Personally, what would you do?

['70_402]

i will be tearing my truck down to frame this summer and rebuilding, i will making this truck custom and am not really worried about a stock apearance. (wheels, drop ect.) what i am wondering is my truck is a 1970 and alot of the "custom" trucks out there have the 71-72 grille on them. do you guys think that that grille looks better on a "custom" truck? maybe with a billet insert or something of that nature. or should i stick with the stock 69-70 grille...i like the looks of both of them.. just curious what you guys think and like.

thanks

here are some examples

[mt Al]

Its your truck, do whatever you think looks right. You could most likely do some interesting custom work on your '70 front end to both keep it and make it look more custom.

Since you specifically asked for our personal responses, I'd go with a '68 chevy or any year GMC grill. Love the '68 chev front end!

[smitty62]

JMO, but I think the '67/'68 grille is far superior to the later grilles--class!

[Tx Firefighter]

On my 70, I modified the grille to take a 71-72 billet insert. It turned out real nice. That's one of the best mods I did to the truck.

I did a thread on it with pictures if you care to look for it.

['70_402]

hey tx,

is this the thread?
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php3?t=86624
if so the pics are gone.... could you assist?

[Tx Firefighter]

Here's some of them that I still have saved.

[Tx Firefighter]

Here's the rest.

It's the best thing I did to the truck in my opinion.

I placed ads and looked everywhere for a 71-72 outer shell so I could run the insert, but no one had a nice one for sale that I could afford. I got to looking at my 70 grille and it was in good shape, so I modified it instead.

[CPNE]

[67ChevyRedneck]

Most "custom" trucks I've seen have a smoothed 67/68 clip on it. I like the 70 grill with a billet insert. If your gona go "really" custom, I've always wanted to see someone put a 67/68 hood on a 69-72. It would be a lot of work, but I think it can be done. How bout your 70 grill, billet insert, 67 hood, shaved handles and turn signals, a 2/4 drop, and some torque thrust II wheels??? Anyway, it's your truck bro, have fun with it!

[GreyHoundSteve]

Since you asked for personal preferences i'll state mine.
67 is without a doubt the best looking STOCK frontend. It has the more agresive aerodynamic hood and fenders and doesnt have the ugly sidemarkers that the 68 had. I think from there it went downhill each year until they finally made these trucks too ugly to drive in 73 ( for some reason they thought boxes on wheels would look better.... go figure). If you dont want to go through the trouble of replacing the fenders, hood and grill then i would go for the FULL PHANTOM grill made by Trenz and Carraige Works. That is the best bet on a 69-72 however be prepared to shell out about $350 and then you also have to worry about cops harrasing you about the hidden headlights. I was going to really go nuts with my project and hack up a 69-72 phantom and put it on my 67 but i wasnt confident enough in my metal working skills to take that risk so im going with a new design that will look similar to a 67/68 but will be custom. Thats my $.02.

[67chevemall]

The first pic at the top is the best!!
$0.02

[bouncytruck]

I'm not a huge fan of the billet grills, but they can look nice if done right. Someplace, I've seen an article where they put a billet grill behind the stock outter grill on a 69-70. It looked pretty sharp and unique.

[hgs_notes]

Does anyone have a picture of the 71-72 phantom grill. I can't find one.

HG

[HeavyD]

I like 71-72 grilles the best, followed by 67-68. If you want to customize, the 71-72 is prob the easiest to modify and would be a simple swap from your 70.

[danho]

Like you said, alot of people out there have 71-72's myself included. I'd run the 70' myself.

[shortymac83]

I love the 67/68 front ends, but if I were in your shoes, I'd keep the front you have.

[bagged91]

My personal preference is the 67/8 nose(just can't find one nice around here for a reasonable price). The 69/70 is allright same with the 71/2. If you have a limited budget, I would just keep what you have. If you can swing a new grille shell, then go with the 71/2 outer grille with either the billet insert(not a big fan of them on these trucks) or the stock inner grille but keep the 67-70 front bumper. Mount your parking lights behind the grille insert and shave the sidemarkers. It will clean it up nicely but will save you from having to buy all new sheetmetal... Just my $.02

As said before, it's your truck and if you build it like you want it built, then you will be happy with the outcome and that's all that matters....

L8R - Joe

[Harold Shepard]

Isecond bouncy truck, if you combine you get the stock look you like up-dated with billet. I f you go with the smooth no letter version, even more custom, plus you see several 71/72 w inserts but few 69-70s.

[CPNEJR]

IMO you should stick to what you like
if were mine i would go with the 67-68 they are they best looking

['70_402]

i think i am going to go with the non-lettered 69-70 with the custom billet insert. does anyone know where i can get a billet insert for the 69-70? also i know i am not the first person that has looked for a new 69-70 grille so post some of the places and prices that you have found so i can compare prices and then buy.

thanks guys yall ROCK

[Tx Firefighter]

The originals are still available through GM dealers.

Since you want the smooth, no letters type, that will be an aftermarket one. Check with any of our fine board vendors. They'll be happy to sell you one for a good price.