Long story short my house was handicap home at one point which required a fire push door and fire escape for 2nd story.

The door is inefficient at keeps bugs and heat/cold out. The rough opening is about 34×80.5” and I’ve struck out locally finding a 32×78 exterior door that isn’t just a slab.

Started removing some drywall to take a look at the top. Based on what I can tell I don’t see why I couldn’t cut the cripple studs up another 1.5” to move the top plate up for that extra clearance to fit an 80” door.

There is no header just a single 2×4, which appears to just come flush on the right side and on the left side continues into the wall. It definitely was a retro fit years after the house was built, and poorly done I might add.