The problem with MGBs, is like most classics, that replacement parts are truly rubbish. In 1980, the tooling for the front wings was so badly worn that even a BL wing would not fit without serious metalwork. In the early 1990's when I did my rebuild, hunting down genuine new old stock was a labour of love.
Even back in the '90s it was risky. I bought a couple of genuine NOS doors for my car, didn't realise until far too late that the passenger door was warped and couldn't be made to fit without dismantling and rewelding.
But surely all the MGBs will have been restored by now, and it would be a truly horrific restoration for them still to rust like they used to? I must have put 10 litres of Waxoyl into the cavities of my car once all the welding was done.
I wanted to replace the driver's door on my MGB. It wasn't too bad, but I like things right. I bought a genuine door from a dealer. Like you found, the fit was hopeless, with a twist and not a chance of fitting.
I went back to the dealer, armed with some measurements, with the door sitting on two wooden battens. He had about half a dozen doors in stock. I measured then all. Not one came close to my original. Every single one was different. I repaired my original door. I discovered only later that you were supposed to drill the welds out, and twist the door into shape on the car, then reweld.
The big problem with MGB restorations is the potential to make a shedload of money by cutting corners. So nice shiny bodies can be fitted out with worn out components, just with a fresh coat of paint.
When I was out looking to buy in the mid eighties, cars around ten years old were just rubbish. I looked at twelve. One weekend I did Leeds one day and London the next. Only two were worth a second look. A red rubber bumper from '76, a webasto sunroof, but with lowered suspension. Or a two owner black example from '74. Every panel had been vandalised, but this was an honest car which I knew I would restore so that's the one I bought. For £3,000. In 1986. I ran that for four years and it was trouble free. Because it was vandalised I didn't worry about it!
