Subtle changes to my '80

[LeesTruk]

This is a "before" pic of the newly purchased C10. Notice the red Bowtie. I found out it is made of a fibrous material, much like paper, that had been painted and put within the grille cavity. It didn't fare too well with the New England weather. Also, a couple sections of the grille itself, were broken along with a mounting boss. The truck wore GMC flat poverty caps and door mirrors from an unknown origin. The rear window is a sliding type severely tinted on either side






This is the "after" pic showing the changes I've made since the winter snow has melted



Gone are the flat GMC caps, and in their place are a set of Impala police car caps, the mirrors have been replaced by repro '72 sport mirrors, the huge '80 chrome headlight doors were changed to '78 headlight doors and amber turn signal lenses installed. The hardest part of the change was finding a good '80 grille! Turns out that this grille was also used on '80-'82 Chevy vans. I found a good one in New Hampshire, from a '81 van, but alas, no bowtie. I had noticed a lot of the new generation Chevies (cars and trucks) sport a gold bowtie, so after searching, I found that the new Impala grille bowtie is almost an exact fit for the empty cavity in the van grille.



With a little filing of the lower edges of the bowtie arms, it fit nice and snug in its' new home. The arms are about 1/8" shorter than the cavity, but most folks won't notice. The center/verticle branch is an exact fit.

Lastly, the sliding window has been replaced with a new single piece, rear window

More changes to come

Lee

[J Knight]

Nice changes, the 72 mirrors look good too. Where did you get the hub caps? I would like to put some on my 78.

[LeesTruk]

Got'em from Ebay

Lee

[greg64]

Looking good! I like the changes you made.

[LeesTruk]

Thanks. Can't wait to start the 5.3L swap

Lee

[TKCR]

I like the subtle changes.