Fender bolt/stud question - Experienced builders advice needed

[70chall440]

On an Ebody there is a stud under the fender near the door and then the 2 studs/bolts (I believe originally they were studs) down on the bottom rear of the fenders. My question is this, on the inner stud, is this supposed to be tight against the little L shaped bracket bolted to the cowl or is this stud used to pull down the rear of the fender and align it (or perhaps both)? I ask because on my Cuda, this area (where the L bracket is bolted to the cowl) was damaged slightly somewhere along the way. The metal is good and I have the frame straightened/checked before I began building the car, however there was damage and this bracket may not be exactly where it should be.

As a means of explanation, I tightened this stud down before attaching the two lower bolts, afterwards I could not align the bottom of the fender to bolt it up. On the passenger side however I did not have the stud in and noticed that I could align the bottom of the fender easily (of course) and then looked at the where the L bracket was and how much the fender needs to move down to be aligned. Point is, it appears to me that the inner stud is used to align the fender slightly, which actually bows the fender outward slightly to meet the contour of the door.

I think I know what has to be done but I thought I would ask to see what others have to say.

[1 Wild R/T]

The L shaped bracket can be adjusted up & down on the body along with in & out plus fore & aft on the fender.... You can also use shims between the fender & the L bracket... 

As far as trying to bow the fender to follow the door contour, if you put the fender under tension chances are good something will shift later... The correct way is during the body rough in phase you actually bend/flex the fender to match the door contour... I've twisted doors, tweaked hoods, broken spot welds to shift panels, welded panel edges to correct gaps... It's really a matter of how good you want things to fit... Factory tolerances sucked... But plenty of people are perfectly fine with that & look at cars like my Challenger as being over restored....   I like color sanded & buffed paint, I like things better than OE.... I also like to actually drive my cars...

[70chall440]

Thanks, exactly what I was looking for. Body work was never my strong suit back in the day when you could get a car painted (nicely) for $300, however necessity has dictated that I develop some skill at it. I have adjusted the doors a number of times and think I got them adjusted as much as they are capable of. So now I am trying to determine what I want and find acceptable. On the one hand, it is supposed to be a bit of a race car (ish) build but then on the other it has absorbed money like a sponge and I hate to produce a $50 or $60K turd.. I am capable of doing the work, this is just a little unchartered for me.