I got out my dial calipers and it appears as though the gap on the door with the new skin is the same as the origninal I have on the driver's side.

The panel is folded and welded. I spend 4-5 hours with a friend getting the best possible fit with the skin.

The panel appears to be in good shape everywhere else.

There is a slight difference in the gap between the rear of the door and the location directly after the vent vindow, but it is literally the same as the other door.

I spoke with the folks I bought the skin from and he mentioned the use of "all metal filler" if I saw fit. He said he has used coat hanger material and filler to fill similar gaps before.

 

The dolly and hammer should have stayed in the tool box for this job. There is no reason at all that a new door skin install should require filler. You line it up and with the correct "flap over tool, you fold the flaps on the skin and spot weld/tack them in place. "The trick she's a done"!

 

I didn't have the correct tool and used the same type of procedure on Ron's website.

 

The crimp tool is a better way to do it but if you use a shot bag and work the lip slowly, it will also work. It is old school but lots of people do it that way.
I had a hard time justifying the cost of the special pliers ($100) to bend over the lip for a 1 time job.
The NEW door skin also came with dings that I was told were normal for repop panels so I needed to put filler on the door anyway. I have put on 4 different body panels from 2 different parts suppliers and they all came with dings and scratches.
Good luck
Ron

 

I did a little measuring last night and came up with some interesting results...

The flat portion on the top of the door skin that connects the body line from the skin to the vent window is exactly 0.2 inches shorter on the new skin then on my original driver's door.

It looks like this is just one of the shortfalls of aftermarket panels.

I will make it work...

I will either weld some sheet metal in place of the gap or will use some sort of filler material to keep water from entering the door.

 

Also measure the bottom flat section for the distance to the sill plate. Some skins are are short.
On the Overhaulin' show, they reskinned a door on the Mustang project car they were doing and there was too much gap at the bottom when they mounted it. They had to weld a 1/4 inch section on the bottom.
I agree that aftermarket stuff is not what it should be...
Good Luck
Ron

 

You can buy a pair of air conditioning duct work flange pliers for $25 (Made in USA) that do the exact same thing as the "tool". Thats what I use.