swap questions

[chevystepside2289]

I have a friend who has a perfect cab, fenders, and hood off of his truck that he'll give me for $300, my question is...his truck is an 85 or 86 and mines an 80 what all will i have to change over? Can i run the 85 fenders and hood with the 80 grill? What all would it take to run the 85 grill?

He also has two parts trucks that he said he'd sell me...they have some decent parts on them but are beyond fixing...what could i get out of these if i part them out?

[Blazin]

The 85 - 86 fenders will not work with the 80 grill. If the cab, fenders, & hood are that clean then I would imagine the core suport is as well. you need this to run the 85 - 86 grill. Is the 85 - 86 cab and nose still on the truck? I have swaped cabs with the entire nose intact before. Unbolt the cab mounts, steering, shift linkage, brake lines, ground wire from frame, tail light harness, & lift it. I used a 6x6x through the windows and a strap down to the top of the radiator suport.

[80stepsideguy]

Question is do you like the front end of the 1980 truck opposed to the 85/86 front end?Ffrom what iread here the 80 front end will directly bolt right up to the 85/86 cab but there are slots on top of the cowl for the hood hinges on the 85/86 cab.You can weld up the holes and go with itI am doing the swap as well, i just installed a 85 cab on my newly painted frame and i am carefully cutting all the 81 and up style parts off the cab and putting 73-80 style cab sections since my truck originally is a 1980.I used a 4x4 piece of wood and rane it from 1 side of the inside of the cab to the other side and used a cherry picker to pick it up from the inside(pics available upon request.).

thanks
pat

[123 pugsy]

Don't forget about the 2 safety pins that go exactly where the hinge holes are. These keep the hood from coming thru the windshield in an accident.