[dunce79]

Just the first fit and about 4 hours of slowly tweaking it. The drip rail section near the door on both sides is not formed just right and will take some work to get it so that the door edge gap is right on top (currently just a little wide). My gaps are a little wide at the bottom at this point too but I think I can work that out. Overall the panel isn't bad. Like all aftermarket stuff, nothing is as sharp as the original but it beats what was there.

I replaced a section of the inner panel window channel on top, about 12 inches at a time to avoid changing anything and the new panel opening lines up well with the inner panel, so that's encouraging. I ordered another window rubber gasket that I can cut pieces out of to check the window fit without the whole thing installed. I may even try installing the whole window once.. not sure yet.

At this point I'm letting it sit before I go back and fit a better set of doors and add the front fenders. Plan is to get the gaps as good as i can before I pull the back panel off to prep it for spot welding back in. Going to spot weld it everywhere and use some 3m drip chek sealer on the drop rail when done. Then I'll fine tune the gaps. I've had good luck adding rod to door edges on another project to close gaps where necessary so I think I'll aim to have wider gaps in some spots if it means fixing areas where its just too tight.

(bottom of door edge on passenger side is loose from rust damage)