help with 88-91 front converstion

[83K1500]

well... lets see...
I ordered the grill, head light surrounds and they fit for crap.
Nothing wants to line up correctly, and everyone's is made in the same worthless place, TAIWAN! So it does not really matter WHO I order it from, it comes from the same place.

So anyone that has done this swap help me out here because at this point I will be returning everything, and just going back to the 83 dual stacked headlights.

[44gmcnewf]

did you get a radsupport from a 88-91? and you need also need the pig tails for the lights

[jdstephens]

I have my 91 burb setup sitting in my garage for like 2 years almost. I got lucky and got gm parts, a front end some one was selling.
Just have not been motivated for it.
Ttake your time, any little bend can throw every piece off.

[83K1500]

Originally Posted by 44gmcnewf

did you get a radsupport from a 88-91? and you need also need the pig tails for the lights

Yes I have a new LMC blazer core support.

Originally Posted by jdstephens

I have my 91 burb setup sitting in my garage for like 2 years almost. I got lucky and got gm parts, a front end some one was selling.
Just have not been motivated for it.
Take your time, any little bend can throw every piece off.

Well, actually I have had to cut up the grill to even get it to semi line up. The damn thing is twisted it seems.

Off topic kinda but not really...
This is why Americans have stopped buying American products. It does not matter cause it is all made overseas anyway. And you have countless quality control issues doing business the way they are doing theirs.

Point in case, I ordered my plastics from an Ebay company. Was a *hitload cheaper and figured I would give it a shot. First grill arrives broken (and I get a partial refund still waiting on the rest). They say keep it. This is the one I am cutting up to get to fit now. They send me another one, unbroken, but still will not fit for anything.

I call LMC, and Classic figuring what the hell, pay a little more, maybe get better quality right? Wrong. They are the same AAPI Taiwan made parts that I got for 1/2 the price from Ebay. I had them look up where they were actually made.

Now I am about to the point where I wish I would have just stuck with the original set up, got euro headlights, new grill and surrounds and been done.

[6 Pack]

The reason "American made" is a hard sell is simple...I call it the Wal-Mart mentality. Everyone buys on price, to the point where it's put American companies out of business. How can we compete with a labor force that earns less than 10% of what an American worker needs just to survive?

What a messed up world where quality doesn't matter at all anymore...as long as it was cheap it's all good.

[FordeatinZ71]

wow, i hate hearin that man. i am planning on doing the swap on my truck...maybe i should think twice...

[83K1500]

Originally Posted by 6 Pack

The reason "American made" is a hard sell is simple...I call it the Wal-Mart mentality. Everyone buys on price, to the point where it's put American companies out of business. How can we compete with a labor force that earns less than 10% of what an American worker needs just to survive?

What a messed up world where quality doesn't matter at all anymore...as long as it was cheap it's all good.

I know what caused the situation very well.
It is the same reason why I find it hard too find a computer based job for the past 5 years after I got my degree.

The government has encouraged companies to ship jobs overseas.

Wal-Mart is the worst company ever created in my opinion.

As far as my personal advice to anyone looking to do the swap with "aftermarket parts" DON'T. Unless you are willing to do ALOT of modification to everything.

That reminds me, I have alot of fiberglass mat left over from an old project... Hmmm.... 1 piece maybe...

[modular93fox]

mine fit like crap too, but i started off seeing why it didnt fit, and went from there. in my case it were the head light "doors" they wouldnt sit flat and flush with anything.. once i figured out the "why" i could start solving the problem. now it fits o.e.... well just about. take your time - or give up.. either way good luck
clint

[83K1500]

Originally Posted by modular93fox

mine fit like crap too, but i started off seeing why it didnt fit, and went from there. in my case it were the head light "doors" they wouldnt sit flat and flush with anything.. once i figured out the "why" i could start solving the problem. now it fits o.e.... well just about. take your time - or give up.. either way good luck
clint

My headlight doors do not fit for crap either.
I have spent hours looking of it to see what could be done, and it just looks like a piss poor repop.
I actually cut off one of the outer most upper mount tabs off the grill and it has helped some, but like I said before the grill just does not line up straight at all.

I might mess with it a little later, but now gonna be busy doing a head gasket and tires/alignment on a car I am fixing just to sell.

Depending on how things go after I get back to it, I may just say to heck with it and make my own 1 piece grill outta fiberglass and paint to match the body. This may also allow me to run the 1 piece headlights.

[BHB]

That sucks. Fortunatley when I did this conversion to my '85 there was still clean used OE stuff availible. silly question, but have you tried the dealer? sometimes the stuff is still sitting on dealers shelves. they can do a "locate" and see if it exists in other dealers inventory.

[44gmcnewf]

tobad you werent close i got the rad support in the back of my truck now... i dont even own a truck of that style... but the plan is to some day

[83K1500]

Originally Posted by 44gmcnewf

to bad you weren't close i got the rad support in the back of my truck now... i don't even own a truck of that style... but the plan is to some day

I already have the correct radiator support.

Originally Posted by BHB

That sucks. Fortunately when I did this conversion to my '85 there was still clean used OE stuff available. silly question, but have you tried the dealer? sometimes the stuff is still sitting on dealers shelves. they can do a "locate" and see if it exists in other dealers inventory.

The dealers around here say they can get the repops, but they are made in the same place... Taiwan.

I have not messed with it for two days now, and probably will be a few more before I do. I have 2 other cars that are taking priority right now. Like I already said I will work on it a little more, but if it keeps fighting, I will go fiberglass and call it done.

[NovaMan]

I will NOT buy cheap crap made overseas for my American cars and trucks..... unless I have no choice, which is all too often the case. I need a replacement gas tank, but a new GM unit from Classic Industries is about $400, and I just can't afford that. I'll wait for one to show up in a junkyard.

If I wanted to do the grill swap, I'd do the same thing: try to find some good junkyard parts. People have been restoring old cars and trucks that way for decades, and you can do it too. You just have to have alot of patience and determination. Heck, grab a Hemmings or an Auto Trader and you'll probably be able to find either the parts you need or a whole donor truck. Rock it old-school!

[83K1500]

Originally Posted by NovaMan

I will NOT buy cheap crap made overseas for my American cars and trucks..... unless I have no choice, which is all too often the case. I need a replacement gas tank, but a new GM unit from Classic Industries is about $400, and I just can't afford that. I'll wait for one to show up in a junkyard.

If I wanted to do the grill swap, I'd do the same thing: try to find some good junkyard parts. People have been restoring old cars and trucks that way for decades, and you can do it too. You just have to have alot of patience and determination. Heck, grab a Hemmings or an Auto Trader and you'll probably be able to find either the parts you need or a whole donor truck. Rock it old-school!

If I lived in a populated area that would be a very good chance that could happen. But alas I live in very Southern Illinois with a 11 county area population of maybe 1 million. The junk yards are few, and piss poor. Ones that do have parts want an arm and a leg for them. Hell the place where I got the headlights from wanted $50 for 4 and the housings were all rusted. They came out of a 90 GMC van. I might have been able to look and see if the grill was the same, except they trashed it and saw-sawed the damn core support to get the engine out.

[83K1500]

nevermind looked at core support.

[robotic_junky]

Originally Posted by NovaMan

I will NOT buy cheap crap made overseas for my American cars and trucks..... unless I have no choice, which is all too often the case. I need a replacement gas tank, but a new GM unit from Classic Industries is about $400, and I just can't afford that. I'll wait for one to show up in a junkyard.

If I wanted to do the grill swap, I'd do the same thing: try to find some good junkyard parts. People have been restoring old cars and trucks that way for decades, and you can do it too. You just have to have alot of patience and determination. Heck, grab a Hemmings or an Auto Trader and you'll probably be able to find either the parts you need or a whole donor truck. Rock it old-school!

Advance Auto Parts had my gas tank for a 1987 V10 for about $100 and showed up the next day at the store.

[GreaseDog]

my buddy has one of these setups sitting beside his garage, dunno what kind of condition its in though.

[83K1500]

Originally Posted by GreaseDog

my buddy has one of these setups sitting beside his garage, dunno what kind of condition its in though.

After messing with it a little more, I have basically decided to go back to the over/under 4 way and use 84/85-up parts as I think they at least look better than the 83.

If anyone is wondering the Ebay seller I got my stuff from (this is not a plug but a warning) was Car Parts Wholesale. It is worth mentioning that it took them 3 weeks to send me a refund that was promised 2 weeks earlier. I also only got it after filing a complaint with Paypal.
And I has already been mentioned they sent badly misfitting parts. After forcing one side to line up correctly, the other side was 3/8" lower with a slight axial twist. After several attempts to get the drop side to line up I gave up because the nylon retainers kept popping out of its mount on the grill.

[Harley1650]

I just bought a grill from that ebay store. I switched my 88 from dual halogen headlights to composite and put in a black grill. Fortunately mine fite fine.

[83K1500]

Originally Posted by Harley1650

I just bought a grill from that ebay store. I switched my 88 from dual halogen headlights to composite and put in a black grill. Fortunately mine fite fine.

Sorry to say, but you do not have the same grill we are talking about. If you are talking about you 88 truck in your avatar.
We are talking about the 88-91 Full size Blazer and Suburban, not the regular trucks.