Gapping panel advice

[Ozyduster]

So body work to my duster is all but completed. Now for the dreaded Mopar gaps......... shea has some odd gaps, for example pasanger door shape to front fender shape is different in a few spots. Will need wire welded etc to fix. Looks like was never right as we bare metal and the shape is way off in few spots.
My drivers door is level with top of fender and top of quarter yet the bottom of door to sill runns from 3/16th at rear of door to half as big again at fender. I have atatched picture a couple posts down. Hope this is a mopar issue and not a car issue.
Given i have fitted a new rear quarter going to fit my quarter windows and make sure all sweet there.

Questions
Is there much adjustment in front fenders
My first ever mopar are their gaps that bad?
Should i get new hinges or should old ones be ok for doors?
Any tips given car has been fully rebuilt etc, any common problem areas?

 

[65 Dartman]

the way my body guy did it on my Dart wagon (now a panel wagon) was adjust the doors to the modified quarter panels, then the fenders to the doors.

FWIW the fenders are original to the wagon, the doors are from a 66 Valiant 2 door sedan, the quarters are mostly original with the exception of part of the front 66’s quarters mated to the rear of the original quarter where the rear doors were removed. The gaps aren’t perfect but all the body lines line up perfectly so we left it at that

 

[Ozyduster]

In the pic you can see the arrows show how door is by rights sagged on the bottom to sill but perfect at top of door
Also i have ran a line for reference but the fender is not straight with the sill is this normal?

 

[Dubob]

As stated start at the door to the quarter panel to cowl panel. Then fenders to the door and cowl panel. They make panel shims to adjust the fenders up and down as well as in and out. To me these cars were never perfect and sometimes you just gotta do what’s needed to make the lines decent. Shims at the front of the fenders will drop the back down but will also pull the fender away from door and rocker towards the bottom, but can also close the gap at the top of the fender to the door and cowl. To me ,and I am not an expert, even the weight of an engine can make things move some as the body loading changes. I spent a lot of time on my Demon adjusting. In my opinion it worked out pretty well. You’ll just have to mess with it to see what works because they are all different. If the hinges are worn, which would not be a surprise, they will have an impact on adjustment.

 

[rklein383]

Gaps were pretty bad during the manufacturing process. Unless you cut and reweld in places, you may have to accept less than perfect gaps.

 

[Ozyduster]

Gaps were pretty bad during the manufacturing process. Unless you cut and reweld in places, you may have to accept less than perfect gaps.

Happy to cut and reweld some of them are really bad, like the one pictured above. Was just curious if they that bad from factory, looks like will need some cutting and adding wire etc to get them right. As shown above no adjustment will fix the issue.

 

[Moparone]

The gaps on most a bodies were usually pretty good for 70’s standards. Way better than most E bodies. During quarter replacement, all body parts need to be fit multiple times before times before final welding. Most people don’t do this as it takes a ton of time. I am guilty of it as well. I had the help from a really experienced body guy help get my gaps back. It is a real labor intensive slow process. Keep everything a bit loose (door, fenders ect). We basically worked back to front slowly adjusting and readjusting as we went. If you take your time and check each panel a bit here and there, they will look perfect in the end. Took about a day per side to do it. Good luck

 

[1MeanA]

Start from the back and work your way forward. Before I started I rebuilt the hinges and got the panels flat. The doors have quite a bit of adjustment as do the fenders. You can weld 1/8" round metal on the rear edge and bottom edge of the door if you want to close the gaps. If the contours are out that is harder to fix. You will have to compromise here and there. As others have said, they were not perfect from the factory.

 

[Ozyduster]

As show in the picture above my bottom of fender isn't a straight line with the sill it angles up is this normal or something is wrong?

 

[Moparone]

That looks a bit tight but there is some flex to that. Try pulling on it towards the front while someone tightens the bolts. If you get an extra 1/8” or so it may be enough to not draw attention to it