Headlight swap

[arr51890]

I am in the process of doing a headlight swap on my 81 silverado. I already swapped out the core support for the 89-91 suburban and now I am swapping the sealed beams for the composite headlights.. I have looked everywhere for a write up on how other people have gone about doing this swap, but I couldn't find anything. So here is how I'm doing it lol, any input is greatly appreciated seeing as this is the most fabricating I've done on the truck or ever lol. Just started rebuilding the truck...

First I cut out the firewall big enough to for the headlight from my 97 gmc Sierra. Measured I think 100 times before cutting lol.. I then mounted the parking light so I could get the bezel where it needs to be. Now I am working on making brackets to hold the Sierra headlight where it needs to be and make it fairly easy to remove. I made the bracket so that I can use the bolts that bolt the core support to the fender, now I just have to figure something out for the other side of the light.


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[arr51890]

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[egaray281]

ive seen a truck with this done before but no write up on it, looks like your doing good so far!

[wraprail]

Several years back I put the same headlights on my 1991 Camaro and the problem I had was the angle these lights need to be mounted to aim the beams correctly. I did get them mounted and they worked great but they didn't fit the front nose angle exactly. The hood overhangs on the camaro which covered alot of the misalignment. The truck front is straight across so there is no way this will work right. You may get them mounted but the light beams will cross over each other and shine out to the side. Look at the angle of the grille on 88+ trucks
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[arr51890]

I was thinking that would be a problem, but I figure ill try it anyway, I have another 91 core support if it doesn't work out, I know another member, justpball, did this swap on his burban, not sure what he did as far as mounting, but it turned out looking really good on his.. Not sure how bad his light beams cross though
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[arr51890]

Here is justpball's


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[king-918]

Can't you just swap the core support?
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[arr51890]

The 89-91 suburban core support has dual headlights, I'm swapping those for 1 piece composites
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[wraprail]

It does look great. And the light output is killer with a relay upgrade. Just that dam angle thing. You will figure it out. Good luck
I just remembered something. The 89-90 Impala/caprice used a one piece hi/low headlight that may work a lot better. Its about the same size although its made of glass iirc. The grille is straight across like our trucks. Something to think about.

[king-918]

Originally Posted by arr51890

The 89-91 suburban core support has dual headlights, I'm swapping those for 1 piece composites
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Okay thanks for sharing
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[rs74]

I think you are doing a pretty good job by the way it sounds. However I worry about one thing. If you are using the mounting holes for the core support to fender, sometimes the welded nuts on the fenders tend to break the weld. I have taken a few of these apart and it seems like always there is a couple that break and make getting the bolt out a big pain.

In the case you have to pull the light out and the weld on the nut breaks then the bolt just sets and spins in place. I have always managed to get mine out but it took alot more time to get inside the fender and get something that would hold the nut still while backing the mounting bolt out. JMO.