if he could have gotten the door open taking off the door panel is easy,

he had a hard time because the door was closed.



I would say you have a problem at the striker end of the mechanism. Take the rods off the handle and try to operate them that way and see what happens. If the rod isnt on the handle properly and need adjustment you would have a hard time opening the door.



Use a flat head screwdriver to pop the clips open, then they slide an

the rod, when you slide it off then you can pull the rod off the clips.

If the door opens, you need to adjust how the rod sits in the clip

 

i am gonna take it to a local mechanic tomorrow and see what he can do, i will prolly have to get my tire fixed anyway :P if nothing else i will pull apart the driver's door and see what's different about them, my driver door doesn't open from the outside unfortunately......so i left my door open a crack and it's been raining all day...like i said it's been a wonderful day....

 

 

well good news...it goes into the shop next week, gonna get BOTH doors fixed and the hole where the lock for the hatch was patched sanded and smoothed (gonna try find a 3rd gen mazda emblem and put it there, and take off the other mazda badge, since the rx-7 part is gone already)..i am a much more happier person now, tho i have to drive a 88 Tuarus GL for the day or two it's gonna be gone, i am taking out all my radio stuff out of the 7 tonight and it's going into the Taurus (my g-friend's car), so at least i can bump :P