'40 rear fender rub one side only

[IanFarrell]

We inherited a 1940 Ford Deluxe recently and overall it's in great condition. One thing we noticed on our second drive was that the outside face of the left rear tire is rubbing at the rear lower corner of the wheel well.

It looks like from my father-in-laws notes, that he put new rims and tires on it recently (235/65/R17). I'm sure they are bigger and wider than stock, but what's odd is that on the right side rear fender there's plenty of room for the tire.

There are no wheel spacers or anything. It's the stock rear end, brakes, and springs. I looked and I don't see any evidence that one fender was bent/damaged and repaired.

When I start measuring from the edge of the fender to various spots on the rear end and frame, I'm definitely seeing numbers that show the fender is a bit closer (narrower, more curved?). It also looks like the rear end isn't quite centered to the frame (it might be shifted a bit to the left). The differences I'm seeing are in the range of 3/8" - 3/4" between left and right sides.

A couple of questions:

Is that type of variation (1/2") normal just because of the manufacturing techniques of the day or is that something I should dig into more? The car seems to drive fine.

I feel like I can solve the rub issue a few ways (and yes, I know smaller tires is one, but since one side isn't rubbing, that's not my first pick). Should I lift the body a bit? Can I do that just with spring adjustments? Should I shim out the fender brace a bit with some washers? Should I try to shift the whole body/suspension so that it's more centered?

Lots of questions I know, and thank you in advance.

Ian