74 Charger Door Adjust

Adjusting the doors, fenders, hood etc. on my 74 Charger before painting. The drivers door rear edge is not flush with the rear quarter after adjusting the door pillar striker. See photo. The striker is adjusted all the way out as far as it can go - the plate is all the way to outside in bracket inside quarter fender (see photo) . Factory service manual says to adjust at hinge on door. This would mess up the fender to door gap. I've considered removing plate from the welded bracket by bending the ear out, removing the plate and grinding about 1/8" off the outside of it and reinserting it into bracket and re-bending bracket ear to capture it. Has anyone else ran into this problem? Recommendations. This car has never been in an accident. Thanks.
Terry

Good question.

I thought these were worked rear to front. You can't move the quarter, so you set the door to that. Then the fender to where the door is. Not a body guy, just what I had seen done.

Cool project, by the way.

Yes, that's the way I've always done it in the past on my Challengers. The quarter panels are the "set to" as long as they haven't been replaced. I've owned this car for over 30 years and it's always been this way. I replaced the striker with new ones. Tried to shift it , looked down in the quarter panel and noticed I'm out of adjustment. I could leave it like it is, but would prefer to fix this prior to painting. The door gaps and front fender to door and to hood gaps are great. Thanks for the feedback.
Terry

I wonder if the new striker isn't made to same dimensions as original. Do you have the original parts to swap in for a quick check?

I do have the original strikers. I aligned the door to this point with the original strikers installed. When I could not get it any closer, I installed the new strikers and it made no difference. Thank you for the input. I'll look at trying a door hinge adjustment but everything else it lined up great. I might add only the fenders were removed. Doors and hood are in their original positions. If I can't make a change, I've lived with it this way for 30 years now.
Terry

One part that is different from the way I normally adjust the striker is in the last line of the Striker and Rotor of the FSM. It states the striker bolt should be adjusted to lift the door slightly. I usually adjust to it just clears the latch top. Seems like it would really wear the latch.
Terry

Problem fixed. I loosened the striker bolt and moved it towards the inside of the car. I used a screwdriver to bend the outside tab of the capture bracket out of the way and this allowed me to slide the striker bolt plate about 1/8" towards the outer panel skin and this brought the door out flush to the quarter panel. Looks good. Thanks for input.
Terry

Now you get to make the windows fit!

Yes, I know. I still need to put on all new seals on the doors and windows. We'll see how that goes. Thanks.
Terry

Many times I have seen the striker mis-adjusted and the door latching on the first click.