73-87chevytrucks.com
73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Body, Glass & Paint => Topic started by: ken4444 on April 10, 2018, 10:38:42 AM
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After doing some reading and posting here, it looks like changing the whole front clip just to get an earlier style grill is a lot of work and expense and presumably adds 300 pounds that the older front clip brings with it.
Why is it not possible to swap an '83 grill for a '76 grill without changing the while front clip? I assume it IS possible with some amount of metal fabrication. Has anyone here done that? How hard could it be to reproduce the mounting locations that the '76 grill requires?
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Grill?
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180414/f517a56d64cd2f32b978489fa2eff400.jpg)
....or grille
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180414/ec793be905863023f7cdbe95e77a112b.jpg)
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If this weather would ever get nice I'll be firing up the grill!
Ken4444, Are you asking if you can retrofit just the grille into the 83 or are you asking if you can modify the whole front clip without actually changing the front clip? kind of confused as to what you are asking.
Why is it not possible to swap an '83 grill for a '76 grill without changing the while front clip?
Square peg round hole
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Lol!!! And not to infringe on ken4444. But yeah, sick of this cold frigid snowy icy spring!! I should be trout fishing, not shoveling!! And yes, time for grillin'!!!
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Ken4444, Are you asking if you can retrofit just the grille into the 83 or are you asking if you can modify the whole front clip without actually changing the front clip?
My apologies for the confusion and spelling problems :)
Is it possible to put a '76 grille, headlights, and trim pieces on an '83 without changing the fenders and hood? If yes, then what is involved?
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Is it possible to put a '76 grille, headlights, and trim pieces on an '83 without changing the fenders and hood? If yes, then what is involved?
Using stock pieces without any special fabrication? No.
The front sheet metal and body lines are completely different between the two. Even with some simple fabrication, like making brackets, it wouldn't be a bolt in where the parts would match the body lines.
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The front sheet metal and body lines are completely different between the two. Even with some simple fabrication, like making brackets, it wouldn't be a bolt in where the parts would match the body lines.
That was my worry. Thanks for the clarification.
What's the truth to the claim that the early front clip is 300 pounds heavier than the '81 to '87?
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What's the truth to the claim that the early front clip is 300 pounds heavier than the '81 to '87?
I don't know the real number, but GM trucks were lightened up in '81.
Lots of little changes can save a bunch on weight - plastic headlight bezels on the '83 versus the chromed potmetal bezel on the '76; thinner gauge steel in the fenders, hood and core support versus the earlier trucks; thinner side windows, etc.
For what it's worth, the aftermarket sheet metal for the 70's trucks is also usually thinner than the factory sheetmetal. So it'd weigh less overall than factory original. If you've got a 454, you won't notice any difference in fuel mileage...