Greetings.
I am in the process of replacing the damaged fenders and front bumper cover on my 1984 firebird, but am kind of stuck...I've got a haynes manual and a chiltons, but either I'm blind, or it's not in there...I can't figure out for the life of me where to start for the bumper cover and the fenders...I can see the bolts "behind" the headlights, but past that I'm clueless...

Any help as to how to remove and install Fenders and the front bumper cover would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Miah

 

Headlights need to come out. 4 10 mm bolts mounting the brackets in. I would do the nose first and then the fender. Depending on the year, there are either 10mm regular nuts or 11mm speed nuts connecting the fenders to the nose. Don't forget the bolts up top near the turn signals.

For the fender, there's the bolts that run on the top of it, a few supporting the front GFX, and 1 15 mm bolt which is near the cat. If you have GFX, I believe they're all 11 mm speed nuts (door skirts nuts you can access while the door is open and the plastic "inner" fender is removed. Its not fun if you don't have an 11mm deep socket. Oh yea, if you don't want to remove the hood, have a few buddies lift the hood up while you slide the fender forward and out.

 

Yeah, you can't do bodywork with a Haynes/Chiltons. You'll need the http://www.helminc.com manual.

'84 was the last year of f-body to use "real" steel nuts on the front bumper cover's hanger. In 85-up, the two uppermost nuts connecting the front bumper cover to the fender are stamped steel "fake" nuts that bite into cast iron non-threaded "studs". Yours has actual steel studs/nuts with real threads... less chance of stripping/snapping anything.

Those stamped steel pieces of junk are called speed nuts? Ugh. Glad I put an '84 hanger onto my '86's bumper cover! (Yes it fits...)

Also, you're going to have a re-alignment nightmare in front of you. The best order is:

1. Align fenders to doors (so doors can open without crushing the fender).
2. Align hood to fenders (so the sides of the hood don't land on the fenders)
3. Align headlights to hood and fender and bumper. The flip-up's can rub the hood when they flip up! So unplug the 3-wire actuator (aka headlight motor), and work the headlights up/down manually, in small movements, so you're sure the innermost corners of the headlight lids (the corners that point towards the engine) don't rub or get hung up on the hood.

For the passenger side fender, the antenna is bracketed to the inner strut tower. Be sure to remove that antenna bracket. Your best bet (for both sides) is to remove the plastic inner fenders; the plastic rivets that hold the inner fenders to the real steel fenders can be removed by pulling the center out a 1/4 inch with pliers, then prying the whole rivet out of the hole.

 

I removed my hood, front bumper cover & impact bar, as well as my RF fender without taking the headlights out.

Not that it will save you much time, as they come out easily. I have since replaced my headlights too, so they ended up coming out anyway. Just letting you know you don't HAVE to remove the headlights.

 

I have to pull my fenders off too, but I've run into nothing but problems.

I already have the nose and hood off, and all the fender bolts/screws except for one per side. These I can't seem to find a way to remove. All I can see is the end of the bolt coming out of a square block beneath the car, behind the front tires. I've tried all I can to find the heads, but they are nowhere to be found. I checked through the wheel well, through the interior access panel, and through the door gap. My friend said that his camaro, those were guide-bolts that the fenders just slide into, so it might all be just rusted together.

Any suggestions?

 

Yeah, I ran into the same problem...That single bolt behind the tire, like near the door, broke two of my sockets before I was able to get it off...I ended up using a LOT of WD-40 overnight, and then I was able to take it off...As for it being a guide bolt, I'm not sure about that, at least on mine, I had to take it all the way off to remove it...And it is indeed a 15mm bolt...

I hope that helps a little...

Miah