New front end ???

[fordman76367]

they black years.....whay do u call em that?

 

[LEB Ben]

they black years.....whay do u call em that?

Because I think they suck and are uglier than sin.

 

[fordman76367]

well, to each his own i guess haha...i feel tha same way about the gen 8's

 

[O'Rattlecan]

Gen 8's are probably the worst looking truck IMO since the huge fenders in the 50's. I really like the Gen 7 & Gen 9, so you have options!

Ryan

 

[crzybil87]

Hmm. I like the front clip of your bronco Ben. I don't see much of that style around hear and I don't want to blend into the crowd. Ill probably try to go that route. Too many gem. 9's around here

 

[LEB Ben]

Hmm. I like the front clip of your bronco Ben. I don't see much of that style around hear and I don't want to blend into the crowd. Ill probably try to go that route. Too many gem. 9's around here

Yeah...79 is my favorite year as well. But then you're back to the difficulty of everything looking smooth and lining up, unless you just do a whole body swap like mentioned before.

 

[dragogt]

Gen 8's are probably the worst looking truck IMO since the huge fenders in the 50's. I really like the Gen 7 & Gen 9, so you have options!

Ryan

Yeah see, I prefer that look over the others.. jmo

Got more character..

 

[crzybil87]

Ill probably just try to find early 80's front end parts and go that route. Then make it all shiney and like new again

 

[Fordzilla80]

As resident 1980-1981 owner,i'll post pics of my truck's original grille.

I've seen so many gen 9 front clip swaps i'm sick of them.I've seen a few Gen 8 swaps,but they're rare.The truck I pulled my interior from was an 82 with a gen 8 swap.I have never seen somebody go backwards though.I think it would be pretty awesome.If you do go backwards to the 7th gen front clip,keep your current 8th gen cowl panel.The 80-86 cowl panel has giant slots in it,and it's easy access for leaves to get into the cowl area.Your 8th gen has an identical cowl panel,but instead of the large slots,it has tiny pinholes.Alot better design IMO.For sake of completeness,if you swap front clips,swap the bed too.If you want,you can hang 80-86 bedsides on your current bed as the inner bedsides are the same 80-96(It might be 73-96,but i'm not sure).

I've never loved the 8th gen front end or dash,looks like a brick wall to me.But,it's still a Ford truck,so I still have an appreciation for them.My dad had an 87,and it was a really good truck.


Oh,and just for Ben,an 8th gen Dentside. This is proof that anything is possible,but it might look like crap when you're done.

 

[crzybil87]

Yea I personally haven't seen anybody go backwards like I want to. Everybody always upgrades to the Gen 9 front clip. I think itd be differnt and pretty cool

 

[D427COBRA]

I had wanted to swap mine to an 86, but I didn't want to swap the bedsides, and what I posted earlier about the fender mounts being different. I liked the Gen 9 front end second best, still looks better than the Gen 8 it had. Overdone or not.

 

[95F350XL]

That is what stinks about the 80-86 is the fenders wheel well. But I have 87-96 beds on the 80-86's and the round flared wheel well didnt look bad with the square front, just get some flares and call it a day.