door handle connecting rod

91 OCC. Having trouble with driver's side outside door handle not unlatching unless pulled hard a couple of times. Inside hadle unlatches every time and locks securely. I'd like to shorten the connecting rod between the outside handle and the latching mechanism. I've viewed old posts and understand that removing the outside handle will not provide access to the connecting rod. Is there any way short of removing the outside handle to accomplish this? Thought about bending the rod but that seems awful amateur.

You can remove the handle from the inside by removing 2 nuts (10mm). Be extremely careful, and put a couple of layers of tape around the latch opening, so you do not scratch your paint. The rod can be removed from the handle with it loose from the car. It will not be extremely cooperative. The rod is threaded into the latch arm, and you can turn it to adjust the length. It is a right hand thread. Count your turns, and adjust as needed. Reassembly can also be extremely uncooperative. Only adjust in whole turns so that it can be reassembled.

It can be done from the outside handle as described by Fred and it's made easier by removing the plug on the outer jamb to access the second 10mm nut and using tape in the socket to capture nuts. It turns out that my problem was the pin holding the lever to the handle was worked loose. Still intend to tighten connecting rod one right hand turn for good measure. THX