We’d heard that interchanging the grilles among ’73-’80 square-front-clip-style Chevy trucks is a simple bolt-in deal. Just choose the grille you like best and swap at will. Wrong.
That’s what we learned when a project that began with a broken hood-release cable on a ’77 Chevy resulted in a swap to a ’74 grille. During the junkyard tours that ensued, we found out a lot about the different components used for the first three versions of grilles on these trucks: ’73-’74, ’75-’76, and ’77-’79. We couldn’t find a junked ’80, so that’s where our info dries up. We also won’t swear that Chevy didn’t use more configurations than what are shown here—in fact, we know ’77-’79 grilles came in three different colors, and there were two different styles of headlight doors. So there may be variations, but this story will at least let you know what to look for if you’re in the mood to revamp your ’73-’79 ride with an older or newer grille. We used junkyard parts for the swap and spent about $42. You’ll have to do the same since all we could find that’s still available new are the ’77-’80 grilles, headlight doors, and chrome trim around the grille.
Converting from a square front clip (’73-’80) to a sloped front clip (’81-’91) is also popular, especially if you like the small rectangular headlights on the ’88-’91 Blazers and Suburbans. That swap is more complicated since it involves changing the entire front clip, including the fenders, inner fenderwells, hood, and core support.