'81-'91 cab with '73-'80 nose?

[TruckNutzDude]

Too many '89-'91 swaps getting done on here lately.

I'm putting an '87 cab on my '78 frame and want to keep my round headlights. Is there anything I need to be aware of, besides the wiring?

 

[toomany]

It should pretty much bolt on. I put an '85 cab on my '77 frame, and kept the '77 front end. If you use the dash and column out of the '78 it'll be "plug and play."

 

[tRustyK5]

Wipers...

I'm putting a '76 front clip on my 87 Crew Cab, so you're not the only fan of the round headlight era.

The wipers on the newer cabs have longer 'nubs' that protrude up through the separate cowl piece. The '70's trucks had lower profile wiper nubs that end up being paritally hidden under the back of the older hood. I'm hoping the nub portion is all that needs swapping.

My 87 had single square headlights, so my wiring should work with the old front end.

Rene

 

[86-1ton]

That's cool that y'all are going for the 'classic' chevy truck look... nothin tougher...

 

[shaun89]

That's cool that y'all are going for the 'classic' chevy truck look... nothin tougher...

except my morning wood

 

[MTMike]

The biggest difference is that the cowl is different on the 73-80 than on the 81-87(91), thus the hood mounts, hood itself and wipers will be different On the newer ones, the hood

Attached is a pic under the hood of my old '79. I don't have a good under hood pic of the 81. Notice that the cowl 'grate' is part oft he hood on the 73-80. On the 81+ the cowl is separate from the hood.

Since I've not done the conversion (my 74 cab had the conversion done already) I can't tell you details, only point out the info that I have. If you want, I can send you pics of my 81 with the converted 74 cab.

Good luck!

Mike

 

[Stomis]

As said the hood / cowl area is the biggest issue. The guy that I bought my truck from had all the stuff lined up to do that swap on the truck. I'm glad I bought it before he did.