79 repro grill

[79GMC_OLDS]

looking to clean up the front of my truck a bit...does anyone make a chrome repro grill the same style as mine? LMC has my style but they are for the 81-82 trucks.. all the 73-80 grills are different.



they show the picture here but they dont seem to offer it

[xtreme80]

Sorry I can't help with your question but if you're interested I have this grille for sale...

[79GMC_OLDS]

thanks.. but i think i want an original style grill

[LBJ]

I would try your Chevy dealer. They may still have some genuine grilles for your year. I would bet they carry the GMC part numbers too. I just bought a NEW Chevy grille for my 77 from them. Not much more than the repro's and takes ALL the original trim items. Someone else told me GM is REMAKING some of those old parts since the demand is up enough to justify making a batch. The date on my box was Oct, 2007. I bought it in Dec 2007, so wasn't the shipping date. Good luck. It was about $200, By the way, this will fit your year also, just a slight change in design, but the Bowtie would not agree with your GMC <grin>

Do you have an inside hood relase? If not, some of the repro's make it a bit hard to open your hood as there is no hand slot. LMC does have a new line of plastic "billet" grilles that look pretty nice. They are also $200 but don't have a slot for opening the hood.

[Pyrotechnic]

I'm in the same boat as you. I got a 77 GMC and I want to put an original replacement grill in it because the GMC grills from those years are my favorite.

All LMC has for 73-80 are those generic chevy style grills with no bowtie.

I checked with the dealer on the GMC grill...discontinued. Headlight bezels for 73-78 are also discontinued. I bought some of the plastic LMC bezels....they didn't fit worth a crap.

[79GMC_OLDS]

Originally Posted by Pyrotechnic

I'm in the same boat as you. I got a 77 GMC and I want to put an original replacement grill in it because the GMC grills from those years are my favorite.

All LMC has for 73-80 are those generic chevy style grills with no bowtie.

I checked with the dealer on the GMC grill...discontinued. Headlight bezels for 73-78 are also discontinued. I bought some of the plastic LMC bezels....they didn't fit worth a crap.

yeah thats too bad..i guess ill have to keep my eye out for a good used one

[Pyrotechnic]

I wish they would make a generic GMC style repro, kinda like the 81-82 grills without the logo expect for 73-80. It would probably still look good even without the logo and it wouldn't be that hard to add the logo.

Until then I was considering taking one of the generic $30 chevy grills and adding a GMC logo. Maybe over the summer when I have some cash to blow.

[TexasJeff]

Pyro I agree with you, I finally gave up. Want I have done is buy every GMC '79-80 grille I can find at swap meets. I use the really bad one and cut them up and use the parts to fixed other grilles. I have found a 2 part epoxy that works great on the plastic. Then I just repaint the grille, I have fixed a couple for myself and fixed a couple more.

[Pyrotechnic]

What colors is the grill suppose to be from the factory ? I know the main body of the grill is ovbviously silver, but what about the squares of vents ? Are they a flat black or are they also silver ? The squares of vents in mine are a worn grayish black, so not having seen a mint condition grill I'm not sure what color to paint this area.

Reason is, my grill at the moment is 100% intact, it's just that the Texas sun has fried all the paint off.

I wonder if enough of us contact LMC with a request for a generic 77-80 GMC style grill, maybe they might consider it ?

[LBJ]

As to color, I still have my original 77 grille. under the trim areas where protected from the ravages of my overcleaning, it is silver. The black you see is most likely the plastic. The new one came just black plastic. I painted mine with Rust-O-Leum Nickel Textured paint. Looks like cast aluminum. I can shoot some pics of those areas if you like.

[79GMC_OLDS]

i would be interested in seeing it if you could get some pics

[LBJ]

This is what I had with the original 77 grille. You can see the silver under the Bowtie emblem mounting spot. The plastic on this one was a grey color.