Over the winter I found that my front toe boards were rusted through. To get through the winter I patched them up with fiberglass. I recently got a body cutout of the entire firewall and toe boards back to the seats from a donor car so I am about to start disassembly to fix the rust outs. I believe I will need to remove the dash assembly, heater core and steering column (carpet and padding is already out) since I will need to weld in replacement donor panel parts that go up under the dash. My question is about disassembly of the front clip area. I plan to remove the engine and transmission, inner and outer fenders. Can the fenders, bumper cover and nose be removed as one assembly or is it easier to just remove them individually? Does anyone have a sequence of steps to clear out the area of the firewall and toe boards from the engine bay? Before anyone asks about scrapping the car, I will be repairing it as I have been driving this car since 1992 and have 478,000 miles on it so rather connected to it.

 

pretty sure fenders, bumper covers and nose are all separate pieces.each one at a time.

 

You might be able to do it with the dash in the car, but it will be a lot easier and cleaner if you pull it and the heater/A/C box. I would pull the interior first, then the body panels and then the motor/transmission. Reverse that order when you put it back together.

The front end is all separate pieces. Remove hood, then nose, fender liners, ground effects and I would probably pull the doors too. Heat up and dig out the old seam sealer to see what you're working with and then start drilling spot welds and cutting out the rusty metal and weld in new metal. Not that hard, just a lot of time and patience to do it right.

My resto thread may help for some reference info and photos

1989 Trans am GTA Restoration Thread - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

 

Someone's signature around here states " perpetual state of dissemble", which describes my car (prepping for pain). LiquidBLue is correct. The correct way is to remove the parts individually. Though, I never tried, it does appear (on my car) that you could take the hood off, hinges, and then unbolt the fenders, find all the clips, harnesses, etc. and then remove the entire front end (fenders, and nose) connected. Granted you might need a helper to lift and wiggle it off. Don't know what your situation is, but storage space is precious in my shop, so storing the entire front end might be a pain! No sequence knowledge I have about disassembly process, to clear out the area of the firewall and toe boards from the engine bay Take plenty of pictures, and bag, and tag everything! Invest in some storage tubs to hold the parts.

 

While you might be able to leave the fenders and nose connected and take them off together, you'll need at least 3 people to do it and a high risk of damaging the nose or fenders due to being unsupported and flexing. Where you put that large assembly without it being damaged may also be an issue. The fenders can come off with the nose staying in place, but I think it's easier to pull the nose first.

Agreed on lots of photos and separate fasteners into labelled bags.

 

Thanks all for the info. I have had the nose off before and it was a bit of a pain with the studs up inside the front fenders but it does sound like the best approach is to just take the pieces out one at a time. I have a three bay shop but two of the bays have in one my 76 Sea Ray boat resto and the other has my 67 SS/RS resto. I also have a 40 foot container for parts storage. I think I will use the suggestion to remove the dash and heater box parts first to see if I can do the repairs without pulling the whole front end.