[66GMC]

They sell a patch panel as well, and the dimensions of that are 15" H x 17"W
if that helps to determine a place to cut?

[hrlys4evr]

Looks like the real culprit is the rocker. Spot welds separated on the front half and it sprung down causing the excessive gap. Breaking out the welder and grinders and some sheet metal to get this done in a second. I appreciate your insight Brian and '66'!! Time for surgery.

[MARTINSR]

But if the rocker wasn't changed and the fender patch panel was, how could it be the rocker? Always look at what you touched first, I mean, it wasn't made that way at the factory was it? No, so look at what WAS touched, in this case the fender. But don't think you have to be cutting off the fender patch yet.

Brian

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by hrlys4evr

Got the cowl cover on, and it is definitely short by 1/4" or so.... and yes, the patch was on the fender. Back when I was very naive and impatient. Paying for it now though. I appreciate your advice much Brian! So I guess my question is, where would the best place be to slice and add some metal to fill into the gap?

First off, you can measure it against the other fender to find out for sure. Secondly you can "rob Peter to pay Paul" and find a "bestest" fit between all the parts if you don't want to get into lengthening the fender. But if you really want to do that, I would go with cutting it where the patch panel was added, that is after all where it is too short. Cut it, make a strip in the proper length and weld it all back together. Sometimes it's easier to cut something like that off above where it was welded, then cut off a half inch or so, the whole welded area. Make your extension 3/4" to make up for the half inch you cut off and the 1/4" it's short and weld it all back together the correct length.

Brian

[deadbodyman]

Originally Posted by hrlys4evr

Got the cowl cover on, and it is definitely short by 1/4" or so.... and yes, the patch was on the fender. Back when I was very naive and impatient. Paying for it now though. I appreciate your advice much Brian! So I guess my question is, where would the best place be to slice and add some metal to fill into the gap?

You dont want to fill the gap.make or buy a fender bottom and redo the whole thing ,,

[hrlys4evr]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

But if the rocker wasn't changed and the fender patch panel was, how could it be the rocker? Always look at what you touched first, I mean, it wasn't made that way at the factory was it? No, so look at what WAS touched, in this case the fender. But don't think you have to be cutting off the fender patch yet.

Brian

That is another story.The rocker was changed years ago. The truck was really abused on the driver side. Nothing was straight when I originally got the truck many moons ago and then it has sat in pieces for years now. I have spent the last two days going over the alignment trying to avoid chopping the fender again. And not a minute has gone by that I have I not kicked my own arse for this problem I created. I was studying that original picture of the first post and you can see something isn't right besides the misalignment. I have the cowl on, gaped at the top of the fender 5/16" just like the pass side and looks pretty close to the bottom of the rocker now. I need to add some fill to the fender / door gap as you can see in the picture. I have punched out a couple more spot welds from the bottom of the rocker and pushed it up where it should be. I think we got it. Let me know your thoughts?!?

[MARTINSR]

It looks good, fitting all the parts and looking it over did the trick. Awesome!

Brian

[hrlys4evr]

Originally Posted by deadbodyman

You dont want to fill the gap.make or buy a fender bottom and redo the whole thing ,,

Thanks DBM! There is more to the issue. The problem seemed to be misalignment for one, and then the rocker bottom creating an illusion that the fender was way off it's mark. Many upon many lessons have been realized and learned the last few days.

[hrlys4evr]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

It looks good, fitting all the parts and looking it over did the trick. Awesome!

Brian

Yes. And a big THANK YOU to you and everybody else who chimed in for the brainstorm! You all are awesome!

Best regards,
Chris

[dinger]

One more thing you may try. Loosen the bolts to the fender, lower the radiator support on the left side if you can. It may be shimmed already, pull out a shim or 2. It looks like you could get a perfect gap top to bottom and also where it fits to the cowl piece. Just a thought. Dan