Kevin, let's take a walk in history.
Think about how cars were built in 1959, not 2010.
(Of course this is obvious, but bear with me).
I worked on a '59 Porsche 356 years ago. Had to swap out a door. Replacement door was a factory '59 and wasn't close to fitting. I learned EVERY door was custom fit at the factory. Now, consider the standards for a Bugeye. I once had a BL factory rep tell me that the standard for door fitting (well into the 70's) was...."if it closes it fits". We talk door gaps (and body gaps) today like there is some kind of necessary science to it. Go back 50 years and no one gave a darn....really. On my wife's german sedan, the gaps are near perfect. This was unheard of when our cars were made.
On the Bugeye, you need to first concern yourself with how the rear top of the door flows into the back panel. If this isn't right, it will just look bad. Once you set that corner height, then figure out where you are at. There is only so much adjustment. On my current project (I am attaching a pic of the driver's door), I probably spent a month getting the gaps and fitment I wanted. (WAY too much time and effort, but this is my punishment for being anal). I ended up shaving two edges of the door to get everything right. Note you also must pay attention to the vertical gap at the rear of the front fender, as it should be close to the front vertical door gap.
I have also had occasion in the past to have too much gap at the bottom of the door. I have added metal and re-worked the bottom to close it up a bit. In order to do this, you must replace about the bottom six inches, as it is diffiecult (at least for me) to try and scab it on the bottom. Note I will not do this again, and will simply live with any gap that is "too much", as the effort to float out the door and get it perfectly smooth is a BUNCH of work. On the door you are looking at here I did not add any metal, just shaved edges.
Finally, be aware that the doors on our cars are supposed to be the same size, but they are not. I have seen as much as 1/4 inch dimensional difference between doors from the same year of manufacture.
Hope this all helps.
Paul
Hi Guest!
Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
STOP!! Never post your email address in open forums. Bots can "harvest" your email! If you must share your email use a Private Message or use the 
smilie in place of the real @
Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
