72 GMC upper grill trim

[AirSpeed]

My kids bought me a new chrome upper grill trim for Christmas (great kids!) I would like to mount it without removing the entire grill because installing the grill after I painted my truck was a pain and I don't want to risk scratching the paint. Have any of you done this? Am I going to have to pull the grill? Thanks!
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[RenoKeene]

If you have already drilled out all the rivots from your old one you can use small bolts and nuts to put it back together. You will need to spread your fenders a bit to keep from scratching the paint. Being repop you should check the fit at the eyebrows....you probably won't like what you find. I ended up using NOS eyebrows and trimming and reworking the top bar ends to get mine to fit and I'm still not happy. I also had my grill (OEM) off and back on 3 times before I was half happy with the fit of everything.
Good Luck.

[AirSpeed]

Originally Posted by RenoKeene

If you have already drilled out all the rivots from your old one you can use small bolts and nuts to put it back together. You will need to spread your fenders a bit to keep from scratching the paint. Being repop you should check the fit at the eyebrows....you probably won't like what you find. I ended up using NOS eyebrows and trimming and reworking the top bar ends to get mine to fit and I'm still not happy. I also had my grill (OEM) off and back on 3 times before I was half happy with the fit of everything.
Good Luck.

Is the repop that bad? Looks like I'm going to have to pull the grill after all! They didn't buy the two end pieces, just the top, the old one had a small dent I could get out and the chrome had chiped off the dent. Maybe I should fix the dent and have it rechromed if the new one is going to be so ill fitting. Was your trim too wide?
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[Tim Christian]

Not all top bars were rivited on some had small bolts depends what factory the truk was built at I guess.

[RenoKeene]

My top bar (the only repop piece on my grill) was, and is poorly cast junk. The shape on the ends does not match the org or fit well into the eyebrows. Yes, I had to cut about a 1/4" off of each end.
You will need to loosen the fenders from the core support so you can get everything to fit. Put it together loose then tighten it up as you go. You'll figure it out, I bet I have 12 hours in adjusting my whole front end with the fender to hood gaps included.

[RenoKeene]

Originally Posted by Tim Christian

Not all top bars were rivited on some had small bolts depends what factory the truk was built at I guess.

Mine had a ton of little rivots holding the top bar to the grill, and bolts to the fenders. Had to leave all the little bolts loose until I got it all lined up with the fenders and eyebrows, then go back and tighten all those little suckers up one at a time. Lots of work to get it to my standards (which I set very high for this build).

[GASoline71]

You could do like the PO of my truck did and cover the top chrome trim piece with alumanized tape!



It's still kinda factory original right?

Gary

[AirSpeed]

Originally Posted by GASoline71

You could do like the PO of my truck did and cover the top chrome trim piece with alumanized tape!



It's still kinda factory original right?

Gary

That's funny! I bet it looked just fine from 20 yards at 60 mph.
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[AirSpeed]

After reading all the headaches I think I'll wait till spring. I don't want to spend all day standing in two feet of snow getting pissed at a grill not fitting! Thanks!
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[RenoKeene]

Is yours off the truck? If so compare the ends where the eyebrows go. I would rechrome the old one if you can, but don't tell the kids
Maybe you got a good repop piece.........I hope so.
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[AirSpeed]

Originally Posted by RenoKeene

Is yours off the truck? If so compare the ends where the eyebrows go. I would rechrome the old one if you can, but don't tell the kids
Maybe you got a good repop piece.........I hope so.
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I may just do that, I've been anodizing for a few years and am thinking about learning how to chrome, looks pretty simple. I think I'll see how this piece fits and go from there.
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[RenoKeene]

If you could rechrome parts at realistic prices you could stay busy just off this forum....really.
Quit your day job!
BTW check out the pics of my truck and Scotty in my profile..album....Rose. Competition for TOTM maybe
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[AirSpeed]

Originally Posted by RenoKeene

If you could rechrome parts at realistic prices you could stay busy just off this forum....really.
Quit your day job!
BTW check out the pics of my truck and Scotty in my profile..album....Rose. Competition for TOTM maybe
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I don't know if I'd want to do chrome for someone else unless I had a year or two experience! I just started anodizing parts for others but I spent some time doing my own stuff first. I doubt I could ever chrome as well and efficiently as a pro shop. Your truck is a beauty, the little camper looks cool behind it!
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[RenoKeene]

Thanks, the Scotty is a 71 and the truck is a 70, painted to match. Lots of fun!
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[AirSpeed]

I was working on my truck earlier and got to looking at the top trim on my grill and noticed the oem trim doesn't extend under the side trim pieces like my new one looks to do. My new one has a a step down on each end that appears to go under the end trim. Should I cut these off or try to get it under the trim? I wasn't really excited about the idea of ripping my hands up loosening the nuts on the headlight trim!

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[AirSpeed]

Originally Posted by RenoKeene

My top bar (the only repop piece on my grill) was, and is poorly cast junk. The shape on the ends does not match the org or fit well into the eyebrows. Yes, I had to cut about a 1/4" off of each end.
You will need to loosen the fenders from the core support so you can get everything to fit. Put it together loose then tighten it up as you go. You'll figure it out, I bet I have 12 hours in adjusting my whole front end with the fender to hood gaps included.

Do you have any pics of yours? Mine came from Classic Parts and the box says "Counterparts", is yours the same? Have any of you bought one from Classic Parts or one marked Counterparts? Thanks!
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[Tom Vogel]

I sent my original grill back to the chromer 3 times until they finally ruined it. So I bought this repop grill and upper piece and sent it to a GOOD chrome shop to get a show quality plate. They left side eyebrow is NOS and the right is repop because it fit better than the nos piece I had. Expect fitment issues no matter what, just take a deep breath and be patient. Some redrilling and grinding will be neccessary. Also, remember that these trucks were, well, trucks and not Lexus's.
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PS I know... The bumper is crooked, I wasn't done with that when I took the picture.
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[AirSpeed]

Originally Posted by Tom Vogel

I sent my original grill back to the chromer 3 times until they finally ruined it. So I bought this repop grill and upper piece and sent it to a GOOD chrome shop to get a show quality plate. They left side eyebrow is NOS and the right is repop because it fit better than the nos piece I had. Expect fitment issues no matter what, just take a deep breath and be patient. Some redrilling and grinding will be neccessary. Also, remember that these trucks were, well, trucks and not Lexus's.
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PS I know... The bumper is crooked, I wasn't done with that when I took the picture.
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Hey! Your bumper is crooked! Nice truck! Did your trim have the step down on each end as mine has? Do you remember if yours was a "counterparts" model? Thanks again!
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[Tom Vogel]

Yes, it has the step down, that did not seem to be a problem. I did have to trim on the eyebrows and oval out the holes that the bolts pass through into the fenders. No real big deal though. I cannot remember if they were counterparts or not. This has been a 9 year frame off, and I can't remember what I had for dinner last night.
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[RenoKeene]

Check the fit with your eyebrows, mine was a terrible match to both oem and nos sets that I have. The only way to get it right is mock it up. If you want to talk to me about how I did it pmme and I'll give you my #.
BTW I think they all come from the same place on the other side of the planet
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