Ok it's Sunday morning 2002 and waiting on engine parts, so I decided it's time to get started on the front end. Years of caked on dirt and grease, I just realized that's what keeps everything from rusting. Rebuilding the front end was pretty straight forward. All the information needed to do this portion of the rebuild can be found in the manuals.
Back to today, Saturday 8/1/2026. A friend came over and helped me attach the front clip, adding the 2X4 as a spreader seemed like a good idea at the time but the valve cover disagreed. I did not realize that having all the bolt snugged up was a bad idea. Trying to get inner and outer fenders to bolt up to the cab was a real challenge. The next time we install this clip I will leave the outer fender off and all bolts loose, including the cab. This day is a huge milestone, the first the clip and cab have been on the frame at the same time. I used the largest bolts possible to bolt the fender on, because the inner, outer, and inner to outer cowl panels have been replaced and I needed to make sure the new hole that needs to be drilled in the outer cowl panel lower section was in the correct location. If I had used the 5/16” bolts and let the fender hang, the lower hole may not be in the correct location and so no hood alignment. Hope that makes sense. I should have paid closer attention to the Nuns in grammar, LOL. See ya next week.
