I put my coupe door back on its hinges yesterday for a trial fit. Is this easier with the front fenders/wings removed? It was very tricky with everything else in place. The car isn't painted so I'm at trial and error stage but when it is done what is the best sequence for putting body panels (doors, wings/fenders, bonnet/hood) back on a bare shell?

 

yikes!! with air tools it doesn't matter, but you need the wings in place to align the fronts of the doors, and then you need the doors in place to align the rears of the wings, so I guess you throw a quarter in the air.

 

The main issue was getting the bolts into the door and tightening (the hinges are on the car).
It looked as though it would be easier with the front fenders/wings off the car? Adjusting the height and fit wasn't too bad with two people once everything was fitted up and slackened off to allow wiggle room

 

yes it is a catch 22.

there is a factory video in you tube that shows the assembly of MK-2 cars without doors but with wings in place.

 

I'm stressing about protecting paint when attaching doors. May be better to paint the jams first, assemble the car then paint final color and clear with everything in place.

 

that's how they did it at the factory, doors, trunk, hood in the open position, car mounted in a rotisserie, and sprayers spraying.

 

Doors first. Start at the rear of the door and match the body line in the rear quarter to same line in the door. Door aliment is paramount on a coupe becasue of how the door interfaces with the A pillar and how the window glass interfaces with the body and rear window seal. There is some adjustability in the glass too.

So set your rear door gap, then set the bottom gap, then adjust the distance of the door recess for the a pillar. This will take awhile as one will effect the other. Once your doors look right then move on to the making the back of the fender/wing meet the door properly. Then the hood to the fender and massage it all for a good look. There is a considerable amount of adjustablity in the wings and hood, far less adjustability in the doors.

The final step is to align the window glass to the seals for good closure and seal.

When all done, If your coupe is sagged, many are, you'll end up with a large gap at the base of the wing where it meets the sill. Hopefully not.