Remove entire door handle/lock assembly.

 

For future reference, if you're changing a complete door, all you need to do, electrically, is to pull the plugs in the footwell. They run from the door, through the front body panel and into the footwell. There's no need to touch anything within the door when doing this.

 

Obviously, in this case you will need to remove the door panel. Now, to remove the door handle on the driver's side it can be a bit tricky. First make sure the window is all the way up. I'll assume you've got the panel off and the door lock actuator removed as well.

There are two 8mm nuts that are removed to allow the handle to be moved out and away from the door. There are two rods that need to be removed from the back of the handle. One is held in place with a plastic clip. The other is a little trickier. You can remove it from the latch mechanism below or from the handle. You will see what I'm talking about when you have the handle pulled out and away from the door.

Now that you have the two rods detached you need to unplug the wiring for the heating element. This can be a pain if you still have the upper window frame still in place. It's easy enough to disconnect the wiring but it's another thing to get the end of the plug around the window frame. There is a plastic hook on the door that holds and guides the wiring for the handle going around the frame. The hook is shaped like a J so you have to move the wiring up and over the hook to free it. Once you do that move the wiring with the connector in a way that you can fit it around the frame. It takes some playing with it but it is doable.

With that the door handle will come out of the door completely. Lay it down alongside the door handle from the old door. You can size up how to remove the tumbler thus enabling you to swap them and keep the same key for the new handle. Just remember to keep the key in the tumbler while your doing the swap. It's easy to screw it up and the key won't work anymore. Don't let this scare you. It is a simple job just remember how everything fit when it was together (take a picture) remove the c-clip and the tumbler will slide out.

Good luck.

 

Thanks Paul Grant! I won't have a chance to work on it till Sunday but Ill keep you posted on how it goes. I'll take pics of the process and put them up here

 

Ok so I got the doors swapped along with the hood, it was all super easy and straight forward. I didn't end up switching out the front seats because they ended up being kinda janky. The only issue I'm having right now is my cigar lighter, rear wiper, and cruise control aren't working. I went through and checked all their respective fuses and did some wiggling. .nothing. .now I know for the rear wiper it isn't the motor because I swapped them out and it worked on the parts rig. I'm also thinking the cruise control may not be electrical considering my disco's age. Anyways, if anyone has some more suggestions on what to troubleshoot it would be greatly appreciated. Also thank you everyone for helping me figure out how to do the door and hood swap!

 

Cigar lighter- remove the center console and check the connection at the back.

Rear wiper- probably the switch, change out with known working switch from parts rig.

Cruise control- not worth the hassle. IMHO

 

Perfect the cigar lighter had just come undone. As for the rear wiper, what does the switch look like? I dont want to go mucking around and mess something else up. Thanks for all the help abran!

 

The switch is the one you press to turn on the wiper motor. You can check under the hood for cracked vacuum hoses but who needs cruise control

 

You are welcome, as AK_disco_driver said, its the switch at the dash. They fail all the time from either build up of old grease turned corrosion or a tired copper tab that does not have the strength to make the connection. They are hard to dis-assemble and repair, I'm at a 60% success rate when it comes to fixing these.

 

lol ok just wanted to make sure it wasn't something else. .swapped the switch and still nothing?