Damian, that might be related to the wide gap you were reporting previously.
In the olden days I remember making spacers or putting washers under the flat of the hinges to avoid that problem. But of course, that makes the gap even wider. I would check the inner flange where the door-skin is crimped to the frame; there may be scope to dress that down or out a little to create clearance taking care not to spoil the lines.
If the door is a replacement, it's possible that the contours of the door and wing are slightly out. If that is the case you might be able to carefully re-shape the edge of the door or slightly tap in the edge of the wing.

Hi Damian,
finally managed to get some images to load.
let me know if you need some more

Cheers Sean

I took one as well but forgot until I read this thread again!!!! Doh!!!

I think my doors open a bit wider than Sean's, in fact til I took the picture I didn't realise how close they get.

Seans look good and clear the wing more than mine. Mine look more like yours Tony. It gets really close. Of course at the moment mine doesn't have all the coats of paint so it is only going to get worse! Going to get the rest of the car finished first and then leave the doors till the end. I will check them properly by fitting the seals, locks and latches. Thanks for the photos.

Damian, I think the doors are meant to miss the wing by a whisper; mine do, much like Tony's.

What an arse of a job today. Trying to get what remains of the old roof padding off. The only thing that would shift it is a P60 disc on my grinder. The dust went everywhere. I'm going to have red bogies for days and I had a full mask on!

You were unlucky with that one Damian. The secret is to leave the car in a damp garage or even in the open garden, preferably with the roof open and in a damp part of Scotland for about 25 years. That way the roof lining simply falls off by itself.
[ame]https://youtu.be/3cVmsJ_Ak8g[/ame]
I made a little video of the door opening as I was really surprised myself how fine the tolerance is. It's almost fag-paper clearance in places. But the return flange of the door-skin is very carefully hammered over in such a way as to follow the radius as it opens. When I did a part repair there, at first I hammered it too neatly flat. My guess is that pattern, replacement doors will need tweaking and if yours are original it's probably correct so long as it doesn't actually make contact.

Have looked at hundreds of images of different 500's regarding door gaps particulary between door and front wing. They all differ between almost touching and getting your hand in there. Most important things to me are that the door closes properly, there is as much gap as possible when opening and that it's flush with front and rear wings and crease lines all line up. The rest I'll have to live with

Paolo66 said:

The rest I'll have to live with

Click to expand...

Sane decision. there's only so much messing your brain can deal with.
There's loads of things about my doors (and many other things) that I would have liked to do better. But life (especially when you're 57) is too short.
In any case, I'm finding it's quite satisfying to sort some things out once the car is up and running, although I guess door-gaps wouldn't be in that category.

Found a much quicker and neater way to get that mess off the roof. Heat and a scraper. 10 mins, done!

If you need to get rid of any residue and don't have any rubbing alcohol, ipa, etc. to hand, I've used 3M's cleaner for years and it's very good. Just be aware that it will eat through the disposable gloves, so you'll need to wear thicker ones
http://www.3mdirect.co.uk/3m-genera...gclid=CK_asaqn68wCFbcW0wodgAcA3Q&gclsrc=aw.ds

As we are at the end of May now I'm looking at the end of June before it's ready for the painters. This wouldn't leave me with enough time this year to get everything back together and MOT'd before winter sets in. A change of tack I reckon. Thinking get the underneath painted only. Put all the suspension bits on and get it on it's wheels. Rest of the year getting rest of body done and engine, gearbox etc. Painted early next year and then all back together in time for April and a full years driving. I can't see the point of rushing to get it painted this year to stick it back in the garage for the winter

The only thing wrong with that Damian is that primer is porous and if left over winter moisture in the air can cause corrosion and you could end up having to do all that filler again.
If I was you I would get it all painted ASAP before the winter then you can fit it together at your own pace.

Sean is absolutely correct Damian; do NOT leave the car in primer over the winter or the car may take on a slightly 'reddish' hue by the time spring knocks on the door again! Get the painting done ASAP, then get it back into the workshop, up on stands and start putting it all together. With the car at the paint-shop you will have a bit of a breather, and lots of spare space to lay parts out---suspension, steering engine etc. it will also give you time to sit back and look at the jobs still to be done and sort out a logical sequence. Remember the secret about car restoration---1 job at a time.

.......or spray it very thoroughly with a couple of coats of epoxy primer. Totally moisture-proof (Tom will tell you...used on boats). Its surface can be treated as bare metal if you still have filler to do. It isn't a substitute for the primer-surfacer needed before topcoat and it would need a very thorough roughing up with a 320 abrasive pad before recoating or filling with anything.
It's a two-part paint...smells like Araldite, but normal respirators are sufficient as it is not the toxic two-pack.
I think of it like home-made zinc-coating.
Despite the above I also think it's worth painting before winter.

Getting more and more of the car primed grey as filling gets less. Should be just about done by end of the month (?)

The car's smart enough and a credit to your detemination Damian, but that floor covering and clean garage....WOW!

First job when it's off for painting is strip out the garage, clean everything down, whitewash walls and screed and paint floor. For now I just push Paolo outside, sweep the floor and push him back in. The dust is everywhere!

Inspiration to get out and working on mine again. I thought I would have made more progress on my car but having been cold enough for a bit of snow in Canberra last night it's not so easy....

Keep up the good work.