81-87 Front Clip on a 73

custodian · Mar 16, 2023

I'm thinking about switching the 73 front clip top an 81-87 front clip. Other than switching the radiator support, what is involved in switching the hood hinges/supports?

rusted nuts · Mar 16, 2023

Biggest thing is Fenders bolt to cab differently at top by windsheild , If You are changing whole clip you don;t need to worry bout the other things

ChuckN · Mar 16, 2023

I’ve not done this swap myself, but I find the exploded views on LMC to be helpful. Here’s 81 and up.

https://www.lmctruck.com/1973-87-chevy-gmc/hood-components/cc-1981-87-hood-components

And here is your year for comparison.

1973-80 Hood Components

Shop from thousands of parts and accessories to help you restore, maintain, and customize your Chevrolet, GMC, Dodge or Ford truck or SUV. Keep 'em on the road with the right part, right price, right now.

www.lmctruck.com

Similarly, if you are wondering about the other stuff about the swap, you can find that in other sections. Hope that helps a little.

Originalthor · Mar 16, 2023

You need the entire front clip and hinges assembly. Thats the biggest hurdle is the hinges. 73 are on fenders and the 80s are in the cab.

custodian · Mar 16, 2023

Originalthor said:
You need the entire front clip and hinges assembly. Thats the biggest hurdle is the hinges. 73 are on fenders and the 80s are in the cab.

Have any idea how to make the 81 up hinges work on the 73?

squaredeal91 · Mar 16, 2023

I'm about to do the same swap because I want to keep the 70s front for my other project. I'm pretty sure they swap over if you have everything. In the 80s the Cowell is on cab behind hood. In the 70s the Cowell is part of the hood. Make sure to get the Cowell with fenders and core and hood.

Originalthor · Mar 16, 2023

You must be registered for see images attach

When my buddy did it he had a extra cab and cut this all in his 73 blazer. There maybe other ways to do it like with some new fancy hybrid hinges that mount on the face of the cab like are for 67 72 c10s.

squaredeal91 · Mar 16, 2023

Nice shots!! The 73 Blazer is the holy grail of square k-5s!!

Muddybuddy · Mar 16, 2023

I thought the front section of the frame was different height and that posed an issue?

bucket · Mar 16, 2023

Muddybuddy said:
I thought the front section of the frame was different height and that posed an issue?

Not the height, but the fore/aft placement. It's different by 1/2" - 3/4" or so.

It's not a swap to do if you don't want to replace the ENTIRE front clip. Because it's ALL different parts, from the bumper brackets all the way to the wiper linkage.

Muddybuddy · Mar 16, 2023

bucket said:
Not the height, but the fore/aft placement. It's different by 1/2" - 3/4" or so.

It's not a swap to do if you don't want to replace the ENTIRE front clip. Because it's ALL different parts, from the bumper brackets all the way to the wiper linkage.

Ive got an ‘87, if i was going full vert, i would seriously consider swapping to ‘73-75 front end

CheemsK1500 · Mar 16, 2023

I knew a guy that converted many round eye trucks to the 89-91 RV style front (Seemed like a step backwards to me, but his customers liked it). While the stripped cabs and frames are essentially the same (or close enough), every little part involving the front clip between 73-80 and 81+ is substantially different. You pretty much need an entire donor truck or some major parts allocation to do this swap either direction.

It's also worth noting that the Interiors are much different too. You can mix and match dashes and bezels, though pre-78 door shells won't take post-78 panels without extensive modification and vice versa.

bucket · Mar 18, 2023

Muddybuddy said:
Ive got an ‘87, if i was going full vert, i would seriously consider swapping to ‘73-75 front end

It's not a bad swap, there's just a bunch of little details that turn up. The upper fender bolts are in a slightly different location on the cowl for instance. And the wiper posts mount with 2 bolts in the 70's, rather than three in the '81+. The light harness is a little different, but can be used with minor modifications. As far as the bumper and core support mounts go, there's more than one way to skin that cat.

I believe that it's easier to swap an older clip on a newer truck than the other way around.

But to someone like the OP that is under the impression that you only need to swap a few parts, it's probably going to be more work than they want to do.

custodian · Mar 18, 2023

The main reason was to get the inside cab hood release. My granddaughter has been driving it and has found several occasions where someone had popped the hood and didn't get it closed all the way.

After ready these post and trying to find what I can on the Internet, I've decide just to leave it like it is.

I guess I'll have to find a way to lock the hood.

RecklessWOT · Mar 18, 2023

custodian said:
The main reason was to get the inside cab hood release. My granddaughter has been driving it and has found several occasions where someone had popped the hood and didn't get it closed all the way.

After ready these post and trying to find what I can on the Internet, I've decide just to leave it like it is.

I guess I'll have to find a way to lock the hood.

Get you some hood pins :waytogo:

Also, there was an inside the cab hood release on some later round eye trucks that was optional, '76 and up I believe? I'm pretty sure Ted (@78C10BigTen) has said that his '78 has the inside the cab hood release. With no direct knowledge, I can only imagine it shouldn't be too hard to just rig that setup into your '73 instead of swapping the ENTIRE front clip just for that one feature.

Also, as much as I like the stacked square light grilles (83-84 being my favorite) I don't think I would be able to bring myself to swap it onto a beautiful round eye truck, especially a '73-'74. If anything I would be tempted to go the other way and swap an older nose onto a newer truck

81-87 Front Clip on a 73

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