LS400 Fender Removal and Hood Hinge Replacement + Radiator Support

I am ready to fix the issue with The Chariot's (my LS400) hood alignment. Sadly, I am currently at a hotel so because I don't want to make you guys wait for pictures of my own work, I figured I would write up a tutorial on the removal of the fender and replacement of the hood hinge mechanism. The latter requires you to take off the fender. Also because my car requires a radiator support change in the future and because that also requires fender removal, I added instructions for that aswell.

This job really intimidated me at first simply because it's bodywork and not mechanical work. I'm talking about removing the fender. This would be my first time messing with anything than a hood when it comes to bodywork so I had no idea what to expect. For some reason, I thought it would be very difficult. Luckily it's not.

If you have access to a Pull-n-Pay type of junkyard, I would recommend that you take off the fender of an LS400 there so you can learn. Yes, you will be doing the job twice in a way but to me, being confident before you begin is extremely important.

This is what I did initially. I simply went to the yard with my tools and started taking it apart using mainly common sense although I had read a tutorial already. It is pretty simple.

I ran out of time before I was done but I simply started with the bolts on top with the hood open, moved to the bolts/nuts hidden behind the headlights, continued by removing the lining on the bottom, above the wheel. There was also a bolt behind the door and you have to remove the little trim-type piece by the door at the bottom. It's the small piece of bodywork that is separated by the line running across the whole of the car. I ran out of time at this point but I believe that comes off with a Phillips-head screwdriver. There you should find the last bolts. I think they are all 10mm and come off easy.

You can now take the fender off. I mean, if that's not easy, I don't know what is. Maybe I was thinking there would be some welds but apparently most cars are like this where the fender is just secured to the car all the way around with bolts. I marked the areas where they are in this picture below.

I also want to talk about my Lexus for a minute.

Since I got the car, it technically needs the radiator support changed out because it's bent up even though it works fine. The thing is - I have the new part but the one on the car itself is spot-welded to the body. To change this out, you have to remove both fenders and somehow break through the spot welds so you can slide the radiator support off of the structure. Initially I wasn't sure how I would remove this part if it's welded but I got a good tip from a Youtube video. Just drill the stuff off! You could probably cut it off with a grinder or metal saw too. I'm pretty happy knowing that very soon, this car won't even have body damage anymore. I achieved this being broke as a joke and you can too! That's what this whole thing is about. It's an inspirational thing for yourself - to see something you essentially created.