Gentlemen,

Will 1972 442 grills fit properly in a 1971 radiator support ? I think the supports are different between 71 & 72. Not sure if any modifications are needed,

Thanks.

 

FYI you can easily interchange 1972 442 grilles in a 1971 442. They fill the same space. If you are looking to use 1972 442 grilles in place of 1971 Cutlass grilles you will need the 442 grille to rad support mount brackets.

 

Thank you Dave.

 

The 1971 and 72 442 grilles are exactly the same molded plastic part. The only difference is the paint. The differences in the 1971 vs 72 core supports is to accommodate the 72 Supreme grilles.

 

Maybe the wrong protocall. I do not mean the jack the op's thread but it is kinda the same subject. What is needed to install the repo 442 grills into a 72 Supreme?

 

More than just the CS grills Joe. It was also needed for the Cutlass and Cutlass S grills since they were all a taller profile and further forward than the 442 grills.

A LOT of patience and some tweaking of either the inside post on the bright work for the repro grill, or dremeling out the stoneshield where it's going to cause conflict. The repro grills are NOT a plug and play with the stone shield no matter what the vendor says.

 

I'm not sure about taller, but you are correct that they are further forward. I forgot about that on the Cutlii. The Supreme grilles are similarly shaped for the 1971 and 72 model years.

1971 Cutlass:



1972 Cutlass:

 

Since this comes up a lot, here's a 1971 core support. Note the shape of the metal just above the outboard edge of the grille.



Note the difference in the same area on the 72 core support:

 

Thanks Allan, I am taking it some modification will be needed but no additional parts or brackets other than what was on the Supreme Grills.......

 

Ok, maybe taller wasn't the best way to describe it. But by looking at your own posted pics you can see they are not cut back like the 71 models. 71 grills also had the Cutlass Supreme Script, while 72 grills had only the Oldsmobile Script. 72 CS and VC had the same grills, while the 71 and 72 Cutlass Cruisers shared the same grill patterns.

re: 71/72 grills being similarly shaped? Nope, unless you say they have a general rectangular shape? The 71/72 CS grills aren't even close. 72 has an eggcrate design and is plastic, and the 71 is vertical bars with a horizontal centerline that are recessed and made of pot metal. 2 completely different grills.

One thing I will say, ALL 1971 grills will fit into a 1972 rad support, but not all 72 grills will fit the 71 rad support (except the 442).

1971 CS


1972 CS

 

Thank you gentlemen for your responses.

 

Agreed, but the difference is due to the notch in the core support, seen here:



Keep in mind that the opening formed by the stone shield and the hood that the grille fits into is exactly the same for both 1971 and 1972.

 

100% - that one looks like the RS of the grill is damaged. It should be horizontal instead of slanting up to the right like that. I can see where the grill is broken on the vertical connection. But your point was to show the obvious need for the modification, which it does.


Umm, since the entire front clip really didn't change for 71/72 that's a given. The only change to the 72 Cutlass hoods was the elimination of the rear vent openings for AC equipped cars. Other than that they used exactly the same hoods in both model years. PN 407256, 407257, 408358. Source info: WAC 71 AM, 72 AM. Stone shield is the same part number both years 410642

Really the only thing 71/72 front end comparisons are about is cosmetics alone.

 

Thanks for that Joe, GREAT info!!!!

 

Yeah, unfortunately that was the best photo I could find on Google Images last night.