I went thru the same drill on repairing the fender holes, but I tried to minimize the warping of the panel by using rounded patches rather than square corners on them. You definitely need to pay attention to planishing the welds to keep the shrinkage down. I still had a bit of warp in the bedsides, but bolting the fender on took care of that. There might be a little more stress on the fenders but they should last thru my remaining lifetime. I also had to patch a pretty long length where the angle strip mounted on one bedside that was rotted away.
But I'd say you did pretty well.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
