After I had my 1/4 put on I have had a hard time getting the door jam gaps correct. This question may be stupid but , can I shim the hinge in between the door (hense hinge-shim-door)? This way I can get a little more towards the 1/4. Or is this bad and I should add metal to the door. I have tried and tried but I need 1/8 to 3/16 more. Thanks guys.

First off, if you have original doors and they fit the front well, modify the quarter, not the door, the poor door didn't do anything wrong! :D

Shiming the door back can cause problems with fit in the jamb and to the cowl! The door fits into the door jamb area, and to the windshield pillar, that shouldn't be modified, it will only lead to more problems later. Making that nasty quarter fit your door makes a lot more sense, believe me.

To close up that gap, I have cut a slice in the quarter right at the door gap with a very thin cut off wheel (1/32") and then spread it out a little with a flat blade screw driver to close the gap to the door, then MIG welded that split up. Worked like a charm to make a perfect gap.

Brian

Thanks Brian. I have thought the same thing( cutting the 1/4). I thought i would ruin more. The other concern is the driver window and rear wind, It seems the the window needs to come back also. I dont believe cutting the 1/4 would cure that? What issues would shimming the hinge cause?

Listen, without looking at what you have in person it real hard to tell you what to do exactly. Sometimes you do need to rob Peter to pay Paul. You have to make a few "acceptable" gaps instead of one flawless one and the rest not acceptable.

The problem with shimming the door further than what the factory designed it to go is you mess with the gaps to the INSIDE of the jamb as I mentioned in my first post. Moving the door back too far to make up for some gap problem on the outside can mess up the gaps on the INSIDE. You can pull the door too far back leaving a gap from the front door rubber to the cowl so it doesn't seal or seals poorly. And you can close the gap on the rear so the door rubber is forced to be smashed more than it is designed to and the door is hard to shut. That is the sort of problems you can create.

Again, I have to ask, what has been changed? If the door is original and fits the fender, then modifying the new repro quarter is what makes sense to me. Is the car sitting on it's wheels with the doors and fenders installed?

You have to look at the big picture and not just focus on that gap from door to quarter. There is a LOT more at play here, or could be at play here.

Brian

the car is on wheels. I have been trying with fender and without. What is the acceptible gap 3/16" 1/4". At the moment its currently 7/16"" on my drivers side@ the 1/4.

You lost your reference point when you removed the quarter and the front fender at the same time. Best is to leave one side untouched,which one depends on what you want to do. Renew the quarter means leave the front fender and door in place or drill holes so it can be set in its original position.
Now you will have to aligne your door to the specs you find on the other side of the car.>Align the door to the outer rocker on the bottom,and with the A-pillar in front.Then you can cut the quarter horizontal to bring it in in or out.Cut it vertical to move it from front to back.When the quarter fits the door nice,hang the fender:)

You can also add metal to the door gap as I did on mine.
Use weld rods and tack in place on the edge of the door. Keep tacking till it's fully welded. You can bend the rod to the contour of the door. It will also give you a soft lip at the seem of the door.

Yes, you can shim the hinges between the doors but I would not go more than an 1/8" typicaly i adjust the door to the quarter then the fender to the door. if i were you i would try to 'split" the differance and bring the door back an 1/8th that should put you at a 5/16" gap 1/4 would be better but 5/16 should fly. remember its not a Lexus that came from the factory with perfect 3/16" gaps and frame tollerances of less the 3mm. You can w ad material to the back of the door, you could cut a split in your new quarter, spread it apart and weld it back up but my experiance has been, just be patient and adjust the crap outa everything you can. you can move almost every panel on the car a mile other than the quaters. you have other drastic options such as cut, weld, mud, etc.. but use them as a last ditch resort.