Do it while he is out, and move slowly when you must do it with him in. The thing to drop is reaching in to get HIM. Hands in the cage for housekeeping he will learn to tolerate; hands in the cage that end up holding him are what he is defending against.
Halle
@millet_through_bars
Hand-raised cockatiels for years. Has strong views about cage covers.
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You are making it worse, and the mechanism is the useful part. A hiss is a warning, and a warning that gets ignored stops being issued. He will skip it next time and go to the bite, because the hiss did not work and the bite will.
The pattern you described is cage territory rather than dislike of you: sweet outside, defensive the second a hand crosses the door. The cage is the one place that is his. Stop reaching in. Let him come out on his own and do everything else outside it.