Miss Mac wrote:
> Hello y'all, new to the board and I have a little question. I have a
> 73 vette and I need to put on a new front clip. How hard would it be
> for lil ole me to take the current one off and put on a new one?
> Thank you kindly.
>

I haven't done it, but I know it's a LOT of work, perhaps too difficult
a project for anyone who has to ask the question. You also may need to
remove the engine to gain working space.

Basically you need to have some way to align the new front end in all
three planes, front and rear, which means you probably need to take
measurements (before you disturb the existing front end) of the old
front end in relationship to the frame or other repeatable positioning
aids. It may be possible to align things by eye when the radiator
support is in it's proper position and bolted to the frame and clip,
assuming you really have a good eye and a lot of experience. You may
also need to fabricate some jigs to assist with front end
positioning/alignment. If your old front end is not in a condition to
measure, you may need to take the measurements with someone else's car.

The old front end is bonded to the body (unlike metal cars where the
front clip is bolted in position), so you have to separate the old front
end from the cowl and door frames and grind any residue of fiberglass
and bonding agent off the body to get down to the main body fiberglass.
Then you need to dress the bonding surfaces on the new front end and
properly position it in place using clamps, etc until you have it
exactly where it needs to be, grinding and smoothing all mating panels
until it's exactly in position and clamped so the outer surfaces are
aligned (may take multiple iterations to get things right); then mark
the panels to enable you to put them back in that exact position before
separating the front clip from the cowl again to coat the mating
surfaces with an appropriate bonding compound; now reposition the front
clip in it's prior exact position and re-clamp and/or screw it as
required to hold it tightly in position on the cowl until the bond
cures. Fill/grind any areas that need it, remove any clamping screws,
grind out the screw holes and fill the holes with fiberglass mixture.
Smooth all the joints down, fill & primer.

Here's a couple of sites that might be of assistance:
http://www.glas-ra.com/v3_4.html

http://www.glassmandan.com/tutorials/003.html
(guess Dan's got a good eye, because he doesn't mention any measurements)