Technical 1949-1951 Mercury Front Fender - Hole question

Hey Mercury guys,
Do I need this hole in the fenders on a 1949-1950-1951 Mercury? The hole is about 5/8" in diameter, all the way on the bottom, at the rear edge, near the rockers. It doesn't appear to fasten into anything. Was it for trim? Can I cut it out and weld that recessed area to make it smooth?

Thank you in advance

 

Its probably there for water drainage.

 

DD I have that some hole on my 51 (seen below) and was wondering the same. It doesn't appear to be doing anything. It's not holding the fender on. I'm going to fill mine smooth when I repaint. I looked at some photos of stockers and didn't see any with trim attached there.

 

I filled mine. No problems.......

 

That hole is for a bolt to pass through as it fastens to the bottom of the outer rocker, which is supposed to have a caged nut tack welded to it. This attaches the fender to the outer rocker.

 

That stuff was long gone on my car before I got it and I was unable to determine what was there with what I had left. Thanks for the info.

 

Upon further inspection, I realized there is a hole in the rocker panel where a bolt through that hole would attach. I had looked at the drivers side of my car, and didn't see anything there. Then I remembered that maybe the "clown" I had fix some rust pin holes in that area could have covered it with body filler. Well sure enough, I shined a light inside the rocker and there's a weld nut in there, body filler pushed through it. I looked again at the passenger side and the hole was there, and uncovered. I had put that idiot out of my mind and now I'm reminded of his craftsmanship, or lack thereof.

 

As discussed, the hole is used.

Use the bolt to help with the gap between the fender and the door. I have a shim or two between the fender and the rocker to get the gap better.

Neal

 

Testing

 

Could you not drill through the captive nut and weld a longer stud to the fender allowing you to smooth of the fender then use a regular nut and washer in the inner rocker to to give you a cleaner hidden fitting?

 

I like this idea, but access inside the rocker is very difficult.

On another note, I'm considering molding my front end together to once piece, but not welding the fenders to the windshield post or rockers. If this stud was welded in place on each fender, I would not be able to remove the molded front end if necessary.


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