1976 grille swap help please

OK I have a 1979 d100 with single 6" bulbs on each side and turn/markers in filler panel, Im wanting to put on a 76 grille as its all I can find NOS the headlights seem like the buckets need to be moved just a little bit has anyone done this? Any help would be appreciated

They are not directly interchangeable, but not that hard to make work if you have no other choice. The 76 also uses separate light doors (3 piece grill assembly) where the 79 uses a one piece.

Thank you 79powerwagon any tips on this swap? can I just move my 6" buckets or are the 76 bulbs another size? thanks again

I have the grille and am waiting on the bezels to se just how far too move things was hoping someone has done this before and had advice?

Yes, you can move the buckets over a bit, perhaps drill new holes for the mount screws. The best thing to do is to measure measure measure!

For my trucks (and I've had a bunch of these over the years), at some point early on I decided to simply stay with matching parts, no easy task up here in the rot belt. Even when I went from the twin round headlights to the stacked quads on my 79, I replaced everything including the core support.

So, in a nut shell, yes, you can swap these parts. You just need to do a good job of layout. Have it it!

If i remember correct the 79 round headlight core support has the headlight mounts welded in and the square headlight mounts bolt in? But also the headlights in a 76 sit further back, if you put the 76 grill in the 79 it will appear the headlights are bulging out of the grill.

79 powerwagon I agree proper swap of all parts is best but as is I have cab painted and assembled this is last minute so to speak due to I cant find proper 79 grille, the buckets are welded I will drill and mount with bolts giving me some fudge room I hope, Danny I believe you are right and I plan to mock it up see how much they bulge and cut stand offs over lap them to eliminate bulge then spot weld and then bolt buckets in place... measure measure I'll post pics when I get on it hope next weekend after bezels come in thanks guys

Sweet! Just take your time is all!

I don't have immediate access to my pics in the archives, but this was my 79 (near its end) that started out as a round head light truck. I actually bought this truck ONLY for its grill to use on my 75 D200. I ended up restoring it TWICE over the years instead!

Im sure you can make it work, I have a 79 round headlight truck i put an nos grill in couple years ago, i had plans to convert to the 76 grill just because i like that grill better. If i remember right the back of the headlight mounts are really close to the core support already, but you could cut some big round holes behind the headlights so you have more room. I gave up on the idea because i found the nos grill for a good price. Honestly i always thought the 79 grill would look better if the headlights were sunk further back in it also! They just seem to really pop out there, I put a set of flat hella headlights in mine and it made a huge difference in the look. Would still like to sink them back another half inch or so but there isnt much room behind the headlights.

The hole behind the headlights is big enough to sink them into, you just have to modify the brackets. On most of the ones I've seen the lights sit flush with the grille or even in a little bit.
I always hate the way the round headlight grille looks on those two years. The stacked headlight or older round front looks a lot better.
And yeah the round headlight brackets are welded on while the stacked ones are bolted.

thanks for the help guys I have started this project removed buckets hope to flatten stand offs drill holes and use spacers as needed we'll see

Danny you are so lucky to have found that grille I looked for 3 years got 4 so so grilles out of it....I do like the 76 grille though also

Life is good had some time to work on truck this morning I straightened the stand off tabs where they were factory bent to be welded and then re bent them in vise as close to bucket mount surface as I could . placed it on truck and needed to drill hole for adjuster on r side to sink past rad support. placed filler and grille on placed in headlight bucket with bulb and place on bezel it fit woo hoo looks like very little shim action needed I will drill mount holes this morning .so happy with this. cant figure out how to post pics on here yet but i'll search it and figure it out I hope thanks again guys.

some pics .....I think .. I'll post up step by step with pics soon just wanted to figure out how first

I’d been wondering if the NOS grill you picked up wasn’t military surplus. I restored a 76 True Spirit back in 2008 and at the time there was still a bunch of military surplus stuff around, but even then the 76 grills were not all that common (the 77 stuff was a lot easier to find and cheaper).

Rather than fight getting the green coating off, I took the easy way out and just sent the grill out to the chrome shop. I really liked the way it turned out.

Yep thank the lord for surplus parts I like the chrome idea but I just sent out mirrors and emblems for $750 ouch hope they look good when done. I'm going to take off the green and go from there its starting to flake already so going to see if a rag and thinner will do the trick. Leaving it green while mocking up to avoid any scratches really thinking of picking up spare grille while they are still out there.

OK step one remove grille, headlight bulbs and battery, there are spot welds one or two on each of the four tabs holding on the headlight bucket mounts. these will need to be drilled out from inside of engine compartment once drilled a hammer and putty knife or chisel will knock em free or just a little wiggle may do it,

with the bucket and mount removed separate them removing adjusters and spring mark as needed to re assemble. next with a vice or body hammer straighten out the tabs where the bucket mount was welded,

next you will want to bend the tabs out 90* I found placing them in vise with jaws clamped as far up the tab as I could get them to bucket mount surface worked well they bend easy and even this way, repeat this for all 4 tabs on each bucket, at this time you can drill holes on out side end each of the four tabs, you will need these holes to mark the drilling points in the rad support to mount up buckets.

before and after straightening and re bend with holes drilled in tabs

OK for the next step you will need to mount the grille less bezels and re assemble your buckets and mounts with bulb also, gather your drill, drill bits, reamer bit, paint pen or soap stone and those bezels.

Here are the coming issues 4 I believe to get it done 1 is the adjuster closest to pass side on both buckets will need a hole drilled in rad support to pass through 2 is the screw that holds the tension spring may hit depending on its length you can replace with a shorter screw grind it or drill pass hole its up to you,3 is the drivers side bezel will need to be trimmed to allow for that same adjuster that needs to pass through support but don't stress you cant see trim job when mounted 4 is the marking of your bucket mount tab holes on the rad support to bolt things up,

take the bezel and slide it up your and then get a hold f the headlight assembly guide the assembly through opening in grill its a bit of a angle and rotate thing to get it in there hold it as centered in hole as you can and slide bezel down your arm and into place best you can , were not looking for perfection yet, all will not fit together due to adjuster just holding things in place with hands to mark pass hole now, center light in bezel best you can and press on bulb assembly and wiggle a bit to get the adjuster on the pass side to leave a mark on the support, this is where you will be drilling the pass hole, remove bezel and bulb assembly, I removed grille and drilled a hole at point that adjuster marked rad support made the hole about 1" or so for wiggle room.

drivers side

I did the opposite of you when I took my round headlight buckets off and took a spot weld cutter to the tabs on the bucket to leave the core support hole free. Only one or two of mine had two spot welds. It looked like the first one hit the edge of those tabs so the did a second one to make sure it stayed put.

I was thinking of going that way also but decided to go through the back since I'd be drilling mounting holes in both bucket mounts and rad support it was kinda a toss up. I got the buckets painted and final mounted today lifes good

OK next you will do the same hold in place and mark but this time mark the mounting holes you drilled in bucket mount once done dis assemble and drill

at this point I noticed the tension spring retaining scre hits a bit and just ground it down a little,

ground down

re fit and space

getting close

from here it is shimming to the depth you like and aiming the bulbs so I think you got it from here best to have your adjusters in the middle of the adjustability while shimming so it gives you an idea where your at and allows you full adjustment for fine tuning, This is my first how to so sorry if its not the best a least it is an idea on how to attack the grille swap.

Nice work!

The green paint comes off with paint thinner woo hoo I was kind of worried about using stripper, time well spent.

Great job! Looks awesome!

How about a picture of the grille with the green removed? Would like to see how it looks.

I'll post a pic with green completely off soon as I remove it all, the paints been a good scratch barrier while working on truck.

Did you ever get all the paint removed from the grille?

Been working at it a bit need to polish it yet

cleaned not polished

not polished yet

no idea why its flipping pics sorry

really

I tried lord knows I tried

now that is sweet!

Basketcase thanks for the help with the pics,I can do a lot of things but this tech stuff sometimes it gets the better of me.

Got it shined up, used 2000/3000 grit then momas metal polish. Hope the pics don't flip but....

I wonder why the pics keep flipping any ideas? I'll post more pics in a couple months when I get the truck all back together. Need to polish the truck now and get windows back in then interior, assemble bed. bumpers, trim, get tires, charge a/c.......daylight I see daylight on this project or is that a train......I fear putting the hood on...

fantastic job!

So the military grille was chrome anodized under the green paint?

52savoy When the green paint and yellow primer are removed you are left with raw/bare aluminum the seller was sure to point this out as he has sold them in past and others expected an anodized aluminum to be present, After removing paint when you rub grille with rag it comes up black reflecting uncoated metal (I have previously had to sand off anodizing on other trim pieces for this truck and it takes a bit to get through to metal) I spent time sanding the bare aluminum and polishing it to the shine in pics, I really like polished aluminum more than chrome all it needs is a bit of attention time to time and the price wont make you choke like when I had posts and emblems chromed.

down side to bare aluminum grille ,hit a butterfly at 5mph it'll scuff the grille.

I know about taking the anodizing off. I wet sanded it off my '68 roadrunner grille that had surface anodizing scratches. I considered sending the grille out but I haven't seen anyone who make a perfect match for roadrunner grille paint.

To be honest I have not checked into having the grille anodized is the price similar to re chroming? I thought maybe I'd clear it or have it powder coated but with either of those options I most likely will have adhesion problems to a polished grille surface. So going with the rag and polish for now. If you don't mind what do they get to anodize roadrunner grilles like yours?

opinions I need opinions, What do you think should I leave grille as is completely polished? should I paint the insert black? or paint the insert to match body color? I'm leaning towards as is polished but think body matched paint may look good....

let it be....looks too good to paint anything.

It does look great! I would mask off and paint the areas black that should be black from factory, but either way its gonna look great, awesome job!