With the proper equipment and skill, it should take less than a minute to remove one bolt. Unfortunately this afternoon, I had neither :)
The left front fender has a number of 1/2 inch bolts holding it in from top to bottom, front to back, and there were five in particular that have not moved in the 46 years since this car was built, and they reminded me of that every time I tried to turn one. Two of the bolts had a rounded head, but thanks to a rounded-bolt head-remover, I got two of them off.
The main problem was it would have been easier if I could have flipped the car over on its back but unfortunately that was not going to happen. Imagine lying on your back with a socket wrench in one hand, a box-end wrench in the other hand, and Hulk Hogan executing a textbook Figure 4 Leg Lock or the Boston Crab submission hold on you, as you try to remove the bolt. That would have been more conformable without a doubt.
I did successfully remove the right front fender and only one bolt now holds the left front fender, which hopefully I will remove tomorrow night if I can find a deep well socket and all goes well.
In an effort to make putting it back together easier, I began a new technique today that I wish I had done when the project began. On the very first day Benjamin and I put every nut and bolt in a zip-lock bag and Benjamin wrote on the outside where they went, but today, in addition to the zip-lock bag technique, I also took a picture with my camera phone and on the outside of the bag numbered today's projects, 1-11. I plan to print out each picture and put it in the plastic bag so it will show exactly where the bolts go. That way if I am eaten by a pack of wild dingos, which is not really how I want to go, everyone will know where each bolt goes exactly.
So far so good........
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