I am doing it now. You have to pull the inner door panel off. When you get that off, you have to pull a little bit of the white plastic off. Be careful not to rip it because you have to tape it back. You need to pull off the side closest to the door lock. When you get this apart, you pull the actuator out. It is located in the bottom corner of the door. I have been told you can just rip it out but be careful not to break the white brackets that hold it. I have not pulled it out yet so I can't comment from hear. It is cold and the car is not a driver.
When you pull the inner panel off, don't forget about the two bolts that hold in it. I forgot about them. I damn near bent the whole door trying to pull the panel off. Then I realized I forgot to remove them. Doh!!
so should i just pull the acuator out and put the new one in place...By the way i have the 50 Resto door actuator kit...and should i just push the rod up into the lock mechanism
There are two ways to do this. One is to drill out the rivet. If you go that way, the whole thing will just come out. The other way is to pry it out. If you do this you don't need to replace the rivet. Does the kit you got come with the brackets? If it does, you may want to drill out the rivet. Remember, if you use this approach you will need the big rivet gun. It looks like a bolt cutter. If not, use the second method. I just checked out the kit. Are the actuators in the kit Ford products? If they are, that is a good deal. I didn't get the actuator yet. I originally took the door apart because the door handle snapped and I needed to replace it.
If you need instructions on how to pull the door panel, go to spark-plug.us. In the fix it area, there are good instructions. There are also instructions for doing this project.
Stuck with door lock actuators that don't work and don't want to pay the $50+ for a new one? Tried the junkyard ones and found that they last six months and freeze up?
A new actuator for less than $4. Fix one side for $17, do both sides for only $23. I don't sell parts, I don’t make any money off of the upgrade, I just tell you how to do it cheaply and easily.
Since you already spent way more $$$ than you needed to, check out the pictures for help in the how to do it department...