door gap problem..bad chop?

I was out taking some measurements on my 50 ford shoebox today, for some sheet metal when I happen to notice that I could see light between the front of the p***enger side door and door post. Looked to be nearly a 3/8-1/2 inch gap. thought maybe it was because the front end is welded to the body and maybe the fender wasnt right.. or maybe it was a different model door. The car was chopped back in the late 60s from what I was told looks to be about 4inches. . took a measurement of the doors and both are the same.. the door openings are deffinatley different. almost 1/2 inch different.. the p***enger side being more. the driverside is pretty much within the specs of the green book. My question is, could it be the rocker panels being rotted that make the opening wider or the roof?when you put wieght on the p*** side rocker you can feel it sag.The car has sat for about 20-30 years and needs rockers and floors and such.Hate to have to recut the chop..but maybe I'll make it worth it and take another inch out of it if I do have to. Any thoughts of how to check one way or another would be great.

Thanks

 

Without pics or being there it would be hard to tell....however, if your saying it's as rotten as you say it is and has a sagging issue I would ***ume it's the sag thats got you with a larger gap....an idea would be to pull the lower end of the car together with say a come along and see how that helps the sag...I would personally figure out that before rechopping the roof...

THen I would work out correcting that one issue (IE the floors/rockers) prior to determining if you need to re-chop it. I'd think at that point you could get away with using fillets of steel to close your gaps a bit but seeing as I'm having a bit of a hard time without references to look at it's hard to say...

Possibly can you post pics and someone else thats better than I can chime in...

 

thanks Salty.. Ill try to get some pictures when its daylight..I was thinking first thing would be to get it on level ground..to see if it still looks the same. The pictures I have of the interior even where the front door gap is, doesnt show any light,and they were taken last year. Just looking at it recently you can see it so maybe it has to do where its sitting as well. I was planning to get the rockers replaced, the fire wall cut and recessed and floor and tunnel made up and welded so everything fits the new motor and trans. But wanted to figure this out first before I start cutting anywhere.

 

I'd highly recommend that....the problem may fix itself once you correct the floppy floor. I'd be willing to bet that once you resquare the body ensure your measurements are what they're supposed to be and if needed adjust THEN put the floor in, It'll prob be within spec (or damn close to it)...