Fender issue

[Cbridgewater]

So I have this used fender that is in great shape but does not want to fit. The drivers fender fits great (original to the car)! The passenger fender takes a LOT of force to bolt at the bottom of the cowl. Measuring the front of the fenders to the frame rail shows about an inch difference to the edge of the frame rail. Sitting in place, only bolted at the top, you can see how much of a "natural gap" there is. I was thinking about drilling out the spot welds on the brace inside the fender to see if the brace is causing the fender to push out. Thoughts?

[anlauto]

Unfair measurement because that area of the fender could easily be tweak in a bit to cause the different measurement 

[Bullitt-]

Unfair measurement because that area of the fender could easily be tweak in a bit to cause the different measurement 

Look at the level Alan....one side appears lower

[anlauto]

 

[Cbridgewater]

Here are some more photos. I set a straight edge across the fender lip on top of the wheel opening. Brown is passenger side white is drivers.

[jimynick]

The side pic shows that the fndr is bent along it's wheel opening lip, but that shouldn't cause the in/out problem at the door juncture. The things that control the lower in/out positioning are the flange on the fndr itself and the rocker flange where the 2 studs stick out to be bolted to. You can cheat a bit and walk the rocker flange outwards with a small block of wood and a BFH and depending on it's current alignment, you may get up to a 1/4" or so. You can do the reverse on the fndr flange as well. It's also not uncommon to find shim packs of up to 3/1/2" between those two flanges and that's why the studs are about 2" long! Between the 3, you should be able to get a half decent setting for the fndr. Good luck 

[RUNCHARGER]

Fener lip can be pulled out. Brace your knees either side and give a pull in the center. At new car PDI in the 70's I seen mechanics put lots of force on panels to make them line up (picture yanking top of doors in to get rid of wind whistles on a sedan or pickup truck).

[Mopar5]

I have noticed that the apex of the front fender wheel lip becomes sunken in looking on not only old Mopars but many different makes. I had the same issue with my challenger fenders,the metal spanning the top of the wheel edge was not straight. I spent a lot of time on these areas it takes a lot of blocking to blend the lip into the area above I like the way they turned out.

[Mopar5]

A couple pics

[Cbridgewater]

I was thinking the outer portions of the wheel well were out and maybe the center portion was right, when putting enough force to get the fender close, the wheel well edge looks halfway decent. The driver fender sits just perfect with no issue.

[Mopar5]

That could be, I ended up doing some very light tapping out of that area and filling and blocking. I hope I didn't misread what the metal was doing.

[Cbridgewater]

Should I still out the spot welds on the brace and see if the fender sits better? Then weld it back into place?

[Mopar5]

That would be uncharted territory for me.

[JS29]

I would have to see it in person, It sounds like the fender is twisted. I would refrain from cutting spotwelds unless there is enough gap to make up the difference.  Look for creases or valleys that don't belong. 

[Mopar5]

I would have to see it in person, It sounds like the fender is twisted. I would refrain from cutting spotwelds unless there is enough gap to make up the difference.  Look for creases or valleys that don't belong. 

I was thinking that too. Relocating the bracket unless it has been visibly damaged might be a can of worms.