Early Grille on '70+ Truck

[DarkStar]

Hi, Newbie question here. Tried to search but came up short. Can I easily and inexpensively put a '67-'69 front grille with all trimmings (headlight 'doors' etc.) on a 1970+ truck? Thanks!

[elgemcdlf]

Yes. I have a '70 with a '67 grille. The gravel guard is different '67-'69 and '70-'72. Ford discontinued the early gravel guard making the '70-'72 the replacement for all bumps. I am currently searching for an original '67-'69 gravel guard. Now to inexpensively. All depends on what you consider inexpensively. If you get lucky you can find a complete grille for $250 or less. I have heard of guys buying complete trucks just to get the grille.

[sargentrs]

This page details the differences http://www.fordification.com/tech/67-72ID_01.htm

[DarkStar]

Thank you. Does that mean everything just bolts right up? Headlights are positioned correctly for the earlier grille and headlight doors? Thx again.

[sargentrs]

Yep, although I remember reading something about the '67 grill needing a tiny adjustment on the the front flange of the fender or something.

[elgemcdlf]

The headlights are mounted to the grille. You have to use the headlight doors that go with the grille.

[DarkStar]

Great, thanks again. Just picked up a '70 today!

[ThreeTruckMan76]

I also just bought a 1970, and recently made a deal for a really cherry 67' grille. In the meantime, I totally scored and found a 69' grille on eBay, and it was VERY affordable. PM me if you'd like to know how much. (btw, I can't BELIEVE no one tried to compete with me! Oh, and the BEST part was that i was able to pick it up--20 minutes from MY HOUSE!)

The headlight bezels were pretty bad, so I'm going to go ahead and put reproductions there (in the photo, the LH side is a repro, and the RH side is original/lots of dings, etc.)

Anyway, not everything lines up perfectly. I'm gonna have to drill some holes on the front facing part of the fenders to get everything good and secure, but without any major work, I was able to change everything over in a few hours.

I still haven't quite hooked up the turn signals, and I'm waiting on some parts from Dennis Carpenter, one part of which is the headlight adjustment screw. The picture in his catalog shows a slightly different looking piece as what I have, but I've got my fingers crossed that it will work.

Before



After



Daren

[sargentrs]

Looks great!

[ThreeTruckMan76]

Thanks, Randy!

D

[elgemcdlf]

That '70 grille should fetch decent money for you.

[ThreeTruckMan76]

That '70 grille should fetch decent money for you.

Thanks for that. I do intend to sell it. Not so much because I know I don't want to use it, but more so because I have an extra '70 grille from my dad anyway. So if I were ever to sell the truck I'd still have the "correct" grille for the new buyer. (Not that I plan to sell the truck, but I digress). Regardless, I've got a couple of deals in place for a couple of other 67/69 stile grilles, so I'm finding myself suddenly grille rich and cash poor. If anyone's interested, I'll be making a post soon about the selling the '70 grille.

Daren

[68RGR]

One suggestion - Paint a red stripe on the center bar and add a Ranger emblem! Just my opinion. The 68-69 Ranger grilles really are something special to me.

THEN, you could begin to channel Johnny Cash and his '67, '68, '69, '70 automobile err, uh, truck!

It just doesn't get any better -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWHniL8MyMM

[elgemcdlf]

The '70 is a one year only as to the shell and inserts. The '71 & '72 shells are the same & while they look like the '70 they are different in how the inserts mount.

[DarkStar]

I also just bought a 1970, and recently made a deal for a really cherry 67' grille. In the meantime, I totally scored and found a 69' grille on eBay, and it was VERY affordable. PM me if you'd like to know how much. (btw, I can't BELIEVE no one tried to compete with me! Oh, and the BEST part was that i was able to pick it up--20 minutes from MY HOUSE!)

The headlight bezels were pretty bad, so I'm going to go ahead and put reproductions there (in the photo, the LH side is a repro, and the RH side is original/lots of dings, etc.)

Anyway, not everything lines up perfectly. I'm gonna have to drill some holes on the front facing part of the fenders to get everything good and secure, but without any major work, I was able to change everything over in a few hours.

I still haven't quite hooked up the turn signals, and I'm waiting on some parts from Dennis Carpenter, one part of which is the headlight adjustment screw. The picture in his catalog shows a slightly different looking piece as what I have, but I've got my fingers crossed that it will work.

Before

[ Image ]

After

[ Image ]

Daren

Daren, how are the repro headlight doors? Worth the money? Thanks.