Any tips for removing a front Fender on a 70-72 Cutlass/442 and reinstalling, aligning it. Looks straight forward..I have all known bolts/screws loose per assembly/service books. Not sure how the radiator core assembly will react w/o the fender. Will do one side at a time.... Wheel well was easily removed (should have done that long ago, to make detailing easier)..thanks

 

Are you removing the fender for some reason and then re-installing the same fender or are you replacing the fenders? If you plan to re-install the same fenders then just pay close attention to the shims that installed under the fender at the top of the cowl, under the tab located inside the door jam area, under the fender tab on the front (verticle) side of the cowl if any are there, between the very bottom of the fender and the bottom of the cowl and at the radiator support. If you remove everything carefully and are sure to put the shims back in the same location in he exact quanity that existed originally you should be able to do this without too much trouble. Also note that shims are in different thicknesses so pay attention to that too. Be careful at the bottom of the fender as those shims are a little difficult to see and when you slide that fender out, the shims will fall to the ground. Since there are 2 bolts down there, you could have a fair number of shims. If they fall to the ground and you can't determine what came from which location, you just need to do your best to figure it out.

However, if you plan to install a different fender, you can try to install the shims as they were originally but you may find that you'll need to change the quantity and thickness of the shims to get a proper fit. And under this scenario, you will find that this can be quite challenging especially if you have a fender that doesn't want to cooperate and if you are doing this for the first time. You'll need to have the hood installed to get the fit correct. And if you removed the hood and hinges, there is another area that can be a challenge. If you get stuck, post a few photos of the problems and I'm sure you'll get suggestions on how to remedy the issue.

If the hood will be removed and you haven't done it yet, remove one bolt on each side that bolts the hood to the hinge and drill a small hole through the hinge and into the hood to act as a locating mark. You can use the drill bit later as the alignment tool. Just make the hole in the area where the washer on the bolt will cover it so it's not visible when you are done. That will make that step easier and the only work is aligning the hinge to the fender.

 

Everything he said plus this: make sure the fender sticks out ever soooo slightly in front of the door when re-assembled, otherwise your car may "whistle" while driving down the freeway.