What was making contact on the front?

The Daruma itself can be the source of rubbing, since it uses a thick nylock nut and washer on the underside of the fender. If that is the problem, you can cut the threaded part of the Daruma shorter, then attach a coupling nut (a long nut, female threaded at both ends, used to join two male threaded rods together), and a machine screw with a low profile head to secure the fender. The screw goes up from the underside of the fender. Take some measurements then, Daruma in hand, visit your local good hardware store (one with a wall of fasteners in little drawers, like True Value on SE Hawthorne around 18th). Lot of work but it will gain you a few mm's.