I've done it. Got two full door panels from a wrecked 99 ACR and the handle assembly does come off. To fit it into a GenII Viper you have to make a few minor mods to the door panel and the door. If done correctly, you can even return the car to stock appearance/functionality using the original door handle. You cannot un-modify the door and panel but the modifications would be hidden under the stock handle bezel.
I contacted several Dodge dealers asking for part numbers for just the handle assembly but none had it. Through a friend I managed to get the number of the person at Chrysler who worked on the door panels and was able to get the part#'s. JonB looked them up and confirmed they are correct.
Here is what you'll have to do to use them: (sorry I don't have detailed pictures. I did the modification to see if it worked first, and thought I'd take pictures later but never did)
1. The hole in your door panel has to be much larger to accommodate the new handle. I just used a dremel tool for this.
2. A small section of the inner door needs to be ground down to clear room for the handle pocket. Again a dremel works fine.
3. The connector on the new handle is the opposite "sex" of the original. I basically had to take the connector from the stock handle off and splice it on to the new handle so that it would connect to the existing wire harness in the door.
4. I think there was also a bracket on the back side of the door that held the old door handle in place. That you can remove. On the passenger door, I think there was also a bracket or washer from the grab handle that was in the way. I think I either removed it or just reversed it. It did not compromise the use of the handle however.
5. Finally, the inner handle assemlby (the part that is behind the bezel) needs to be ground down. This really requires a picture but again I don't have one. You'll know what to do when you see it. If you tried to use it as is it would hit against a big part of the inner door. You can cut/grind that out of the door if you wish, but I found it better to remove the material from the door handle itself. This is probably the most difficult part of the procedure, but if you grind off a little at a time you'll get it right.
6. Once everything is clear you then screw the new bezel assembly to the door panel and install as a unit. This is tricky but not impossible.
I believe Dodge switched from the smoothe finish dash to the pebble grain in 98 and then used the new aluminum handles starting in 99. This means that if you order the new handles the bezel will have the pebble grain finish on it. On my 96 GTS the bezel no longer matches with my smoothe finish dash, but it does match the door so its not so obvious. Not having the handle from a Dodge Caravan (isn't that where the original handle came from?) anymore more than makes up for this.
Once you get the new handle/bezel its really pretty self explanatory what how to get it installed. I did this on my 96 GTS and I've been using them for a year or more now with no issues. I believe the new handles/bezels (which come as a unit) are around $250-300 each, so about $500-600 for a set.
Again since mine was an experiment to start with I used some from a wrecked Viper, so I haven't actually ordered the new parts so I can't verify that they are what they are supposed to be. I did however run the part numbers by JonB and he confirmed that is what they are listed as.
The part numbers I got were:
0SF94DX9AD (RIGHT)
0SF95DX9AD (LEFT)
