1971 Inner Grill Replacement

[randy.powell]

I'm trying to replace my inner grill on my 71 Cheyenne Super.
Have spent a lot of time searching the forum but can't find answers to my questions.

Is it possible to replace just the inner grill without having to remove the outer grill assembly also?

She has factory A/C with the filter/dryer and condenser in front of the radiator which reduces clearance also.

I have removed all of the retaining clips that attach the inner grill to the outer grill and it's loose but now what? If I pull the front bumper would that give me room to drop it from the bottom?

There's certainly not enough room to pull it from the top!

Any advice/shared wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
RP

[Accelo]

I am almost positive the grille has to be pulled, at least a little ways, to get the egg crate out.
Not that bad once you decide to go after it.

[72afr]

I've done it and it's a pain. You'll need to undo the clips and center support (obviously). Then I took apart the passenger headlight assembly, slid the inner grille over there which allowed me JUST enough room to squeeze it out the front and get the new one back in. Here's a pic of the swap mid way. Thought for certain I'd break it, but there's enough flex to make it work.

[randy.powell]

Looks like the removal of the inner/outer grill is the only solution. I don't want to risk scratching up my nos oem inner grill all up trying to finess it in...

I was afraid of that

Thanks for the input to all.
RP

[72afr]

Originally Posted by randy.powell

Looks like the removal of the inner/outer grill is the only solution. I don't want to risk scratching up my nos oem inner grill all up trying to finess it in...

I was afraid of that

Thanks for the input to all.
RP

I didn't see any scratches on mine when completed (and I'm pretty particular) for what it's worth. You could always put painters tape on the outer grille. I remember how awful it was to the get the outer grille on there the first time, I wouldn't want to have to take it all apart to do it again.

[randy.powell]

Thanks Brother! I'll give your method a try before I pull the outer grill.

How hard was it to get the little white rectangular retaining clips in and locked along the bottom?

I know it was hard enough to get them out.
RP

[72afr]

Originally Posted by randy.powell

Thanks Brother! I'll give your method a try before I pull the outer grill.

How hard was it to get the little white rectangular retaining clips in and locked along the bottom?

I know it was hard enough to get them out.
RP

You won't hurt my feelings if you want to take the whole thing apart. Just trying to save you some headaches is all. The clips were far easier to put in than remove as I recall.

As this was about 2.5 years ago, it's a bit hard to recall all of the details, but I believe I worked the grille between the headlight and headlight bucket by removing the adjustment screw on the inner side. The allowed just enough room to work it out on the driver end. Quite a bit of finessing it all around and even more of me questioning if I could even replace it this way, but in the end it worked out. Been a bit since I've looked at the corners of the outer grille, but I want to say they were riveted in when we did it the first time, which was another reason for not wanting to disassemble. Good luck!