Just for the record. These last few pics were taken this afternoon. The truck has been driven all winter. We got 3" of snow that followed a day of freezing rain. They have dumped huge amounts of salt on the roads in the last 3 days, then yesterday the temps hit 40 and we got sunshine. The streets are a mess with all that melting snow, the huge amount of salt, and the warm temps yesterday and today. Today the roads are finally drying out, but I didn't have the chance to wash the truck.
Also, after all the welding and bare metal, the truck was taken apart and was cleaned up and painted with at least 3 coats of Rustoleum black. Needless to say, the Rustoluem isn't nearly as good as it was even a couple years ago. There are a lot of places that paint has failed already. The truck will be taken apart again this spring so I can do body work. The underside failing paint will be addressed then as well. This is my transportation, I have to drive it until I can get my coupe out.
Pic 1, The intent was to add a piece of rubber to cover the gap. Obviously didn't happen. I'm almost afraid to see what the inside of the fender looks like, but to put it in perspective, when Dodge built the truck, nothing was here, and nothing was painted at all under the truck. The bare spots on the right side of the pic is the rub spot on this side. Only rubs when the wheels are turned tight and you hit a bump.
Pic 2, Another outer fender/inner bolt. This was a new cad plated bolt last June. Fender is at the top, the inner fender is at the bottom.
Pic 3, My tire rub. It only needs about another 1/2" of clearance. The fender is on the right, the inner fender is on the left. The weld seam is right in line with the worst rust. probably poor prep on my part.
Pic 4, Another fender/inner fender bolt. This bolt was installed the same day as the last one pictured. The fender is on the right, the inner fender is on the left. Sure looks like the paint on the fenders held up better then the paint on the inner fenders. Gene