Ok take a look at the picture below of what the door panel looks like on the inside.

See the yellow and green plastic with the white pins sticking out. That is how the edges are held in place.

Either yours has just had the pins pop out or the yellow plastic has broken same as on this picture in the upper left corner.

There are holes on the door where the pins just push back in. Try to align the pins back into their holes and give it a good push. You might get lucky and the pins will go back in without issue.

If that doesn't work then the panel will probably need to come off entirely to sort out the problem. There are retaining screws that hold the armrest and lever so it gets more complicated but not hard. I could do it in a few minutes if you want to drive it up to Tampa.

Good luck. Let us know if you need more help.

 

Sure, easy fix. There is a pine tree panel attachment behind the door panel in the upper corner that separated. We say "pine tree" because the profile of this type attacher looks kind of like the profile of a pine tree. They are just common plastic pieces, found in any auto parts store.

Its head is a flat circular piece that slips into a preformed plastic holder on back of door panel. The thinner end, with all the "branches" fish hooks onto a hole on the metal door. This holds panel in place. Somehow it became detached .

BTW, the top of the door panel with the rubber that touches the window glass has a lip (front to back) that hooks over the top of the door with window down.

I hope its just a matter of pressing the attachment back in place.

John

 

yours might be an easy a fix as mine was. two of the yellow plastic parts had lost their pins. I was able to pull the panel open enough to replace two of the pins in the yellow holders which were undamaged.

Someday I might remove the panel to fish out the broken parts, but for now smooth sailing.


Z

 

Removing the panel to fix behind it is comparatively simple job to do. If you do it once you can then thereafter remove the panel in 5 mins. Can I suggest you look at Youtube? A XK8 owner, Rev Sam, did a good video on how to do it. There are panel removal tools on Ebay quite cheap just to make life easier but you can do it with your fingers too.

Like the others I suspect its just a broken clip or two. Slide the old one out put the new one in. Jobs a good un!

Here you go...........

 

I just did this repair on my car. The loose panel was caused by a broken plastic mount. The "pine tree" fastener was still in the door but there was no longer any attachment to the panel.
I was able to epoxy the part back together.
...and it is an age thing; not yours, the car's. Likely would have failed soon anyway. They get brittle and crack over time.