I'm just about done with the body work on my cab so I started working on my front end. Pounding out the dents and welding the cracks and cutting out the slots on the inner fenders to except the Mustang II a-arms. So is there a certain way to put the front end on? I've put the inner fenders on then the outer fenders and WOW what a pain in the arse. Does it take two people or do I need to be double jointed?
2 people really helps, but 1 can do it. Mount the rad. support first, then hang fenders with inner fenders, be shure to brace up the rad support so it doesn't tip over with only 1 fender. HAND tighten everything to do with the front clip, close the hood and move everything around to get the best fit possible. Now go around and tighten everything up, I start at a fender bolt or 2, then the other side, then the rad supports, etc. jumping around to lock everything down first, then tighten all. Don't forget the rubber pads under the rad. support! If you already have the front clip in 1 piece, another person is very helpful. Pick up the clip from the grille and fenderwell, lift the rear of the fenders over the tire and roll them down and back, then set up the radiator support bolts(and rubber pads) then lift up the rear fenders and set the bolts. Still hand tighten everything, line up with hood then tighten down.
I had my radiator mounted already, so I put the inner/outer fenders together (see Russ' "How to assemble an AD thread) but I left the headlight buckets out. I checked how far off the ground the back of the fender needed to be, and that was just about exactly as tall as my tackle box for fishing is, so I used it to hold up the back of my fender while I reached through the headlight hole and got a bolt started up front. The hardest thing (not really that hard) was getting the fender support to line up with the hole in the inner fender and the hole in the radiator support while holding the bolt in one hand and holding up the front of the fender with the other. Oh yeah~ and it sucks needing bifocals for all of this. But once I got that first bolt in the front, the rest was no big deal. Put a bolt in the back through where the welting is, then one through the floorboard, and then I was off to the other side. Oh, and on my GMC, the splash apron (or whatever it is called that bolts to the front of the radiator and comes out even with the front of the fenders) is in three pieces. I had to also work the arms into place to be able to bolt those pieces up, which was a bit of a PITA. But again, nothing worth drinking over~ Doing it this way I was able to do it all myself, which is kinda the way I like it. (With God's help of course...)
