I learned to fly in a J-3 and I have owned various steel tube airplanes
over the years... I have helped to jig, drill, and ream the fuselage
tabs and mount biplane wings... I doubt that there is any wear allowed
by Piper at that lower spar attach tab... The hole in the fuselage tab
should be a close tolerance fit for the bolt... I always considered
the wing tip shake test to require no relative movement of the wing in
relation to the strut/fuselage - other than the usual
springing/bouncing of the entire airframe with a vigorous shake...
With any slop in the strut flutter becomes an issue... I urge that you
folks get an experienced steel tube airframe mechanic to make the
repair soon...

denny