61 chevy grill rebuild

[Bart Savage]

Im rebuilding a 61 chevy grill for my suburban and am in need of the cups behind the headlamps... not the buckets. Does anyone know if ones from the same era cars would work and if so is there a part #. Thanks in advance!!

[Old Truck Man]

The parts you need on GMC grills from 60 thru 66 are identical.

[seanrolandwood]

Having just done this you'll need to figure out which cups you have.... theres l1 l2 r1 r2 and no they are not interchangeable and no one sells re-pops I got lucky through another forum and sourced one locally all the adjuster assemblies and springs are availble through LMC best of luck

[seanrolandwood]

Another thing I've just found out today I'm not sure what year your suburban is but if its not 60-61 you'll need a 60-61 grille support panel....(most I've noticed call them radiator supports but LMC has them listed as grille support)..... to actually mount it to..... as of the catalog I got in today they no longer sell a 60-61 specific panel now its a 60-63 universal panel but from what I've read and been told the repop panel doesn't really fit right and also from what I've been told if you're going to use one from a donor vehicle it needs to be a 60-61 panel a 62-63 original panel won't work if someone here can correct me please do I'm just trying to pass along what I've been told and help if it does if I'm telling you sh@! you already know sorry for the long post I just happen to be at the same spot trying to mount my grille to my truck

[Old Truck Man]

I call it a front valance. the part that hold the radiator battry box and the inner & outer fenders bolt to is the radiator support. Any way a 60 61 chev grille will fit any 60 thru 66 GMC front valance. I can find no difference between a 60 thru 62 chev or 60 thru 66 GMC front valance.the63thru 66 chev valance only two bolts of a GMC or 60 thru 62 chev grille can be installed. The head light buckets & wiring harness is exactly the same on all the 4 headlamp grilles GMC or CHEV.

[perro13]

Originally Posted by seanrolandwood

Another thing I've just found out today I'm not sure what year your suburban is but if its not 60-61 you'll need a 60-61 grille support panel....(most I've noticed call them radiator supports but LMC has them listed as grille support)..... to actually mount it to..... as of the catalog I got in today they no longer sell a 60-61 specific panel now its a 60-63 universal panel but from what I've read and been told the repop panel doesn't really fit right and also from what I've been told if you're going to use one from a donor vehicle it needs to be a 60-61 panel a 62-63 original panel won't work if someone here can correct me please do I'm just trying to pass along what I've been told and help if it does if I'm telling you sh@! you already know sorry for the long post I just happen to be at the same spot trying to mount my grille to my truck

if not mistaken you can use the 63-66 support on the earlier also, I think you would have to do a little mods to use a 60-62 a later year

[seanrolandwood]

I could use any info on what mods need to be done to a 60-61 support to fit a later year frame if its just as much as cutting the openings taller for frame rails simple enough but is there anyone on here who has done this and what fitment problem did you have or was it relatively bolt on

[Old Truck Man]

Here are picture of a couple of grill shells I own. a 60 & 61. They are both chromed steel. has anyone heard of or seen a aluminum version of these tear grills.? If so post a picture

[perro13]

Correct me if I'm wrong 60-62 supports have a more shallow opening were the frame rails come through. I posted 2 pics the 1st an early the 2nd a later support. I have had problems mounting the earlier support to a later frame 63-66

[Old Truck Man]

My bad. Yes there is a marked difference. nothing a torch or big hammer wouldn't fix I was referring to the bolt holes that attach the grill, the GMC & 60 thru 62 chev have four bolts retaining the grille and the 63 thru 66 have three. Just goes to show ya can learn something new every day. Thanks for the pictures & info..

[1963c-10]

Hmmm....this throws a kink in the cogs....the blue surround is the factory support that came out of my 61 c-10 parts truck. The black support is a NOS 63 unit and both have the same recess for the frame rails. The 61 was a St.Louis truck and the black core has never been installed. I did the complete disassembly on the 61 and I cannot see where anything had ever been pulled off the front of the truck, and it still had its original paint. I did forget to measure the distance between the two recess's.....I can do that tonight.