Mondial Door Panel Removal

Well, I searched, and nobody has written this up worth a spit, so here goes:

This applies to the T. I don't know about other models, but IIRC they are pretty much the same in the pictures I've seen.

There are four panels. The first panel to be removed is the long skinny one in the center that surrounds the inside lever to open the door.
First remove the plastic bezel that surrounds the door opening lever. This holds the panel in place, but it will release in the rearward direction if you lift the bezel's front edge a bit while pulling it towards the rear. By "lift", I mean pry the bezel up from the surface of the door panel, in other words towards the inside of the car. You can use your fingernails for this. You don't need to pry is "up" a lot, just enough to get it to release rearward. You also may have to lift the the door opener a bit to allow the bezel to "pop" back. Be a bit firm and it will pop right out of there
Next, on the driver's side you need to disconnect the mirror switch. It will lift out of it's hole in the door panel if you pry it "up" (towards the interior) at the front of it. Unlike the bezel, you pry it almost straight "up" so it pivot on the back edge. I use a large flat blade screw driver, but very carefully so as not to harm the surrounding leather. Once the front of it pops free, you can then slide it forward to pull it out enough to disconnect the electrical connector.
Lastly, you remove the one screw at the back of the door by the latch.
You then simply pull the panel towards the rear of the car and it will come right off. Be careful of the "putty" that is gooped into the retaining slots on the back of the panel. That stuff is messy. I got some on my convertible's canvas and it was hell to pay to get it off.

Once that one is off the rest are easy.
The next is the top panel in black vinyl. You have to disconnect the lock "stick". It is attached to the lock mechanism with a small plastic snap. You carefully pry the snap to rotate its clip off the stick. Then the bent end of the stick will slide out of the hole in the snap that the snap's clip was retaining it in. You remove the four screws, and then lift the panel free.

The bottom two panels are secured with screws on the top, the sides (on the front panel), and underneath. Undo the screws and off they come, easy as pie.

 

Thanks for posting,
Dave

 

Anyone have pix of the door panels being removed?

 

I took some. Let me see if I can find them. Really, though, it is very easy.

 

OK here are the two pictures that you need. This shows how to remove the trim ring from the door handle Once you have that off the rest is trivially easy.

First is a picture of the backside of the trim ring. You can see the hooks that secure it. Obviously it need to slide "back" (towards the rear of the car) to free these hooks. On the right side of the trim ring (its "front") you can see the triangular shaped tabs that keep it from sliding back. Once you see this, you can understand the second picture.

Here you can see I have a tiny pry bar lifting the front edge of the trim ring, while I hold the lever up out of the way so the ring can slide back. Once you have the trim ring off every thing else comes off in a straightforward manner.

OK, OK, I have some other pictures just to hold your hand.
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This shows the mirror control coming out. You can see the connector is at the back of the control, so just pry up on the front and it pops right out. Slide it out and disconnect the connector.
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Here's a shot of the one screw that secures the middle panel. Undo it then just slide the panel back while holding the opening lever out like you did to remove the trim ring. The other picture is of the back of the panel where you can see one of the black metal tabs with a dab of gray "dum dum" putty to keep things quiet. The gray rectangular loop next to the mirror wire is what the tab hooks into. Just slide it back, it's easy.

Watch out for the dum dum. It makes a mess on what ever it touches.
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In this picture the middle panel is removed. Next to go is the black top panel. 4 or 5 screws in plain view secure it, but first undo the locking knob's shaft retaining snap to free the knob's shaft from the locking mechanism. This picture shows you where it is to be found. There is a small white plastic snap that rotates when you unclip it from the metal shaft. Once it's unclipped, the shaft comes out of the mechanism's lever and the clip stays attached to the lever.


The other two panels are secured with screws, including two on the underside. Be aware of the speaker in the front lower panel. Its a bit heavy and has two wires that have to be unclipped.

I did this all on my own steam the first time, so believe me, it gotta be easy!
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About to replace my blown speakers - Thanks for this Randy! (7 years later) your post still has love....

 

+1 when I first got my car a year ago I used these instructions!

 

Paul,

Take a few extra minutes to solder the speaker wire connections and caulk the new speakers to the door panel. The vibration of the car plus the slamming of the door will eventually loosen everything if it's not secured properly.

 

Here's my write-up for removing the door panel on a 3.2 to replace speakers.

link: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/mondial/350524-replacing-speakers-my-88-a.html

C H E E R S

 

They will be like broken bisquits Curious what diameter a T has. 3.2 has a 16cm. Weird size for a speaker and put back 15cm ones. You can re-use the cardboard spacer (which is glued) of the old speak to make a 15cm diameter speak to fit.

 

I actually have not removed the panel yet, but I orders 6.5 inches hope they fit. I'll return with a report

 

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to report back on my speaker replacement. The instructions here are spot on.

Followed it exactly as described and everything was VERY straightforward..much more than I thought..

The only thing missing is my car had what appeared to be jury-rigged screws in the front bottom corner (the triangle area with carpet) - There were two screws embedded in the side carpeting - other than that - this was one of the easiest upgrades/work on the car.

A question that came up was what the size was for the speakers...unfortunately, my car had some ghetto work done on it so the original speaker plate was cut and not longer original spec..so I have no clue what the actual dimensions were...I ended up mounting 6.5 inches in the front and 5 inches in the back - I improvised mostly to make the speakers mount to the cut up brackets that were installed by the previous owner.

The whole process to remove an internal door panel is about 5-10 minutes - once you do it, it's super quick in subsequent attempts since you know where the screws are.

Don't hesitate to reply with any specific questions.

Cheers

 

Thanks my friend - I did exactly as you suggested - worked great - clear silicon adhesive ... it was like $8.00 on amazon.

 

You are correct MvT - they were straight up Biscuits - only thing missing was the gravy (though the sticky old adhesive might have been a substitute)

I installed some Polk 6.5 front and 5 inch rears - they sound 'okay' - I didn't want to go through the trouble of getting an amp/sub - so this is fine - they get drowned out by my Nouvalari exhaust...but is that a bad thing?

 

15 years later, still helping others. I'm having trouble though. In the locking mechanism, I found and rotated the locking clip, and freed the rod, but that didn't free the rod to be pulled out from the top with the panel. I am working on the passenger door. Is that different from the driver side? Also, mine is a 1989 Mondial T Cab. Anybody? I tried unscrewing the knob, but I guess it's glued on. It wouldn't budge and I didn't want to break it off.

Help please, anybody? Paul? Thanks,

Geno

 

That knob is glued on. Can only be removed with the rod.

 

I took my panels off a while back and don’t remember having any difficulty taking out the knob. It only comes out with the metal rod though.