Is it possible to have a factory 79-80 hood on a 78?

[Shawn]

I noticed my 78 has a 79-80 hood. I realized it could have been swapped by previous owners but I did notice other 78s on BAT and other sites have the same hood but with a higher VIN sequence number (which mine has). Is it possible GM put the 79-80 hood on some of the later 78 models?



Sale on Brothers 79 hood here for $173 (62% off)-

https://www.holley.com/products/exterior/body_and_rust_repair/hoods_and_components/hoods/parts/04-483

Be aware Brothers wants $250 for freight so Amazon and other Vendors like Summit will be cheaper for shipping the same hood. 78 and older hood is $372 on sale.

Thread that discusses the difference

79-80 Hood with the rib around the front

Did the replacement GM hoods have a different style then what came from the factory?

ck5.com

 

[b454rat]

I never knew there was a difference in hoods those years.....

 

[Shawn]

I never knew there was a difference in hoods those years.....

Honestly same here. I didn't know and thought the were all the same 73 to 80. Only when I started looking at buying one was when I looked into the slight difference. My last 79 K5 I bought a cowl hood from OER which was the worst for several reasons but seemed to have have that hood feature.

My old hood is white underneath and I'm going to sand down the paint on the hood to see if there is hood ornament holes since it should have came with one from its zy5 decor package. Also noticed more 78 BAT trucks came with the 79-80 hood withe a later sequence #.

 

[wazzabie]

I have a 78 that was made about middle in the production cycle for the year. I know for a fact it had the non lip hood in the front from the factory.

 

[Shawn]

I have a 78 that was made about middle in the production cycle for the year. I know for a fact it had the non lip hood in the front from the factory.

I think the beginning 78 production through mid production got the non-lip hoods. Towards the end of production they got the newer style 79 hood. About 1/3 of Chevy/GMC 78 models with higher sequence numbers have the newer 79 hood. All original 78 C10 here at Gateway:

 

[Blue85]

Just looking at the picture in the first post, the hood doesn't match the fenders. Could be an optical illusion, but as you posted, that truck should have had a white hood with stripes. Seems at least as likely that the hood was swapped, as it's the original somebody painted over.

 

[wazzabie]

1978 was an interesting year for the k5. New floor pan style, new power windows/doors, etc. GM had planned some significant changes. The hood lip is just a style change. With all the significant changes planned for 78 I question if there would have been a hood change in the middle or near the end of the 78 production run.

 

[tarussell]

1978 was an interesting year for the k5. New floor pan style, new power windows/doors, etc. GM had planned some significant changes. The hood lip is just a style change. With all the significant changes planned for 78 I question if there would have been a hood change in the middle or near the end of the 78 production run.

Changes like that can be what’s called a”running change” on the production lines - different plants may have received the updated parts at later dates or when old stock ran out.
Other changes were made to be introduced at the change of model year production time frame.

 

[Shawn]

Just looking at the picture in the first post, the hood doesn't match the fenders. Could be an optical illusion, but as you posted, that truck should have had a white hood with stripes. Seems at least as likely that the hood was swapped, as it's the original somebody painted over.

That hood is trashed and already been taco'd and has those reinforcement metal bars inside screwed on. It has definitely been painted over the white but I can't say its the original one for sure. I'm trying to determine if the fenders are original or not. Not sure how to tell.

1978 was an interesting year for the k5. New floor pan style, new power windows/doors, etc. GM had planned some significant changes. The hood lip is just a style change. With all the significant changes planned for 78 I question if there would have been a hood change in the middle or near the end of the 78 production run.

Yeah I can see GM doing that. I found an ad from 78 but hard to see the hood. Looks like the newer style but can't say for certain.

 

[TJ1978]

I don't see a "lip" what do you mean and where? I have a 78 k5 myself. I as well don't know if this hood is original but was the one it came with when I bought it..

 

[Shawn]

I don't see a "lip" what do you mean and where? I have a 78 k5 myself. I as well don't know if this hood is original but was the one it came with when I bought it..View attachment 492172

View attachment 492173

Yours does not have it as most 78's did not get it. It seems that the later production models of Trucks/Blazers/Suburbans got the 79-80 hood. Maybe 1/3 of them from what I see on BAT and other places assuming the hood is original.

Looks like this with the ridge going across the front:

 

[TJ1978]

Yours does not have it as most 78's did not get it. It seems that the later production models of Trucks/Blazers/Suburbans got the 79-80 hood. Maybe 1/3 of them from what I see on BAT and other places assuming the hood is original.

Looks like this with the ridge going across the front:
View attachment 492175

Ok... I see it now.... interesting

 

[USSkoval]

I think the beginning 78 production through mid production got the non-lip hoods. Towards the end of production they got the newer style 79 hood. About 1/3 of Chevy/GMC 78 models with higher sequence numbers have the newer 79 hood. All original 78 C10 here at Gateway:
View attachment 492146

That truck is not all original. Aftermarket grille, wrong emblem and the chrome strip is missing from the rear edge of the hood which would indicate the possibility of a repaint.



So many trucks have had parts swapped around, even many that are supposed to be untouched originals. If a hood was swapped 40 years ago, it's not going to be obvious now. The '79-'80 style hood was the GM service replacement hood for all previous years, so if a nearly new truck got the hood damaged, it was replaced with the '79-'80 hood from the dealer.

One of my '78 hoods was from a late production Suburban I do believe. But that truck is long gone, so I'm only going off of memory.

 

[eodcoduto]

That was an expensive change for a small ridge line. Hard dies for the stamping presses would have taken 6-12 months to make for such a small appearance change. But the late 70’s for all manufacturers were nuts. My ‘78 Harley was a first half of the year model, 74” vs 80” for the late ‘78s and many more mid year changes.

 

[max 02]

I was always arguing that 73 to 78 or 79 All had the bump feature on the hood. I know that I got a 76 truck hood with it . And my 77 has it.

Now I’m wondering if it’s only a two year deal?

And obviously anything can happen swap wise in 50+ years.

 

[Shawn]

That truck is not all original. Aftermarket grille, wrong emblem and the chrome strip is missing from the rear edge of the hood which would indicate the possibility of a repaint.



So many trucks have had parts swapped around, even many that are supposed to be untouched originals. If a hood was swapped 40 years ago, it's not going to be obvious now. The '79-'80 style hood was the GM service replacement hood for all previous years, so if a nearly new truck got the hood damaged, it was replaced with the '79-'80 hood from the dealer.

One of my '78 hoods was from a late production Suburban I do believe. But that truck is long gone, so I'm only going off of memory.

Whoops you are correct.. That grille and emblem is not correct which means the hood could have been jacked. And yeah, 50 years can definitely take its toll on any hood especially these that like to taco.

That was an expensive change for a small ridge line. Hard dies for the stamping presses would have taken 6-12 months to make for such a small appearance change. But the late 70’s for all manufacturers were nuts. My ‘78 Harley was a first half of the year model, 74” vs 80” for the late ‘78s and many more mid year changes.

Agree, I'm surprised GM did not keep it the same for 2 more years. Seems kind of pointless with that little detail. I wonder if it added any more rigidity?

I was always arguing that 73 to 78 or 79 All had the bump feature on the hood. I know that I got a 76 truck hood with it . And my 77 has it.

Now I’m wondering if it’s only a two year deal?

And obviously anything can happen swap wise in 50+ years.

Without being original owners, hard to say what happened over time. I remember my father wrecking his 78 GMC truck and it needed new fender and hood.

 

[tarussell]

I’m guessing that the justification of changes like the hood and the option of the square headlights and flush turn signals & lower grill trim for 1980 model year was to keep things fresh since Ford was doing so well in 78/79 - kinds keeping folks interested right before the 1981 front clip remolding.

 

[kennyw]

That was an expensive change for a small ridge line. Hard dies for the stamping presses would have taken 6-12 months to make for such a small appearance change. But the late 70’s for all manufacturers were nuts. My ‘78 Harley was a first half of the year model, 74” vs 80” for the late ‘78s and many more mid year changes.

It would have been closer to two to four weeks to modify one tool set and get it back into production. 6+months would only be needed to make a new tool from scratch.

The reason GM only offered the 79-80 hood as a replacement part into the 80s and later was likely due to the fact that they modified the original tools rather than building new ones. That made it impossible to produce more of the earlier hoods going forward. And they considered it backward compatible. Aftermarket suppliers followed suit and only reproduced the 79-80 version as well by copying the last of the GM tools it seemed. So, every time someone tacoed a hood since some point around 1980 and later, the only option buying new parts, oem or aftermarket, ended up with the newer design.

I was always arguing that 73 to 78 or 79 All had the bump feature on the hood. I know that I got a 76 truck hood with it . And my 77 has it.

Now I’m wondering if it’s only a two year deal?

And obviously anything can happen swap wise in 50+ years.

It is a two year only hood design but became the only available replacement part once the dies were modified. So your hoods are both replacements.

 

[kennyw]

As to if it was a late ruling change in the 78 model year or not, I have no data.

My dad's 78 is all original and does not have the 79-80 hood. He tacoed the original at some point in the late 80s and fixed it by bolting a piece of angle iron to the bottom with bolts through the sheetmetal.

The 78 C30 and 78 K2500 I picked up last summer also have the 73-78 style. I cannot remember seeing another 78 with the newer style hood that I could say looked original either. I've owned many over the last 30+ years.

 

[Blue85]

That was an expensive change for a small ridge line. Hard dies for the stamping presses would have taken 6-12 months to make for such a small appearance change.

It would have been closer to two to four weeks to modify one tool set and get it back into production. 6+months would only be needed to make a new tool from scratch.
likely due to the fact that they modified the original tools rather than building new ones.

It was tradition for decades (maybe still is?) to shut down for 2 weeks every July to make model-year changeovers. If it takes longer than that, all you need is a stockpile of old hoods. Whether you want to update the style or not, sooner or later the tooling needs work or replacement.