Shrinkage. (no pool content), actually...panel shrinkage--gap issues Options

[TargaToy]

Rick's recent posts where he expertly repaired a previously filled dent in his green car's fender prompted me to post this question. I'm working on the same part of my car but didn't want to hijack his post.


Speaking of beating down the hight spots, this is what was under the filler:



I cut out the whole bad section and reworked the same section I had in a salvaged fender.





As you can see, I cut out the old section right along the top edge of the quarter panel. The cut line was only about 3/16" from the channel for the trunk weather-stripping.





In retrospect, I may have made a booboo here. I thought I took my sweet time welding in this panel but now that everything's said and done (and cooled off), the shrinkage in the panel has pulled the trunk lid gap a bit.







Rick, you once told me that if the gaps were within 3mm (3 dimes) not to stress as the bodies were hand built. However, I'm not thrilled with the trunk gap now and and my finish grinding is not even done yet which means there'll be more heat introduced.

Can this be corrected?

Also, my vertical weld where the two panels join also shrank a bit. Can I use some dolly work and bumping to bring the area out once I do my finish grinding and minimize the amount of filler that'll be needed?

[TargaToy]

Hey, Rick. Thanks as always for the (free) expert advice. Wish we lived closer as I truly enjoy learning from the experienced.

For anybody interested in learning from my mistakes, here's a little follow up after cutting my weld line back out:









Now I'm considering reshaping the fender point to bring it out a bit. The trunk lid is parallel at the motor cover and the PS gap looks very good. Fender from motor cover to point on DS is 1/8" shorter than on the PS. You can see in the last couple shots how the fender and trunk lid don't match. Should I lengthen the point by 1/8"?