88 door pannel removal troubles

I broke the out side door handle on the drivers side. I have an other one from the bone yard. It came off of a door that was already stripped down, very easily to remove. But my door isn't already dismantled ! It appears the manual window crank has been removed and reinstalled with the washer between the crank and the panel installed backwards. The washer looks like a flat plate with the center portion bumped out about sixteenth of an inch. ( like a bowl on a dinner plate) Instead of bumping toward the door panel, it bumps the opposite direction covering up the clip that holds the handle in place. installed panel, then Clip then washer with bump out covering clip then window crank. I've, tried to pry the handle away from the panel pushing the plate or washer towards the panel, but the clip appears to be on the panel side of the washer. it just pulls up tight against the clip! I've also tried to push the washer toward the crank, but it just doesn't push far enough to expose the clip.
Any suggestions on how to get the tool into the slot to remove this clip?

Also, do you have to remove the cover of the inside door handle and lock or will it come off with the panel? If so, how do you get it to release from the panel without breaking the plastic tabs that hold it in place?

thanks in advance for any advice
Rex

I finally got the window crank off. This truck had been hit on the drivers side and work had previously been done on the door. Apparently when it was put back together, it was assembled in the wrong order. I took off the other door handle to compare and make sure how it goes back together. The flat plastic washer goes against the door panel with the bump out going into the panel. Then the crank with the clip installed just pushes on. The u- shaped end of the clip should be under the crank handle and the ends of the clip pointing in the opposite direction of the crank handle.
As I had suspected, my clip was on upside down,(not that big of a problem) but the washer was installed between the clip and the crank, with the bump out covering the clip. It took making a curved hook tool that was able to bend in under the bump out to be able to release the clip for removal. even with that, it half way destroyed the washer.
One other problem I ran into was the top of the door panel has two molded plastic, (one way) clips that hold the panel to the top of the door were the window slides down into the door. The plastic panel covers the door on the inside, then makes a 90 degree bend over top of the window slot and then another 90 degree bend back down inside the window slot.
It is inside the window slot that these two molded clips are found. they are just part of the door panel, a couple of places that the plastic has been molded into a clip that will slide in and won't let go. Along with the clips is stapled the rubber seal for the window. I ended up destroying the rubber seal getting to the panel clips. I preyed it off and it broke at every staple. There must be a correct way to get it off. Obviously mine isn't the correct way. but without removing the seal, I couldn't get the clips to release. Once the seal was removed and the clips were then exposed, it took a skinny screwdriver to pry the plastic clips out away from the door metal enough to release from the metal of the window slot. I hate to put pressure on old plastic like that but I could see no other way to get them to release!
While it was all apart, I added a spring to help return the door opener lever. The spring in the lever broke a year ago and it looks like you need to replace the entire door opener/ lock panel to be able to replace it.
I'm glade I have a little extra time to do this myself, otherwise it just wouldn't have been worth it!