I would appreciate advice on removing the grill from a 1968 dodge charger

[john108]

Need Help with removing a grill from 1968 Dodge Charger.
I am trying to replace the left front fender. The service manual I have indicated that I have to remove the bumber and grill but offers no help. I can see that this is necessary because the fender needs to slide forward to clear some welded brackets. The headlights stops it from sliding much.

The bumper is off. I have the grill, frame supporting the grill, and fender all loose. The frame around the grill and the grill itself have an interference, around the headlights and mechanism that opens their doors, that is stopping me from removing them.
Without removing every screw that I can find, resulting in a bunch of parts that I won't be able to put back together, there must be some procedure that identifies only what needs to be removed.

I am hoping that someone out there can do it blind folded and can help me identify what I need to do. And, are there any written instructions that would be easy to follow.

Thank you
John"

[keepat]

John,
Welcome!
There are 14 bolts/nuts holding the grille support in place. Four on top the grille support that you can see with the hood up, two on each side. Two at the bottom center of the radiator support crossmember. With the bumper and air shield (valence) off you can see a "L" bracket under the headlights that have 2 bolts in the fender on each side. Last looking inside the wheelwell fwd you will see two 1/4 20 nuts on each side. Remove the Vacuum hoses and headlight wires and you are off!
Good luck!
Pat

[john108]

Keepat
Your advice was very helpfull.  Thank you!
I have the grill out and fender off.  I just didn't see the forward facing nuts in the wheelwell.
Taking the fender off also revealed a surprise bolt under the fender clamping it to a metal splash guard.

I have looked at other posts and some of these people look to be excellent body work people.  I am changing the fender and hood due to a minor fender bender where the front left corner 5 inches got kinked down about an inch.  Because it was double walled there, I didn't think it could be fixed as well as just replacing it.  It would be nice to have those skills.  The hood I will be using is not as nice as my damaged one, as far as finish, but no wrinkles or dents, just multi layers of bad paint.  Could be some minor bondo under the paint.

Thank you again
John

[keepat]

 John,
Post some pictures!

[PocketThunder]

Does the bumper need to come off to get the grille out?

[terrible one]

Does the bumper need to come off to get the grille out?

Yes. The lower support that goes from the bottom of the grill frame to the radiator support makes it impossible to simply pull it straight out.

[68chrgrwife]

Hubby had the same problem..I found those nuts for him and he felt pretty dumb