89 Taurus Wagon Door Stuck Shut

[eccentricks]

I have an 89 Taurus wagon...

The rear driver side door is shut permanently. Yesterday I attempted to get the inside panel off as much as possible, but of course it won't come all the way off because the door is shut. I looked inside and checked it out. Apparently, the outer door handle is not connected to the mechanism.. and neither is the inner door handle. It's WAY too small of a space for me to work in because the locking mechanism is in the way and I can't tell where the door handles are supposed to connect at the point where it opens the door. Is there a trick or something to actually release the latches that hold the door closed? If I can atleast open the door, I think I can manage enough room to work with it.

Note.. the mechanics of the door handles work just fine, it's just that they're not connected to the latches that open the door.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[zoey]

A couple of suggestions : 1 using a mechnics mirror and a length of welding rod ( or wire coat hanger ) you might be able to unlatch the door. Or 2 hack a hole in the door panel so that you can reconect the mechanism, then when it is all working correctly take a trip to your local wrecker and buy a replacement panel. Which should be really cheap.