73-87chevytrucks.com
73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Body, Glass & Paint => Topic started by: KoolerSL2 on January 29, 2009, 01:10:11 am
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hey guys.
well found my donor 91 front end but its on a driving truck.
ive worked out the details and basically were swapping core supports and associated items.
my question is can this swap out be done with hand tools, in a driveway, within a couple hrs?
i know wiring is gonna be a headache but i can do that without a problem.
what all am i going to have to loosen up and such?
anything to keep an eye out for?
and advice from anyone who has done this.
thanks
chris
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http://www.coloradok5.com/grilleswap.shtml
Here's an article just do a better job on the wiring.
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cool thanks.
so from looks of it say 1/2 a day to swap between the vehicles?
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Hand tools? Good luck. I think the bigggest PITA is going to be rusted stubborn bolts or bolts that break off on ya. Then your kinda stuck between taking one off and getting the other one put together. Personally I would make it were you have all access to the tools and time. It would be bad if it got dark and you wasn't finshed with 1 or the other just hate to see you get in a jamb. Have fun though.
One other part to remember to change is the valance piece between the bumper and grille they are different and they are painted body color. His will work wth your grille but yours won't work with the new one unless you modify it. I think you can modify it but you would have to cut yours when you see the other you will see what I'm talking about.
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ive looked over his truck and mine.
my bolts will be easy as ive taken em out before.
only bolts im worried about is the 2 big ones on the bottom.
now as for that valence, can the holes just be elongated or would it be better to swap em out?
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also which grille setup does everyone think i should go with?
its a GMC jimmy truck that im getting, but i am partial to the chevy grille setup.
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chevy my truck is a gmc well the vin says that anyway alot of things was swaped by the owner before me but chevy rules lol
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I've had both grilles and I like the chevy one better. The one I got also came from a jimmy so I found the other and changed it I still want to make it a billit grille just haven't got it yet. As far as the valance goes its not that the holes need elongated its that it has like a notch on each side where the turnsignals mount. I think that is how I mean to describe it. If anyone else wants to chime in here and help me explain it. Oh well you'll see what I mean when you see it. Its not really that big a deal.
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well if its a case of trimming i think we'll leave those valences alone.
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Thats gonna look good Chris. When are yall planning to do the swap?
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I will try to get you a picture of the 89-91 valance this weekend. They have mounting tabs that the 81-87 valance does not have.
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swap is happening this sunday morning.
those pics would be great.
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I took some pics tonight but for whatever reason the computer won't let me load them. I'll try again in the morning.
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I will try to get you a picture of the 89-91 valance this weekend. They have mounting tabs that the 81-87 valance does not have.
Thats right I forgot about those tabs. See I knew I was missing something.
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I'll try again.
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OOH!
well thank you for that pic.
well i guess ill just go and get some rattle can paint and we'll just swap em out.
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That will make it easier on you if you can swap the valances, they would be a pain to modify. Just trying to think of any other problems you may run into doing a 1 day swap.
JR already mentioned the bolts, Yours are new but what about the suburbans? You may want to think about replacing the body bushings while it's apart.
Do the trucks have air cond? You can sneak the rad support in and out without disconnecting the condenser lines if you are carefull.
If you need any more pics I will take them and hope for the best trying to load them on the computer.
Fitz.
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fitz thanks for all the help and advice. 1 question I wana ask is are the fenders the same? as in will they have the little slots where the trim bolt on? as far as the bolts I got my breaker bar and a torch so we should be good. my truck doesn't have a/c and my friends has all been removed so I guess that's 1 less thing to mess with.
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Yes fenders are the same. Make sure you take some pics as you go. You won't have any trouble. And youll like the looks of it' I got lucky when I got mine a friend of mine was junking a Jimmy and I asked him what he was doing with all that cause he was just going to trash it the fenders were shot so he took a torch and cut off the front end in one big piece and I gave him $50.00 took it home and took it all apart the core support was perfect with no rust the grille wasn't great but I wanted the Chevy grille anyway. Have fun.
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Fenders are identical, but what trim are you taking about? The later truck trim was glued for the side?
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I think Kooler ls2 is talking about this trim. Like Captkaos said the fenders are the same your 85 trim will fit the 91 Suburban.
Fitz
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fitz i think your a mind reader.
thats exactly what i was referring to.
well i got all the bolts loose for the morning.
and did some interior work.
and dont worry lots of pics to come!
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How did the swap go? any before and after pictures?
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ooh sorry i thought i posted lol.
went well.
i had my truck tore down in about a lil over a hr.
after my friend got here we did his truck, pulled his support and swapped in my old support and grille in about 3 hrs total.
then after some cleaning and painting i got it put into my truck.
heres some finished pics.
his before and after then mine before and after.
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im glad someone said something about the big bolts!
had 1 break and the rest came out after coaxing them with my 1/2 drive ratchet lol.
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Looks great. Glad it all went well for ya.
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Looks great! 8) I like the GMC grille. Are you gonna keep it or get the chevy grille?
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doin the chevy grille.
mainly this one is beatup and the chrome is pealing ina few spots.
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I was going to say PB blaster!!!!! helps every time.
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i did this upgrade a few springs ago...to kooler-did you have any problems with the wiring harness?the junction block on the firewall of my 87 sierra was shaped different than the plug on the 91 suburban harness.so i cut the head light pigtails as long as i could,then scotch-locked them to my 87 harness.turn on the lights and piggybacked the pigtails onto the wire.once i had all the lights working, i came back and trimmed up the wires and swapped the scotch-locks for butt connectors.just remember to put the heat shrink on BEFORE you crimp the connectors.i didn't. ;Di have the chevy grille,but it matches my chevy gate.it really cleaned up the front of my truck.sorry i don't have pics.
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I know this thread is old but the info in it is great.
For the valence, I don't have one from the 90 Burb I just got everything else from. Guy wrecked it anyway getting the core support out. Is it possibe to remove a valence from another Burb WITHOUT having to remove the bumper or core support? That would be great if so.
Otherwise, I may just keep my valence I have now and either fab up some brackets to support the bottom of the grille or just live with it not being supported. I know that on my 85 grille I have now, it's not supported at the bottom either and kinda flops around but it hasn't been a problem thus far. And, my valence is already painted body color now anyway.
Lastly, when swapping core supports, you didn't have to remove the rad at all? Did you just remove the shround, unbolt the rad and let it lay back aginst the fan?
Thanks! I'm getting ready to do this swap in the next month.