I'm thinking about doing a grill swap on my truck. By this I mean going from my 92 Grill + Enclosures to 87-89 Grill + sealed beams. I mostly want to do this because I loved sealed beams and how easy they are to switch out before they fade. The cost of two new 92+ lenses would be more than junkyarding a whole 87-89 front end.

What all will be involved in this swap? Will I have to change my wire ends, or is it as simple as a bolt on?

Is is possible I could splice in the new wire ends so that I can go back-and-forth between grill setups?

I checked the FAQ and didn't see a writeup on it. If no one has attempted this before, perhaps I'll go ahead and see whats required.

 

Well I'm sure you already knew this but I'll say it anyways.
You're gonna have to replace your front fenders, hood, and bumper for that.
Heck I don't even know if the old style front end even works with our frame.

Edit:
I just remembered this!
A few of the Dakotas 91+ Front end came with sealed beams.
Hell I even see them regularly around town. Maybe you could track down one of those and swap that headlight set up into yours.
The only difference visually is the headlights are slightly recessed into the grill instead of being flush with it.

 

Tons of people put 4x6 headlights in the 92-96 front end, I'm not sure what is involved though. But you DO NOT need new fenders for this, just the core support, bumper, hood and grill/headlight doors from an 87-91 (I personally love the boxy look)

 

This thread here explains the different grill types. Not sure if you need to change the rad cradle for the non-aero package or not.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...-problems.html

 

My bad :P

 

All good mate

 

Best bet is to find a 91-96 with an "aero" package, which includes different grill end pieces (light surrounds) and accepts 4x6 glass lights.

 

Wow I have never heard of the "aero" version, does that just consist of a different grille and headlight doors?

 

I was actually unaware of the different fenders/hood. Bumper wouldn't be a problem as I'm going custom there anyways. The hood/fenders part puts a pretty big damper on it though.


I've seen several of these around town, but I think they look slightly ridiculous. I like the styling of the original grill setup. I'd especially like it with the magnum engine behind it instead of the pathetic LA engines.

 

Fenders are not different man, Id go for the Magnum swap I'm doing the same myself.