I built a (hopefully) sturdy box to ship the liftgate to be chemically dipped. It's out of my hands now, which I gotta tell you gives me a queasy feeling considering the part is all but irreplaceable. But as a good buddy used to say, "Columbus took a chance." So it's on its way to Toledo, OH.
While it's gone, I'm preparing for the suicide door conversion. I sent a photo to the hinge supplier and they said the placement looks good. Recommended that I tack it in place and do a dummy door test to verify it clears. The photo below has an arrow pointing to the spot on the quarter panel that is furthest outboard. This is the recommended location but is way too low for the hinge. So I'm going to start with the area outlined by the white rectangle instead.
They recommend installing the hinge pin vertically which may put the bottom too far away from the outside edge (black arrows). So they have an alternate method that involves tilting the hinge pin (yellow line) in both the vertical and horizontal planes. If you measure carefully with a digital angle finder, it should result in the door swinging level even though the pin is angled.
To get an idea of what I'm facing, I cut a window in the inner panel to see the area behind the striker plate. It will be removed and transferred to the B pillar on the opposite side later. Naturally, that entire area is double walled. I think a combination of the Sawsall and cutoff wheels will create the opening I need. It's going to be a lot bigger than I planned, which means lots more patching once the hinge location is finalized. I may be able to finesse it a bit more on the other side. We'll see.
I was surprised that the inner wheel well stopped an inch or so short of the jamb, but I guess the designers figured the front of the tire would be slinging water forward and down anyway, so why bother.
