Fender removal w/o removing front bumper
 

Is it possible to remove the fenders w/o removing the front bumper? My concern is the front bumper studs which bolt to the fender could break during the fender removal/install process.

I'd like to get the fenders off and see what is going on under there. I'm sure there is at least a little bit of clean up to do. Right now, I have front bumper off, but I'd like to put it back on first to make it easier to keep everything aligned.

BOTTOM LINE: Can the fender be grabbed near the door, pulled back a bit and then slid backwards to clear those bumper studs, or is that too much stress on the bumper studs?

Also, does the hood need to come off in order to remove fenders? From what I can see, the answer is yes, but I'm seeing some threads around here where people mention leaving hood on. Ah, hell, I'm starting to talk my self out of this already.........

Thanks for your expertise/experience in answering

Re: Fender removal w/o removing front bumper
 

fenders can come off with bumper in place.

the hood hinges bolt through the fender flange though

Re: Fender removal w/o removing front bumper
 

I had the full front clip off during my engine swap.

You can do it with the hood on one fender at a time, but you will need someone to hold that corner of the hood up, I would remove the hood though personally.
A few things that will save you some time
Mark the hood hinges (an easy way to do this is a small drill bit drill two holes through the hinge, fender lip, and frame but I don't like to do that)
mark a couple of spots where the fender lines up with the frame rail
mark the lower tab (infront of the door) (FYI this is likely to be all mangled so if you ahve the fender off good time to hammer that out flat etc.

Don't paint over your marks without transferring them.
Cut a few spacers that just fit into your door to fender line (at least 3 top, middle, bottom), or measure it etc.
Find a feature on the fender lip at the front and back that is common between the two fenders and measure the distance in an X pattern.

It took me a few hours to line everything back up. WIth the firebirds if you take the headlights (the assembly) out its easier to do the following.
Starting with no front clip
Loosely put the fenders on, use your spacers you made or measurments to get the door gaps right, and the depth set for the back corner of the fender.
use your X measurements to get the front corners of the fenders positioned correctly. Tighten down the fender top bolts.
tighten the bottom back bolt on each fender so it lines up with the door (you can control the bow of the fender with this bolt) and the spacers fit.

Your fenders should now be on correctly.
Loosely mount the head lights.
put the hood on and adjust getting the gaps correct here.
have someone hold the hood down and position each head light so the gaps are even with the fender and hood
now the bumper cover should fit without any issue
once the bumper cover is on put the little A frame bracket on the bottom of each fender using it to control the bumper gap etc
Then put all the air dam etc parts back on.

Like anything planning a head will save you a lot of time on the reassembly.

Re: Fender removal w/o removing front bumper
 

Wow - Excellent write up! Thanks for putting in the energy.