Door alignment driving me MAD!

I am goin crazy trying to get my door adjusted perfectly on my 1970 challenger. I have new door hinges from SMS and i have all the body lines matched up very nicely. Without the striker installed the door lines up fine, so when i put the striker on, i cant seem to get the rear (lower) part of the door to be flush with the quarter and the rocker!!! what am i doing wrong??!! I have the weather stripping installed too.....this really sucks!

Same thing with me on my Charger. I messed with it for hours and could not get it right. My buddy came over and had it aligned in five minutes. An extra set of hands will help.

Theyre heavy gutted never mind loaded with glass, regulator and trim. Especially e body doors. You gotta get an extra set of hands sometimes. Time to call in a favor! Preferably someone with patience if they aren't a body guy!

Easy for me to say I guess as I am a body guy BUT your not doing anything "wrong". When I do collision work, I sometimes take the body side latch off, center my door and reinstall when I'm happy with the fit. Or if you have your fenders off, and can see where your body side latch was installed originally, latch the door and adjust at the hinges/pillar. Sometimes it's a lot of trial and error so makes sense to get an extra set of hands.

Just takes a lot of time and multiple adjustments.
Just went through mounting the doors back on my dart after paint. It was tricky and took some time but I got them lined up pretty well.

Good luck and take your time.

YA my car is newly painted too! yikes.

So pardon my ignorance but how would an extra person be of use in a situation where its trial and error moving the striker around?

With the latch in, it's not always in the right spot to start with. The factory gaps on these cars weren't great to start with so 9 times out of 10 the door won't be in the same spot that it was when removed. When I adjust a door I always use the "opening" as a reference point unless i know for a fact the body side latch has never moved. I'll center the door until I'm happy with my gaps and then throw my latch back on.

Well thanks for the response but that never really answered my question.......

Anyone else

the striker WILL NOT CAUSE THE BOTTOM OF THE DOOR TO PUSH OUT. it has to be out before the striker was installed.
the striker allows movement of the door in or out and up or down only.
first get the door to fit the opening without the striker on the 1/4 panel. including the flush fit to the 1/4 panel.
the adjustment of bottom rear corner of the door in or out, is to move the top hinge to door bolts in or out.
you move the top rear corner door in or out by moving the bottom hinge to door bolts in or out.
after adjusting the door this way you need to check the fit to the fender. you probably have to adjust those gaps also.

99% of the time the door to fender and the rear or the door 1/4 gaps are never perfect. you will have to compromise somewhere.
the only way to get these gaps looking really good is to die grind the bolt holes in the hinge, shim the hinge at the cowl or maybe do some twisting on the door.

also when adjusting these gaps it helps to not have the weatherstrips installed.
once you get good gaps, install the weatherstrips and do some minor adjusting to the doors again.

again door gaps are a compromise, they are almost never perfect.

Mr T2. Is right the striker will not hold the bottom out. I align doors & put the striker in last. If it fits without the striker it will fit with it unless the striker plate has been welded in the wrong place & even then the door will be high low or in or out too far.
Tape all your edges & jambs good to keep scratches down

Thanks for the replies everyone! Looks like i have it about as good as it gets. Its reassuring to hear that other cars arnt perfect, cause mine sure isnt. Although I am quite critical of my own work on this resto, i agree with the quality of panel fitment on some of these cars isnt the greatest. check out the pic....dont mind the 3m anti-chaffe tape... the body lines match up perfectly

Do you have the motor and trans in the car right now? These bodies flex quite a bit. If not you may have to do it again. DAMHIK