edwinsmith

The other thread in the sticky doesn't work anymore since the link was to another website and they took it down. So I did mine over and I thought I would write it up.

Here's the test fit of the new grille on the truck. As you can see the headlights have to be moved.



First I took off the bucket and I marked where I would cut the existing mounting out of the bulkhead.



Be careful not to cut the corner off the battery tray like I did. I used a saber saw with a 32 tpi blade.



I cut a piece of 16 gauge sheet steel to plug the opening. Be sure to scuff the paint off of the edges of the bulkhead otherwise it's hard to weld with my $89. flux core wire welder from Harbor Freight.



After welding I ground the surface down flat to cover up my bad welding job.



I then welded strips of 1-1/8 inch wide sheet around most of the periphery of the part I cut out of the bulkhead. Ignore the curved area I ground down. It was a mistake.



I then hung the new grille on the truck and held the assembled light minus the bulb to figure out where it should be placed. Then I marked the bulkhead where it should go. Then I welded the whole thing in the new position.



To fit the new Hella lights the bucket and the bulkhead hole has to be a full circle. The bucket is easy enough to cut with tin snips but I used the saber saw on the bulkhead.



I bought the 92 style valance that goes between the grille and the bumper. Thank you Oliver. Not shown is the holes for the parking lights have to be cut in the new location. Also I had to fabricate new mounting brackets for the center of the valance and the ends of the grille by the parking lights. Here's the finished project.




I have to disassemble the grille to paint the bulkhead and the valance so I'll try to remember to take pics of the extra brackets and post them here.

I topped it off with a relay kit to handle the load of the new Hella lights.

oliver foster

The end product looks great.
I am glad that valance panel I sent you gets such a nice new home, in comparison to the old, smelly dairy farmer's truck it came off of.

thrashingcows

Well done!

NJTman

You guys and your rust free stuff....


You make me ........

BHD

10-4 on that ^^^^

Hillbilly66

And here I want to go the other way! I prefer the non IC style grill. It does look good on your truck!

edwinsmith

I have a few of the parts I took off. PM me if you're interested.

Edwin

mknittle

It does look good especially on a white truck.
But I am with Hillbilly on the older grilles.

Hillbilly66

Thanks for the offer, but I will probably never attempt to retrofit the old grille to my 92.

samiam4

Impressive work.

wouldn't a used radiator support be easier?

1972RedNeck

Sometimes I wonder if you guys are making it up just to try to get us to feel sorry for you. In all of my years chasing first gens, I have never seen a rusted out one first hand - just the photo shopped ones that you easterners post pics of...

edwinsmith

I don't know how much trouble that would involve. Would I have to change the radiator, my A/C condenser, etc...

Besides I wanted to buy the welder and this was a good excuse.

edwinsmith

My problem with the older grillwork is that the metal is aluminum which gets dull. The plastic was painted with aluminum paint which never looks good IMHO.

I added fans in front of my A/C condenser to keep it cooler in city driving. The I/C grille allowed room for the fans.

Edwin

NJTman

You need to hang with Oliver . he'll enlighten you.

patdaly

Problem is finding a Intercooled support available, they are hens teeth.

Local guy had his truck down for almost 8 months looking for one that wasn't completely rotted away, and he wasn't worried about what it cost.