Hi
I did the job a few month ago an my 73 ES to adjust door opening mechanism. What the manual says is in general right. To pry out the clips you can use a large flat head screwdriver, use tape to protect the paint on the inner door edges during work. An alternative is to use a wooden putty knife or a special designed panel remover, this tool looks like a large flat head screwdriver with a cut out on the blade. Pry out carefully so that you do not break the clips, the door panels are made of wood fiber material. Than lift the panel upwards, it is fastened with some claps on the upper edge of the door, to do this operation wind the window down.

Between the panel and the window winder mechnism you will find a spiral spring, which pushes the panel towards the window winder. The spring has small and a large diameter end, the side with large diameter side has to look towards the panel.

On the hole inner side of the panel should be covered with a plastic foil to protect the door panel against water. This foil is often missed but is quite important to protect the wood fiber material, so refit it or replace it when it is not there.

After removing the door panel you have full access to the inner side of the doors, use this opurtunity to:
- Adjustment and lubrification of locking mechanism and window winder
- Adjustment of window and ventilation window
- Cleaning and rustprotection of inner sides of the doors

Regards from Denmark
Marco