Door latch Help/Advice

[Alloyvert]

I am in the process of upgrading all the worn out drivers door components that started with new hinge pins and bushings.

Then the fun started as there appears to be a slight difference between the old latch and the NOS part (3865418). After installing both the new door control and NOS latch, the door would not fully release/open from the outside handle and required using the inside control to fully release it from the striker plate. The first thing I found was a much bigger gap between the external button push rod and the latch with the NOS latch installed (~.2 inch gap), which seems to be the issue as there is not enough travel left to fully disengage the latch catch.

First photo is the NOS latch, original in the 2nd pic. You can also see the clear gap with the external button push pin and the NOS latch plate.

I am stumped as there no real adjustments for the latch assembly itself and has the same external push pin gap with or without the control lever hooked up. Adjusting the striker has no effect on the issue since the latch is physically not engaging far enough in to release the catch on the latch gear.

I was really excited to find the NOS part, but at this point I am not sure how to make it work. Any ideas??