OK, I hung the passenger side door this morning. I learned several things from this.
First, the door fits in the opening better than I thought it did. I was able to close the door and had a good gap around most of it. The problem spot was to the rear of the door at the bottom. No surprise there! It was the bottom of the hinge pillar that had warped inward, making the door gap smaller.
Second, those 1950's manufacturing tolerances (or lack thereof) really did reach through time and bite me. Had the passenger side door opening been built to the same dimensions as the driver side door opening, I would have had the extra 1/8 to 1/4 inch to the opening and the door would likely have fit.
Third, I think that this is something that I can recover from with a minimal amount of disruption.
Fourth, the simple tack welds held the weight of the door just fine! Once the orientation of the hinge pillar is corrected and the final welding is done on both the inner and outer cowl panels, I have good confidence that the door will operate as intended.
It's not a win, yet...but I think that I can make it one. Pics attached to show door gaps. As always, comments and/or suggestions are welcome.
