Fender fit question on my '69.

[Evans, Marv]

I have a left front fender I originally tried to fit onto my '69. The fender had already been prepped & painted when I tried to put it on. When I got it bolted on, the very bottom part (next to the bottom corner of the door) bulged out at an angle that fanned outward toward the wheel arch.
The body has the fender bracket that runs vertically behind the wheel well. The fender has a corresponding bracket (wing?) behind the wheel arch that bolts on to the bracket on the body. I had to pull the bottom of the fender bracket forward signifficantly to get it to bolt on. That's when I noticed it bending out at an angle.
I have inspected the fender. The bracket inside the back of the fender doesn't look like it has been changed or modified. No welds or anything else to indicate it. It looks stock. Plus I cleaned it up pretty well and painted it on the inside & didn't notice anything different.
Any comments on this?? My one thought is that it may be a SWB fender rather than a LWB fender, but that's only a thought since I don't know the exact differences. Since the fender bracket looks original, I'm mystified. I had another fender I had painted that I put on, and it fit perfectly. Ideas??
ThanX

[haycait911]

give us pics. the swb fender has no flare and your signal bucket won't fit the hole.

[Evans, Marv]

Good idea. I just happened to have the fender in my truck to take it to another storage place. The right part of the bracket had to be pushed/pulled forward which caused the bottom part of the fender arch to angle out. The bracket doesn't look like it's been modified in either picture.

[haycait911]

dunno. looks OK. mind you, panel alignment on these cars ain't an exact science. they do vary. is it possible someone has replaced the vertical fender mount on the car and placement wasn't perfect so the old fender was bent to fit. those verticals rust out pretty commonly.

[Evans, Marv]

Thanks. This one couldn't be bent enough to keep the bottom from bowing out. Had almost no rust at all.

[sballard]

I had a similar issue recently when I removed my front fender to do a rust repair of the lower corner. I had to cut the backside bracing that runs down the inside of the fender. I found that when I welded it all back together, mine bowed out on the wheel arch side. I cut the weld at the bottom of the fender where the bracing is welded to the fender, and by gently bending the bracing back and forth I could make subtle changes in the bowing. Another thing to try is to check the angle of the plate on the car to which the bracing plate bolts. This is thin enough that you can make subtle bends in it. Also check the holes in the fender bracing where the bolts pass through to make sure they aren't binding when everything is bolted together. My advice is to try the things that don't required cutting first. Frankly, I made the bowing better but never got rid of it. But it looks alot better than the other side, which I've never touched - Haycait911 is right. I figure my car will never be sold at Barrett-Jackson, so what the hell.