So, I have been working hard to get this front end on my 1969 Firebird for a couple weeks now. Lots of time using Google, reading through here, etc. and I am still having a really tough time. I have assembled a ton of different vehicles, and I have to say, the 69 Firebird had to take the cake for parts complexity and the need for each part to work together in order for it to not look all jerry-rigged in place. You can probably sense my frustration....

So, a bit of back story... I had rusty and dented oem front fenders and core support, so I opted for aftermarket front fenders and a factory-fit core support specifically for the Firebird. The fenders actually fit pretty good at the doors, but the issue I am having is at the front end support brackets, and where the fenders bolt to the core support. The core support fits perfect everywhere, except is about 3/8" too low where the fenders are supposed to bolt to it. See the following pic:

Front End Pic 1

Front End Pic 2

Secondarily, the upper long bracket that runs left to right across the whole top of the front end is about 1/2" too low from allowing the headlight surrounds from matching up to the top of the fenders. If I raise the bumper bracket it raises the upper long bracket, which pushes up the side corner brackets, which in turn raises the upper fender which further emphasizes the issue of the fender being higher than the headlight surround.

I could eliminate the corner brackets with the rubber bumpers that space between the long upper bracket and the corner brackets, but when I do this, then the inner corner of the fender dips down at an angle, so I would need to twist the fender so that it stays put without the bumpers. I hope that makes sense.

Front End Pic 3

Finally, is there some way to pre-assemble the headlight pieces and the upper long bracket, independent of the lower brackets and bumper brackets? It is difficult to assemble the headlight surrounds after all of the other stuff is assembled, as some of the nuts/bolts are tough to get to. I have the assembly manual, but it only has pics, doesn't mention anything about what order to assemble the front end.

Thanks for letting me vent, and thanks in advance for any help you can offer.