84 vs 87 grille mounting differences?

[RecklessWOT]

Sorry if its been asked before, I didn't find anything about it. I am going to be half-ass restoring my '87 Suburban over the course of the next year or so (paint, trim, interior, no major repairs needed besides the engine, rest just needs freshening up), while I'm at it I want to swap for an '84 grille and headlight bezels. Will it fit? Not sure if it was just a cosmetic change or if the mounting is different. I see a lot of posts about dudes trying to swap a '73/'74 grille onto later round eyes and running into trouble, just want to make sure I won't have the same issues with my '87. Anyone know exactly what differences there are (besides styling) if any?

 

[bucket]

It bolts right up exactly the same. But if you have the quad headlights with park lights in the grill, you need the same style from '84, otherwise you will have to rig up the park lights.

The '83-'84 grilles also had headlight bezels that better matched the grill, but you can still run the '87 bezels, if you want.

 

[Craig 85]

Direct swap you just need the 4 grill trim pieces. The Bowtie is the same. The PO on my truck put an '84 to sell it as the '85 was broken. I too like the 83-84 grill better. I made my new '85 grill look like and '84.

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[RecklessWOT]

It bolts right up exactly the same. But if you have the quad headlights with park lights in the grill, you need the same style from '84, otherwise you will have to rig up the park lights.

The '83-'84 grilles also had headlight bezels that better matched the grill, but you can still run the '87 bezels, if you want.

Yeah the bezels with the color matched stripe through them is one of my favorite parts of the '84 front end. My K5 was an '84 and I wish I stripped it for parts before I sold it. I definitely intend to keep the quad lights, and would look for the same style as a replacement. I just wasn't sure if there were any differences in mounting. Thanks for the info, I knew someone here would know!

 

[Celtic Clamper]

I am trying to fix up an 83 GMC K1500, and having a similar issue. I am wanting to keep the 83 grill, but am having no luck trying to find one. I have found the Chevy grill without the bowtie. Does anyone know if the Chevy grill without the bowtie or center trim strip will line up with the GMC quad headlight doors? Or will the 85-87 GMC grill line up and bolt into the 83 GMC without changing any brackets? Thanks.

 

[Bdgrayson]

I'll attach photos to help illustrate my request.

I have an 83 GMC C1500. The grill I want to install is for an 1985 Chevy C10. Will I have any fitment issues and how easily can they be mitigated if so? Will the headlight bezel need to be changed as well?

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[Craig 85]

If you have single headlights, I believe the headlight bezel is basically the same from 81-87 except for the raise area between the light and turn signal. I know for sure the second picture is 85-87, it's flush between the lights.

Photo 3 is an 84. The center between the lights is raised for the trim. I'm not sure if the center bar w/o the trim on it would be flush with the bezel. Photo 4 is the 83-83 quad bezels w/o trim.

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[Bdgrayson]

Thank you so much. Can’t wait to start on the project.


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