i want to sand and paint mine (i have a dx).

[justanotheradikt]

bump

[chiefmg]

On an ES, you remove the inside black plastic triangular piece on the door behind the mirror. Once you do you will see a couple of Phillips head screws. Remove those and the mirror should come off. A DX should be similar, you just won't have to disconnect the wiring for the electric mirrors. Not 100% sure about the handles for a Protege, usually you will remove the inside door panel, carefully pull back the vapor barrier plastic and then you can access the nuts holding the handle on. Good luck.

[justanotheradikt]

how do i remove that black triangle piece? just pop it off?

[tunersteve]

In order to get your mirrors out, you have to remove the entire door panel. You can get to the screws by removing the sail panel, but in order to get to the wiring harness (if power) you have to take the door panel off. There are 3 gold/brass nuts holding the mirror in place. Be careful not to drop those inside the door or its a PITA to get them out. Once those are off, the mirror is only held on by the harness. The mirror shares the same harness as the tweeters in an ES, so its about 4 inches below the window line. I removed my mirrors and had them painted all body color. Subtle, but good looking.

[justanotheradikt]

no power mirrors....and how do i remove that snail panel? pop off? so all i need to do is pop that panel off and unscrew those scews right?

[tunersteve]

You should be able to pull it off with your hand. Mine has 3 pressure clips holding it in place.