Front fender removal

[RustyRed]

Pretty soon I am going to have to remove my front passenger fender.

Anyone have any tips on how to go about doing this?

Looks to me like a good deal of the front of the car is going to have to come off also?

Never taken one off and just looking for any articles folks might have or other advice.

 

[Dne']

gee, I don't remember any problems when having taken my fenders off(a year ago). I do suggest having a bunch of baggies to put bolts/fastners in! Take a marker and keep excellent track of those bolts/nuts. You'll appreciate that later. My stang is a '67 coupe. Just start removing nuts and bolts, and theyll come off. post some photos.
dne'

 

[Fast68back]

I'd suggest ordering a Ford service manual, it will save you a ton of headache and heartache. Removing the fender seems simple enough, its putting it back on that will bite you if your not careful. Lining panels up is not hard, but it is an art form. One small mistake and you have a nice chip in your paint. There are a couple nuts and bolts in places you may not think to look. The service manual will show you where they are. And you are correct, a good deal of the front of the car will have to come off. Its not hard at all. Just remember the order they came off and put them back on in the same order. Nothing like getting the whole front on and then having to take it all back off because you forgot to put the headlight bucket in first.....huh Sluggo.....

 

[RustyRed]

Thanks for the tips guys....I had been thinking about ordering the body assembly manual.

Baggies and a sharpie are what I used when I took everything off my dash to paint it and it worked pretty well.

I found a used welder finally and need to replace my fender apron / battery tray. It looks straight forward enough judging by a couple of articles I read on Mustang Monthly but then I started wondering if there were any tricks to the fender. The battery tray is a simple bolt on and sure wish someone would have replaced it years ago before it got to the apron.

Sometime in the next few months I was going to pull my motor to either have it rebuilt or trade in on a 302 (haven't decided on that yet) and clean up the engine bay anyway. Will probably shoot for doing it all at once since that would seem to make the most sense. My guess is it would be easier to get at the fender apron with the motor out of the way.

In the mean time, I am doing a lot of research to learn any tricks, etc with a hope the job will go smoother with lots of study before I tear into it.

 

[Dne']

Howdy pardner! I also had replaced my battery apron, which led me to replacing my radiator support, which led me to replacing the front crossmember which the new radiator support was made onto the new one, the that led me to replacing my strut channels!! Take lots of photos, and measurments before spot weld removal/drilling and removal of the apron. Not so bad if just removing the apron, but if you're off a little somewhere when going back together, may affect alignment of "other" essentials. I hope this made some sense.
dne'

 

[RustyRed]

Makes a lot of sense dne'...thanks as always for the advice.

I had some time yesterday and ran down to John's Mustang. All the places I checked with wanted way too much in shipping so instead I ran down there and picked up a radiator support, fender apron and body assembly manual. I've had the battery tray for a while.

Decided to go ahead an replace the radiator support. It has a couple of hole clean through it...drivers side seems pretty solid but the metal by the battery seems pretty thin/ weak on that side so figured while I have it apart....

My question is how to prep the metal. The fender apron is just metal with no paint. It does have some oil or grease on it that I suppose it got on there in John's storage.

I was thinking of washing the metal down with simple green, etc. Do I then need to hit it with something like preps all or even rubbing alcohol? I was thinking of priming it with weld through primer before I put it in the car. Or at least the edges with weld through since that is basically what they did in a tech article in Mustang monthly. Idea being to keep it from rusting between the panels.

For the radiator support that is already painted shouldn't I grind or sand off the paint on the areas I am going to be spot welding to?

Spoke with Herb the engine guy the other week and going to get that part of it done sooner or later. Might try to sell my 289 while it is still in the car as a running motor first or might just pull it and worry about selling it later when it is out of the car.

 

[daveSanborn]

Do I then need to hit it with something like preps all or even rubbing alcohol?

Get yourself a gallon (or a 5 gallon bucket is usually more economical..... 1 gallon = $12.... 5 gallon = $28) of paint supply store lacquer thinner. Use this to wipe down any metal components prior to primering.

For the radiator support that is already painted shouldn't I grind or sand off the paint on the areas I am going to be spot welding to?

Although I'm not sure if it's 100% necessary, I do.

 

[Dne']

I don't consider myself a pro, but I feel I have good common sense. As you can see in this photo, I did replace the battery apron, radiator suppor/crossmember, and strut channels(both). I did grind a little paint away from the sites that I welded to get a clean weld for my new spotwelds. I sprayed some rust inhibitor containing phosphoric acid prior to seam sealing, and hope that the way that I did it will at least postpone rust~ rust will eventually win out. you say you're replacing your rad support. Were you able to buy just the radiator support? I bought my rad support already welded to the front crossmember, which led me to replace the strut channels(they needed replacing anyway). anyway, when the day came to paint, I just used 400grit then a couple coats of epoxy primer. But I did wipe everything with laquer thinner like Dave said. I'd say practice on some scrap apron metal before doing your permanent welds. You want them to look nice right!!
dne'

 

[Dne']

I have a question regarding your mig welder. Is the wire hot before pulling the trigger? Like when putting your welding lead up to whatever you're going to weld, and you accidentally touch the metal, and it sparks? My earlier flux welder did that and I just about blinded myself (not literally, but pissed me off alot), especially with the little cheap hand held hood they give you! I bought the self darkening hood, and my newest gas mig doesn't light up untill the trigger is pulled.

I didn't think I could fix this! :doh

 

[RustyRed]

The welder isn't "hot" until you pull the trigger. I also picked up a self-darkening helmet as well however from a guy that works with my Mom. I had mentioned wanting one and she was looking at their want ads on the company intra-net when she noticed the ad she sent it to me.

You can buy the rad support without the front cross member. Mine is in decent enough shape and I really debated trading out the rad support. But the metal is pretty weak right there next to the battery on the support so I figured when in Rome....especially since I was driving to John's Mustang anyway it's not like getting the extra metal made any difference shipping wise.

What I really need to decide is if I am going to sell my 289 as a "come hear it run first" kind of deal or just pull it and worry about selling it later...keep thinking that it would be a lot easier to pull the motor, fix the apron / support and clean up the engine bay all at one time. The flip side of that coin being that is a lot more parts to find places to stash them until I start putting it back together if I did it all at once.

 

[Dne']

Good deal on the welding questions! oh yes, I have parts all over the place, stuff I've misplaced, etc.. don't buy until you absolutely need something, unless it's just a really good deal! Maybe on your motor, maybe you could videotape it runnning and date it and swear on a Bible that it indeed ran? Then pull it out! I can't imagine having done all the work I've done with motor in place. I remember really debating on trying to save my radiator support~ it was alot of work! and of course I'm glad now that I did it! New painted parts just look so nice. Good deal! got to go, be back later!
dne'

 

[RustyRed]

I had originally just planned to pull it and get Herb started on the new motor but I went by his place one day (week before last I think) and it was his suggestion that it might be better to sell it while still in the car.

My guess is I could do the fender apron and rad support with it still in the car and would be nice to get the fenders, bumper, etc back on the car before pulling the motor, that much less stuff laying around. It would mean pulling the radiator twice but that is not such a big deal in only being about four bolts. Of course, I would have more room to work if the motor were pulled. If I needed the room, we have an extra bedroom upstairs for fenders, bumpers, etc but that might land me in the dog house with the wife, LOL! I have an Explorer so if push came to shove I could stash some of the parts such as fenders, bumper, etc at my Mom's house since she only lives about 10 minutes away.

If I knew someone that was serious about buying the 289, I would pull it and figure the rest out as far as space goes. Could always make space somehow.....even if I had to beg my buddy to store it at his shop for a couple of weeks.