The JC Whitney rubber flares are pretty flexible, the flat one even more so than the arched ones. Therefore I'm guessing that even if one is off a little it would just flex out of the way.
A picture is worth a thousand words, keep in mind the rubber would be black and be nearly invisible from a distance.
http://s184.photobucket.com/user/kac...?sort=3&page=1
The reason I did not show this thing going all the way around equal distance, and equal parts exposed is that the air needs to get out of the wheel well. I'm just proposing that the leading edge gets treated. Again, research some of the other forum topics similar to this.
This is the image I was looking at when I did the sketch.
http://www.buyavette.net/1882C%201982%20Corvette.php
These are large air gaps by today's standards, unless we are talking trucks - those have gotten many times larger. I'm thinking current sports cars, but of course they have different suspension systems than the 1980's.