Swapping to 73-78 front grill?

[1980GMC]

I previously thought about swapping my front clip to a 83-87 front end, but have found a new love for the earlier front clips. I like my 80 front end, but nothing beats the beauty of those round headlights.

Do all the 73-78 moldings and bezels fit onto my rad support? and what are all the parts I would need?

Thanks,
Wes

[chevymotocross]

Not sure on your question but I will say you are making the right choice. I have an 87, and love the 80's front clips but If I had a 73-80 I would DEFINETLY not swap it to 81+. The round lights were the first half of this generation truck, I would never want to "molest" it. The round lights always had a spot in my heart lol.

[andresco50]

Are you sure I love the rectangle headlights of my 80!!!! the grill too

[N2TRUX]

Keep in mind there were two styles for 80. The Silverado got the single rectangle headlight, and the lower trim level got the round one.

[xtreme80]

My Scottsdale has the round ones.

As far as I know, you need new headlight buckets and lights. Maybe someone else can chime in but you might need a new grille, grille trim, and other little parts as well.

[1980GMC]

Originally Posted by chevymotocross

Not sure on your question but I will say you are making the right choice. I have an 87, and love the 80's front clips but If I had a 73-80 I would DEFINETLY not swap it to 81+. The round lights were the first half of this generation truck, I would never want to "molest" it. The round lights always had a spot in my heart lol.

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Keep in mind there were two styles for 80. The Silverado got the single rectangle headlight, and the lower trim level got the round one.

My truck has the rectangle ones, and its a Sierra Grande. Is that the same trim level as the Silverado?

Originally Posted by xtreme80

My Scottsdale has the round ones.

As far as I know, you need new headlight buckets and lights. Maybe someone else can chime in but you might need a new grille, grille trim, and other little parts as well.

Buckets + Lights alrighty then.

What about the grille moldings?

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by 1980GMC

My truck has the rectangle ones, and its a Sierra Grande. Is that the same trim level as the Silverado?

Yes that is the GMC version of Silverado.

You might trying looking on LMC's website. I don't always recommend them for parts, but they have the greatest exploded views and parts lists available.

[K30_dump]

Hello,

I have personally always thought that the 73-80 Chevy trucks were the coolest design in the history of these trucks. Do you plan to swap the grille itself, or just to the round headlamps? If you do swap the grille and decide to go with a 77-80 grille, it should swap right in. The 73-76 grille requires the removal of a few vertical supports to fit into the radiator support. LMC shows the same P/N for the core support from 73 up to 80 (I know all of this already because I plan to install a 73-75 grille into my K30 project (using a '79 support) . The early grille is deeper and will not fit with the vertical members in place (luckily, as easy as everything else on these trucks is to work with, they are only bolted to the core support). As far as swapping only to the round headlamps (reusing the same grille), you should only need the headlight buckets and chrome bezels. Long story short, you can make your truck look exactly like any style from 73 up to 80 using the same radiator support. Good luck in your swap.

Joe

[bigblock73]

Are the lower valances the same, where the front signals reside? I thought they were different too.

[K30_dump]

Originally Posted by bigblock73

Are the lower valances the same, where the front signals reside? I thought they were different too.

Jeff,

I believe you're correct. I forgot to mention that in my previous post. Luckily, that's just a bolt-on panel as well. So as it stands, Wes would need the headlamp buckets, bezels, turn signal assemblies and lower valance panel to do this right.

Thanks for the correction,

Joe

[Captkaos]

Difference is the Lower valence, headlight bezels, buckets and lower grill trim (79/80 YE9 got the full chrome piece)

[1980GMC]

Originally Posted by K30_dump

Hello,

I have personally always thought that the 73-80 Chevy trucks were the coolest design in the history of these trucks. Do you plan to swap the grille itself, or just to the round headlamps? If you do swap the grille and decide to go with a 77-80 grille, it should swap right in. The 73-76 grille requires the removal of a few vertical supports to fit into the radiator support. LMC shows the same P/N for the core support from 73 up to 80 (I know all of this already because I plan to install a 73-75 grille into my K30 project (using a '79 support) . The early grille is deeper and will not fit with the vertical members in place (luckily, as easy as everything else on these trucks is to work with, they are only bolted to the core support). As far as swapping only to the round headlamps (reusing the same grille), you should only need the headlight buckets and chrome bezels. Long story short, you can make your truck look exactly like any style from 73 up to 80 using the same radiator support. Good luck in your swap.

Joe

Thanks for the info Joe. Ill take a look at my rad support and take off those vertical members.

Thanks to everyone for all the great help.

Wes