How to assemble the front fenders etc

yes first attach the radiator support to the frame and you can put the inner fenders in place and bolt

to the radiator support and I think there might be 1 bolt that goes into a bracket on the firewall/cowl and then you have to put the fenders in place,ten you can finish bolting the inner fenders to the fenders But leave the bolts loose till you align the fenders.

once you get the fenders on then mount the header panel between them to get your front spacing

the shims in the rad support will have to be added after the fenders are on to give an even gap with the fenders to the doors.

If the gap is wider at the top then add shims till it starts to even out the gap along the fender and door.You may also have to shim under the back of the fenders at the top where it bolts to the cowl so your bodyline heights are the same on the fender and door.Snug the bolts but don't fully tighten till you add the hood hinges and bolt the hood on as you may have to move the radiator support on the frame side to side to square up the hood gaps with the fenders.

one your gaps are even tighten the 2 rad support bolts then your fenders and everything else that is loose.

most seem to leave their wires exposed in case there are any electrical issues but you can reroute them it's up to you

 

Concerning the assembly on the front clip of this era of Ford car, just like the Torino, I feel it's best to assembly the front clip apart.

 

I would start by carefully protecting the fender and paint, but use of a soft surface, such as a clean heavy blanket, etc that will not damage the paint.

When I had my car in for paint:

 

My fenders were worked first, primed and painted:

Side note: clean up of fastners. I sand blasted, etch primed and coated the hardware:

 

At this point, I had spare fender liners that I had already sand blasted and painted:

 

And reassembly of the fender to the liner.

 

I will say I did struggle with this by myself, and would suggest having a helper.

 

I have not had the best of luck installing on the vehicle due to how the liner installs on the fender, but this is my own personal experince with the Torino line.

Thunderbird may be slightly different, but not enough that I can see this being that much a difference.

 

The header panel, which on your car is a fiberglass piece would go on after you have the fenders loosly bolted to the car.

 

You will want to leave things a little loose to align things properly, shim as needed, for proper panel alignment.

These cars are not like late model cars, you may have to use 1/4" {6mm} to 1/2" {13mm} worth of shims to align the panels on these cars, as this is what the factory would have done.

 

So far I have reattached the radiator support panel and an inner fender to the chassis, I might see if the outer fender is relatively easy to attach to this assembly in situ.