Recently pulled apart the doors to respray, now I am having a difficult time making the keyhole flush with the outer plastic piece.

I have the service manual for the car, however I am simply stumped on this.

The only thing I can think of is that I shouldn't place the lock cylinder completely into the metal handle bracket? If I do this though, I will be unable to reconnect the connecting rod & C clip assembly.

Perhaps I have threaded the handle to an incorrect length also?

Would appreciate some input as I both doors have this problem .

Thankyou in advance!

p.s. If this thread doesnt make sense, please forgive me I have been running on fumes for the past week.

 

UPDATE:

Here are some pictures of the tumbler assembly with the handle bracket. As you can see there is a gap between the two, causing the keyhole (tumbler) not to sit flush with the bracket. I believe this to be the cause of the keyhole gap, however the PITA clip doesn't keep the tumbler in place.