Door alignment question

[green69rt]

I'm replacing the driver side quarter and have everything ready to weld in place except for one concern about the alignment with the driver side door.  When I got the car the gaps were ok, just the doors didn't fit flush to the sides of the car.  Attached pictiure shows the issue.  Is this something that can be taken care of later or should I try to adjust the quarter panel out a little to ease the adjustment later?

Any other suggestions before I start welding? So far I have fitted up the quarter (a skin) valence corner, tail panel and the trunk extension.  They all seem to be in pretty good shape.  I put the skin seam on top of the fender and found that this has one big drawback,  the area around the gas cap has a lot of compound curves and it is easy to mess up, I did a little damage but caught it before is got beyond the point of fixing with a little filler.

[doctor4766]

That door looks a lil farked from the pic or is it just a reflection?

[chargd72]

Put the wheels on and take the car of any jackstands (or 2x4s).  When these unibodies are supported by the frame, the engine cradle sags and causes the doors to bind.  Either that or put a jack under your engine to take the wieght.  Check out the pic on where to place support.
That should line everyting up 

[green69rt]

Put the wheels on and take the car of any jackstands (or 2x4s).  When these unibodies are supported by the frame, the engine cradle sags and causes the doors to bind.  Either that or put a jack under your engine to take the wieght.  Check out the pic on where to place support.
That should line everyting up 

My car is stripped, no engine, suspension etc,etc,etc.  By blind luck I've mounted the chassis at the points shown on your diagram.  I've also braced the car with 2x2 angle iron across the door openings (and othr places) as I have had to replace the rockers (inner and outer).  Thinking back on the condition of the car when I got it, it seems that the doors weren' t very well aligned back then so I don't think this is something that I did while wroking on it. 

So, the questio remains, can I adjust the door enough to get rid of this gap or do I need to do a little shimming of the quarter to make is come out??  I haven' ever had to adjust doors so don't know how much leeway I have.

[TylerCharger69]

Its best to have the car sitting on the wheels with the engine in before lining the doors.....The unibody design has a bit of flex to it  so if you were to line them up now...they would be off when the car is sitting on the ground      But judging by the pic....the quarter looks good.   I'd pull that dent out first of course because that could be one factor.   You can make that adjustment at the hinge to door bolts...There is a little leeway to twist the door into shape.

[Patronus]

You could bring the opposite upper corner out and then the fender to match..?

[green69rt]

Thanks folks, I got the door adjusted enough by fiddling with the latch striker plate and a little bit of work with the hinges.  I think I'll leave the final adjustment till the car is on the floor on its suspension and the engine in, as was mentioned in this thread.  I was worried that the fit was so bad that I'd have to do something with the quarter to help out but it turns out it wasn't required.