i bought a fender at a swap meet becuase the one i had on there had a pretty good size ding in it. after comgin home and taking off the old one the new one would not fit!!! there was about 3 inches to much space between where the bolt on the firewall is supposed to go and where this one went. i have heard that wagon's and elky's had different fenders than the chevelles, but looked identical. what should i do?

In 69 I am 100% sure that the fenders from an Elcamino are identical to the fenders from a Chevelle, therefore they are interchangeable. Sounds like you have issues with a mounting tab being welded on wrong. I've seen it before.

The chevelle, elky, wagon share the same fender. Only in 70-72 did they change the fenders. How does the fender fit to the car as in gaps along the door and hood? Cant say what the problem is without more info. What direction is that 3in? Up towards the windshield, down by the frame left, right or just gap between the fender and cowl? Could just the tab be bent, maybe someone missed that bolt when removing fender and bent the tab. Or was moving it around the garage and smacked it, bending it??

Compare the inner structure of the two fenders, that will tell you whether the tab is bent or somethnig else is out of place...Eric