If at all possible leave the hood undisturbed as realigning it can be much more work than removing the clip as a unit. If you don't have a nut splitter get one for the fender to cowl bolts and if the cowls are really rotten half the bolts won't be holding anything anyway. Personally I found keeping the engine/bellhousing/tranny as a unit easier to pull/replace.
BowtieTim,
What am I missing? What is holding up the front of your fenders with the core support gone?
