I am trying to preserve original assembly, but the laters would have been a lot easier. Looking back I would have done differently too. I welded the door side first, then pulled it to get the inner side to touch. If I had welded the post together I couldn't have done that. I also had to shave the inner parts to get the angles to close up better.
Looking back, I wish I had cut the inner bracing loose, IIRC the lower was welded in to deep and didn't meet the kick panel as I finally realized it was supposed to. Don't think will be an issue with low use, but would for a daily driver.