If you need to change a damaged car door, you must replace it with a door made for the same year, make and model. Some models have similar parts - like a Chevy Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire - so their parts are interchangeable. You also need the same door for the correct side - front or back, driver or passenger. If the car uses either manual or power door instruments, you should get a replacement door of the same type.
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Disconnect the power instruments connected to the car. Open the door, unscrew its instrument panel bezel and unplug the electrical connectors underneath it.
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Remove the door's inner trim panel. Disconnect the panel's mounting screws and lift the panel up and off its tabs. Feed the electrical wiring from the connectors out through the door's open ports at the inner edge near the hinges.
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Detach the door detent spring, which is also called the hold-open spring. Insert a prybar behind the spring, which is behind the upper hinge, and pry the spring out.
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Disconnect the door by removing its bolts with a wrench or driving out its pins with a punch and hammer. Remember the location of each connector and how it was attached. Remove the connectors while another person holds the door up, then lift and carry the door away.
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Insert the replacement car door into the body hinges and attach it with new bolts or pins and bushings while the assistant holds it up. The bolts/pin must be in the same spots the old ones were on the old door. Wait until every connector is installed before tightening them fully.
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Take the motors and clips from the old door and install them in the same places in the new one if the new door doesn't have them (like if it used to be a manual door).
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Thread the wires for the door instruments through the door (the wires are still on the main body) and attach all the electrical connectors to their correct instruments in the door. Attach the inner trim panel for the new door in place.
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Place the hold-open spring within the new door's hinge. Compress the spring (this requires a specific tool found at auto supply stores), place it into position between the door and detent mechanism (usually behind the upper hinge) and release the compressor tool. The spring will slip into place.
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