Hi Chris,
I just a look at my original door panels, which are still mounted. One of my projects this spring will be to replace the wooden backing with the SS plastic "cards". One thing I noticed is that I will need to transfer the metal edges from the old wooden card to the plastic ones.
Using a little carpenter's square, I measured the distance from the edge of the back side of the door to the back edge of the panel. That distance is 1/2 inch. There is also the notched area in the panel down by the door latch where the little chrome Z channel piece covers the door panel at that area. If that is properly in place, it should position your panel correctly fore and aft.
The holes in the backing card for the various clips are meaningfully large so they should give you some adjustment options, depending on where on the hole circle edge you put the mounting clips. Limited of course by the holes for the window crank and door opening lever shafts.
I also noticed the original material seal that is riveted to the body at the back of the door opening is a flat piece of rubber rather than a tubular piece. I vaguely recall that the exact replacement material is no longer available. If true and you are using a tubular replacement type material, that will obviously cause the door to close tighter as that material compresses. Over time it will probably take a flatter shape and the door will close easier. When I replace the trunk seal, the material was tubular rather than flat but has flattened out over time.
Hope there is something helpful in all of that.
Gene
