Advice needed on TR Door Grills

Can anyone advise me as to how the door grills on a 512TR come apart? We've taken them off the car and now need to take the horizontal slats apart for re-spraying, but I can't figure out how they're attached to the vertical strut that holds them in place. There are rubber plugs at both ends of the strut that (if I prise them off) would let me look inside, but I don't want to risk damaging them until I'm sure this is the right way to go. Any guidance would be much appreciated!

 

For the record, in case anyone is interested, the solution was indeed to remove the rubber seal at the bottom of the vertical strut. Once that's off, you will see the end of a thin aluminium (aluminum for the Americans) rod which runs through the centre of the strut and through the ends of the grill elements, holding them in place

With a bit of patience, and the help of an assistant, it's just about possible to get a grip on the end of the aluminium rod with a pliers and pull it straight out. Once that's out of the way, the whole lot can be easily taken apart. Reassembly should just be a case of reversing the procedure.