[Kevin in NJ]

You need the fender to bare metal.

Actually, depending on budget and goals you may want to seek a better fender. Seeing what has been done to the fender in the past.

My direction would be to get both fenders to bare metal and mounted. Then do your best to get this fender to look even and have the tail match the position of the other fender. The fenders should look balanced from side to side.

The side of the beads should be verticle, 90 degrees from the ground, and if you sight down the fender line, inline from the front fender bracket bead bolt to the rear fender bead bolt.

Do a google search on shrinking disk. This will be what lets you level out all the minor ding marks. There are lots of videos and sites with information. It is important to know you need a high speed grinder, not a low speed polisher.

Basically the shrinking disk heats the tops of the little bumps. Kind of like rubbing your knuckles on a carpet and burning the tops of them. Ding up low spots and keep working it.

While that fender you might find difficult to get right, you will find with patience you can get metal close enough for a few coats of filling primer and no bondo.