removing rear doors, Aprilia

[aprilia1972]

My offside rear door decided to open on the A3 last weekend. Thankfully, the door still shuts and the hinge mechanism is undamaged but the hinges managed to peel back some metal and the door put a decent dent in the rear wing.

My local shop is about to start the job but we're unsure about how to remove the rear door. Any suggestions gratefully received.

[chugga boom]

remove the hinge covers from the door pillar, look inside the hinge appature with the door open and there are locking bolts (not always fitted) loosen or remove then close the door not fully, lift vertically and pull forward when the balls release out of the sockets on the car, much easier with the front door open , 2 people make the job easy one on the back seat and 1 outside lifting, depending on rust you may have to work the door open and closed to work the balls out the socket but be sure to only move the door an inch or to in and out as there is a stop on the hinges that limits its travel when fully open, if this starts to engage with the inner skin of the c post the door will not come off

[ben]

If your body shop cant figure out how to get the doors off I would be a bit worried about their competence to do the rest of the job!!

Do you know why the door came open? On my car it can happen because the internal handle is stiff and sticks in the open or partially open position if it is not deliberately moved to the closed position. This means that only a small amount of body flexure can allow the door to come open, usually when cornering.
Historically the doors were renowned for coming open if the sills and/or floor had rusted and allowed the body to lose its rigidity but this is not likely to be a problem on a properly restored car.

[aprilia1972]

Thank you, that's very helpful.

Can't explain why the door opened. Rock solid sills / floor and having checked the latch mechanism I assume I simply didn't close it properly.
I mistake I won't make again.