I'm thinking about disassembling the front clip of my 67 to detail the engine compartment. I've never done anything that involved. Can anyone recommend a good book that illustrates a step by step process? Or does anyone have pics. How difficult of a task is this? It seems pretty straight forward, kinda like a big puzzle. I just want to make sure I'm not getting in over my head before I start pulling fenders off. I welcome any advice. If you are local and doing something similiar let me know. I'm in Dallas,Tx.

I'm thinking about disassembling the front clip of my 67 to detail the engine compartment. I've never done anything that involved. Can anyone recommend a good book that illustrates a step by step process? Or does anyone have pics. How difficult of a task is this? It seems pretty straight forward, kinda like a big puzzle. I just want to make sure I'm not getting in over my head before I start pulling fenders off. I welcome any advice. If you are local and doing something similiar let me know. I'm in Dallas,Tx.

Its pretty straight forward. Depending how long its been since things were apart, be care not to twist off any bolts. The bolt at the bottom rear of the front fenders has a tendency to twist off so proceed carefully.The biggest concern will obviously be to protect your paint.

Hood. Upper and lower front valences. Fenders and inner fenders come off together. Rad support.

Like Jim said. It is not hard. Take pictures so you know how it goes back together especially the number and position of the shims. Bag and label you bolts and hardware. It is also a good idea to spray all the bolt threads with something like PB Blaster to loosen the rust before you try to remove them. If it has been a while since it was apart, be ready, you are probably going to break at least one or two bolts.

Keep squirting Aerokroil on every nut/bolt 2-3 times over a few days...goes a very long ways towards eliminating broken bolts.
Works better than PB...

Jim

I'm glad to hear it is pretty straight forward. Is this something I could do alone in a couple of weekends or do I need to recruit some help? I was a little concerned about getting everything square and getting the gaps right, I assume that is a pretty easy as well?? Thanks for the info guys.


Bobby

Probably a good time to buy a front end hardware kit. I found this to be the best thing I have bought for my car yet. It allows you to put nice new bolts at every location and any of the plastic pieces that may be broken can be replaced as well. As the others have said you will have some rusty or broken bolts by the time you finish as well as you will likely find the wrong bolts in many locations. Plus it just cleans things up a bit during the process.

I pulled my front end apart and even left on the fenders :)
Here are pics (http://www.carsbyjim.com/storage/FrontEndProject/).
One bolt at a time, take pics, document, alot of folks use PB Blaster for rusty bolts, give it an overnight on stubborn ones.
:)

I'm glad to hear it is pretty straight forward. Is this something I could do alone in a couple of weekends or do I need to recruit some help? I was a little concerned about getting everything square and getting the gaps right, I assume that is a pretty easy as well?? Thanks for the info guys.


Bobby

Bobby,
You can unbolt everything, bag and tag it etc. but if you plan to take the front end off in one piece you will definately want some help!!, especially if your car is painted and in nice condition. Its not easy to get the fenders to clear the tulip panels at the firewall without doing damage( mostly scratches) I would want 3 guys, one front and center and one at the rear of each fender. Good luck!
Travis

I've done it (with help of course) the fenders peal out away from the tulips pretty good without little damage.

[QUOTE=blackl78;935206]Bobby,
You can unbolt everything, bag and tag it etc. but if you plan to take the front end off in one piece you will definately want some help!!, especially if your car is painted and in nice condition. Its not easy to get the fenders to clear the tulip panels at the firewall without doing damage( mostly scratches) I would want 3 guys, one front and center and one at the rear of each fender.

That is right, that leaves you free to watch that they don;t scratch anything.

[QUOTE=blackl78;935206]Bobby,
You can unbolt everything, bag and tag it etc. but if you plan to take the front end off in one piece you will definately want some help!!, especially if your car is painted and in nice condition. Its not easy to get the fenders to clear the tulip panels at the firewall without doing damage( mostly scratches) I would want 3 guys, one front and center and one at the rear of each fender.

That is right, that leaves you free to watch that they don't scratch anything.

Thanks for all the input guys. I will most likely be doing this alone, one bolt at a time. I enjoy the solitude. Also, if I were to remove the sub frame to powder coat, what concerns should I be aware of? What is the process for removing and attaching the sub frame? Thanks again for all replies!

Bobby