Checking to see if the Steel Grills from 1971 will fit without major modification into a 1972 cutlass supreme convertible? Thanks.

 

My '71 had the plastic grills from a Cutlass 'S', and I'm changing them to the metal grills from a '71 Supreme. The stone shield and bumper should be the same pieces from '71 - '72. Just make sure you have the attaching brackets and double check where the headlight bezels attach. BTW, it shouldn't matter if it's a convertible or not.

 

71 grilles will fit the radiator support of a 72. Hood moulding will not match, easy to change.

 

But the converse is not true. There is a subtle difference between the 1971 and 1972 core supports to accommodate the metal grilles used on the 1972 Supremes.

 

I think 72 Supeme grilles are plastic, 71 Supreme grills are a die cast metal alloy.
Henry

 

72 Supreme grilles were plastic, not metal.

EDIT: I believe the rad supports 71/72 are the same. What's different in mounting the 71 grilles is the L bracket to attach the grilles to the rad support. They are the same kind as the ones used for the 442 grilles in 71 and 72.

 

The front clips on my '71 and '72 supremes weren't identical, though.

 

OK, I believe Joe answered the question but commented that 1972 grills will not go into the 1971 core support. Here's a link that has pictures of the different core supports 1970-72. Plus there's a link posted on this other thread by another memeber which shows both a 1971 and 72 core supports with 72 grills installed, you have to go to the link, then select Misc. and then select 1971 vs 1972 Radiator Core Support to see the pictures. John

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...2-cutlass.html

 

John/Richard,
Aside from that 'bump' for the 72 grills - all 1971 grills will fit into a 72 rad support. I looked closer at mine and it appears that the 72 eggcrate and horizontal grills needed that clearance because the frontal surfaces of the grills were moved forward (and were constant height) in 72. All 71 grills were 'recessed' like the 442 style of 72. That would account for the difference.

John, thanks for the site references. Great resource management.