I think rather than messing with the fenders, consider pulling the whole front clip off in one piece.. Then you don't have to mess with all the extra parts and hardware. It is like 8 bolts instead of 80.

 

thats a great idea, only problem is my garage is a bit tight right now, imagine if i had to climb over a front clip in there!

btw, my dodge has been demoted to chevy until further notice.

 

...........

 

what the edit going on with your truck?

 

I've started tearing the front end apart in preparation to removing the engine.

it looks like i will have no choice but to cut both the new cross member and the old one to get this done.

the spring retaining part of the cross member is actually welded to the upper control arm mount brackets. the frame is sandwiched by the inner cross member mount and the upper control arm mount, thus, there is no way to slide the cross member back to the wider portion of frame.

since the lower portion of the crossmember bolts into the frame, i should be able to use those holes to relocate the new cross member, likewise, i should be able to use the rivet holes in the side of the frame to relocate the upper cross member mount and the upper control arm mounting assembly. hopefully i can just bolt those parts back in they will be more or less jigged up where they need to be. all i have to do is fill the areas i cut with a weld bead.

 

Ugh. It just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?

 

made some headway finally.
now i have some room to work!

the engine came out much more easily than i thought it would. it does help to have three guys though~ just keep em full of mechanic juice and they help all weekend long!

 

OMG my FRAM is showing!

how embarrassing.

 

i've never seen anyone pull the engine out the side of the engine bay

 

in the second to last picture you can see what my driveway is like. no way was i gonna pull it out the front. it came out the side quite nicely.

 

Interesting flex plate. I didn't know they made solid ones for these rigs.

 

Solid was stock at least in my 89. They crack. Sounds real nice running on a broken flexplate. Check that baby good for cracks. No time like the present to fix it if its busted.

 

Looks like you are well equipped when it comes time to weld 'er back together again.

 

that is, if i can find enough room to get that sucker by! its a Union Carbide Linde HDA 300. $300 on craigslist seemed like a great deal, but man, that sucker is HUGE!

 

i got the old X-member out. not too bad. you can see in these pictures how much better the 91 X-member is.