[IWannaDoItMyself]

I have an old Speed Queen dryer with only one front plate. (Some have a lower plate below the top) The door hinges on the right. There are two door latches, one at the top and a smaller one at the bottom. The model is DE9021.

Background: The clip that holds the dryer closed was just replaced, and worked correctly for the first load, but when I tried to remove the second load, the door would not release at the top. I had to do some heavy duty prying to get the door open. The clip looked fine so I figured it was too tight. I tried to loosen it with a screwdriver and it lost all tension and had no ability to grip. Tried to pop it out and it dropped inside the front panel.

That leads to 2 questions:
1) How do I get the front panel off to recover and replace the clip?
I've removed 5 screws from underneath the front plate. (The others do not hold the front plate to the frame.) The bottom of the front plate is loose and can be pulled forward about an inch. It seems to hold to the main frame at about half way up. (Near the door or drum)

2) After I have repaired or replaced the clip, how do I prevent the door from locking again? (It was much more than a mild stick that pops right open.)

Yes, the question about opening the front was posted before, but the poster solved the problem himself and went on to another issue. The answer was not posted.