I know I will get some opinions on this as to not do away with the 85 look but to bad im doing it! Well I picked up my front clip yesterday for $200. The fenders had absolutly no rust on them. The only thing thats bad is the front bezel that goes around the light is busted only because it was really cold out and I was not very cautious with it. Man that whole thing was a PIA to get off. We used a hammer and chisel to get the core support bolts off. While im on the subject of core support this isnt in the best shape but its solid not rusted into pieces. I plan on fixing it up and maybe using POR15 on it. I need to fix up where the inner fender bolts up to it. I have a few questions... 1. Where the fenders bolt up by the doors, at the bottom on the 85 the bolts are up and down, and on the 94 they bolt up from the side. Can I simply just bend the tabs over to make the bolts go up and down? 2. Still need a bumper, was told the 94 bumper mounts will be different than what my 85 has? 3. Can I use my existing wiring and just change out the ends on it? I got the harness from the 94 but I dont know what wires go where? 4. Can I use my existing inner fenders or do I need to use the inner fenders off the 94? Thats all I can think of now. Im sure I will have more once I get going on this project. here are some pictures.... Here is the rust, looks like battery acid got to it.

 

The drivers side of your support looks even worse and there's no battery there. They just rot in those spots. Mine looks about the same. I will have to get to it this year for sure.
If I were you, I think I would just replace that support....unless of course you are handy with a welder and can just replace the bad metal.
Certainly an option if you have a welder and the rot isn't too bad. Yours looks a little on the rough side though.

 

You can bend them but do it before you mount them up. You can also just get some L brackets as well. I had some left over from an old CB radio mounting bracket that I used.


They are way different, you will have to fab something up.

Thats what I did and everything works fine. All you really need to change is the headlight plugs and the 94 front clip has 1 extra #194 bulb on each side that I just spliced into the existing one. Your original turn signal plugs will twist into the newer housing.

I used my original inner fenders. You will have to trim them a bit though.

 

Ok thanks Systostang, I know you did the same thing with yours. I hope it makes my truck look very nice! The only thing Im not looking forward to is making the bumper mounts. You have pictures or anything on how you did yours? I have a good hobart wwlder so I could fab up something.

 

My bumper is home made as well as the mounts, but I could snag some pics if you want to see it.

 

Yeah sure all I need is some pictures of the mounts. You think I could fab some up wuth some flat metal?

 

Just dont use too thin of metal, but I guess the weight of the bumper will dictate the material you use. My bumper weighed 250-300 pounds so I used some thick stuff. I started with 2 half-inch thick strips, and bent them to the contuor of the frame horns. I then used 2" ID square tubing and made L brackets with a re-enforcement brace to make them look like A's. I welded the brackets to one side to the frame horn strips and the other side I welded to the bottom inside of the bumper right next to some main supports. My whole bumper is constructed of half and quarter inch steel. I torched elongated holes in the strips to give me more adjustment to the bumpers location. There is no flex in my setup at all, myself and a friend jumped up and down on this thing to try and make it wiggle, it's nice and tight.

 

How different are the mounting holes on my 85 compared to the 94?

 

The 94 bumper is mounted with a couple brackets. I think there is a bracket inside the bumper that bolts to a bracket on the frame. The frame brackets are connected to the inside edges of the frame, not the front like your 85.

Here is one of the 94 style brackets.

The 2 bolts attach to a welded flange on the frame and the bumper bolts to the top and bottom edges of this bracket.

 

Well yesterday I got my hood and front bumper. I see h\what you mean about the bumper mount. I wish I could of taken the bumper mount thats attached to the frame, the L shaped piece. I guess I will go get some flat metel and bend into the L shape and weld it to the frame. But I really need some measurements so the bumper is mounted right, I guess I could mock up everything and go from there.

Also the hood latch how different are the ones on my 85 compared to the 94 front clip? I ask because te cable was accidently cut while we were taking it off the donor vehicle...

I plan on doing this swap starting next Wednesday...

I got the radiator support all fixed up since the mounting holes were rusted out, also got all the rust grinded off and all painted up....

Truck will still be 6 dang colors!!!

 

wow awesome project! post lots of pictures! i plan on doing the same thing to my truck in the near future..

 

The cables are the same, I used my original cable on the new latch.

 

I plan doing the same swap..i have a complete 96 donor truck> badly rusted out frame.i never thought of the bumper mounts..i might try cutting the horns off the 96 and grafting them in my 86..i was told the headlight switch should be changed for voltage reasons. I wonder if the headlight will be bright enough? Who knows.. I guess i will find out next month when i get started..i need to get a new rad support.the bottom of the 96 is gone.

 

I started the swap today. Didnt get much done(ran out of light) Would of started earlier but had to haul 28 bundles of shingles. Well All we got done so far is taking out the batteries and battery trays, all the light wiring, and the a/c hoses done.


Im hoping to have everything all taken apart tomorrow. The biggest task is going to be fabbing up the bumper mounts... Ill take some pictures if I remember...

 

I have had all the aggravation for the day, im done with it today. We are having problems lining up everything. Trying to put on the drive fender and get the bolt that goes on where you have to open the door, well once you get it on the area where the fender meets the core support has like a half inch gap at the bottom tab and a quarter gap on the top. Maybe since my cab is crappy the cab dropped. That or the core support holes need drilled out a lot bigger. The holes for where the core bolts to the frame is only about 3/4" becuase we fabricated it to fix some rust. Does the holes in the core support have to be huge like original?

So far we got the core support on, thats it!!!! dang it. Was hoping everyting went together a little better, but cant get that lucky!