The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1950 3100 chevy - Removing Front Fenders

I am new to this, have a 1950 Chevy 3100 (family truck since new) I am disassembling and have reached the front fenders. I have removed all the bolts, but it appears the radiator must come out to let the fender slide forward and off. Is this right, or did I miss something? If there is a previous discussion, forgive me.

Thanks

If you want to take the entire front end off at one time, then yes, the radiator and radiator support will need to come off. Then grab a friend, each of you grab a fender, lift, and put it where you want it.

If you want to take the fenders off only, you'll need to get in under each of them and remove the 2 bolts (2 on each fender that is) that anchor the fender braces to the radiator support. Then, remove the 1 bolt (1 on each side) that hold the very front of the fender to the grill support and inner fender.

After these are off, you should be able to simply remove the fenders individually.

Thanks for the reply, I took the entire brace off, including the two bolts attached to the radiator brace and the grille was off already. The fender seems "stuck" under a flange (along with the inner fender) that has two bolts in it attached to the radiator which I removed.(Wish I had pics). Since the radiator has to come off anyway, I just might fiddle with it until I see the light.

Do the fenders pull straight off to the side, or do they have to go forward?

Thanks again

ceg,

I got it. You need to loosen the bolts holding the radiator support to your frame. Both the inner and outer fender are "wedged" up under the radiator support. Once you loosen these bolts (should be two of 'em), you should be able to manipulate the fenders off the truck.

Thanks, that is exactly right, both sides of the radiator brace have to be loosened and the bottom ones as well, then there is just enough room to pull the fender straight about 3 inched then slip the fender edge out from under the support. Now all the sheet metal is off - looks bare.

Thanks again

Good luck lining it all back up. Suggestion to anyone else contemplating this: pull it all off as an assembly.

yeah pulling it off together is the easiest way. But at some point depending on your application, they will need separated. Don't be afraid. I did the s-10 swap and got them back on and lined up pretty good, hood closes and all. I even had to cut my inner fenders to fit with my application. As for putting it back on the original frame. That I have yet to discover, eventually I will, but I couldn't imagine it being harder than doing the s-10 swap.

Good luck, what all are you trying to do? You might find it difficult to get the cab off of your steering column if you need to do that. I pulled mine up and over the column (with the steering wheel off) I couldn't figure out how to get the steering box apart. Figured it out after I had the cab off. geeesh. anyway keep digging. It is fun.

Cletis - Not sure how to pull it all off as an assembly. Do you mean inner and outer fenders together? I keep thinking I will do the minimum to get on with it, but I can see the need to fully disassemble, clean and paint then rebuild. I am apprehensive as you say about lining it all back up and keeping the assembly order straight.

I mean inner, outer, radiator support, grille and all as one piece. Just a few bolts and 2 people can lift the whole thing off and out of the way.

Of course, if you are dis-assembling it for paint this won't work but if you are changing an engine that is the way to go.

Boy what a pain. I just put mine back together last week (inner and outer) on both sides. Much harder to line everything up than I thought it would be so be sure to have an extra set of hands to help. The new grill assembly is next but I'll have to do some fender adjusting now that the hood doesn't latch unless you really push down hard. I replaced the inner to outer fender seals which may have moved then in slightly on each side. I think that will be the project this weekend.

Thanks for all the help guys. I never thought about a wholesale removal of inner/outer fenders and radiator support. It would have been a lot easier to take apart as one unit on the ground.

Looking forward to a day I struggle to put it back together!

I know one guy that enlisted a body shop employee who had spent a lot of years putting sheetmetal back where it came from. He said he paid him a little money and the guy made a tough job easy. I wish I had thought of that.

But...just think of all the fun it will be putting it back together. I've been "dry-fitting" everything over the past couple of months...inner to outer fenders, core support, upper & lower baffles, front splash pan, running boards/braces/splash pans, rear fenders, hood...interior window garnishes, outer door window stainless (yada, yada, yada). I haven't had one of these apart since I owned my first one back in the late 70's. It's been a blast trying to figure the puzzle out (since the assembly manual only shows you so much!)