I just replaced mine not to long ago and had a similar problem it was a bent rod and I never installed any type of door handler prior to this and was able to tell what was wrong and just bend it back into place. Just take off your inner door panel and it might take a few tries but bend the rod until your handle is back in its stock location when you open the door. I believe
www.50resto.com sell's replacment bushings and other door parts if you dont have a local scrap yard around just incase you need to replace anything, hope I could help.