Allan R

How do you mean 'doesn't conform'? Can you post a pic of the grill in the SS? You can alway dremel away a small layer of the grill or SS to make something fit. just don't get carried away.

Hoffman2099

The whole bottom left corner needs to be moved in. Can't tell where it's getting hung up.



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DENT

So , I also have 72 tail light lenses from Fusick , still in the box but I'm thinking about digging them out to see how they look.

allyolds68

This thread kind of bothered me even though I don't have a 71-72 so I e-mailed Fusick. It doesn't really answer the question although he does acknowledge some problems fitting them. I've heard of similar problems fitting 68 headlight buckets The bottom line is, they are the only ones out there so you either have to restore a factory set (which I did), or massage the repros. The more feedback they get the more easily they can correct problems. If you guys don't keep them in the loop the parts will never improve

This is Steve's reply:

Allan R

Hoffman, that is exactly the same issue I'm having. Got to ask. You said the bright reveal tabs were broken when you tried bending them? For the one at the TOP LEFT, (just below the alignment tab) Is the little fastener at the bottom still there though? If it is, that's what's causing the misalignment. The small speed clip extends far enough to touch the upper part of the stone shield whch shifts it to the 'right' just a bit. But as you know a small shift at the top creates an angle less than 90°. The further you go away from the top, the more the angle is intensified. I'm willing to bet that is the entire problem right there. One of the reasons I was going to eliminate the tab and speed nut and just JB Weld the top part of the bright reveal to the grill.

skryla

take a look at my pics above. They should give you a dremel when you buy repop parts! You will see where I had to grind.

Hoffman2099

Allan, the arrows in this picture are where the tabs broke off. http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/820/grille1t.jpg/

Some of the tabs don't even have fasteners. Has anyone tried fitting the grilles into an original stone shield to see if they fit any better?

Allan R

Ok so you're saying even without the fasteners or pegs the grill won't line up? The only way I'll be able to tell you if it lines up ok on an OEM SS will be in the spring. My car has an OEM guaranteed. I bought it NOS in 85 for the bodywork. If the grills don't fit that I know it's the grills not the SS. Sorry thats the best I can do right now. Up here the temp is cold so I don't want to work on plastic parts for fear they will break.

frankr442

How much is a repro stone shield? GM still shows stock in Lansing, but they're not cheap. Suggested list $151.88 and garage price of $113.91. Part # 410642.

Allan R

Really? repops go for around 115 bucks or so depending where you shop. A garage price (not sure what that is) of 114 for an NOS OEM? Jump all over that sucker - get 10! I'll take one

allyolds68

www.gmpartsdirect.com has it at $92.30 but shipping always kills with them

Chumley

Prices have gone way up in the last couple of years. Bought a repro 2 years ago for around $69 plus shipping. Fits good. Just had some issues with missing tabs on my OEM grilles. Chumley

frankr442

What I call "garage price" is GM's suggested trade or wholesale price. I could tell you what dealer cost is but the General would hunt me down and shoot me.

frankr442

If you walked up to the parts counter with the part number, (so the partsperson doesn't have to look it up) and pre-pay the special order, I think most dealers would be willing to give you the garage/wholesale price. Politeness counts.

Allan R

Probably about 40-60% of what wholesale is? I don't think GM has the resources to hunt down and kill anything in today's economy.

frankr442

Actually more like 79%. dealers don't make as much as most people think, at least at the wholesale level.

Allan R

And you thought GM would be lookin for you after disclosing THAT?? Oh oh? Is that a siren I hear?? Run! It's the GM Po lice

Hoffman2099

Took the stainless trim off the grilles to see if they would fit better in the stone shield. Still fit lousy.

HWYSTR455

Just went through this over the weekend, OE stone shield, aftermarket grills. Passenger side fit great, driver's side is the same as Hoffman2099 is experiencing, needs to move to the left/center.

I ended up doctoring the stone shield. I opened the indents up with a dremel, cut them out completely, so I could see that the studs were seated correctly. It's something else that's preventing it from moving to the left/center. At least it was for me (not the top stud or tab).

After doctoring it and fitting it like 20 times, it fit better, not perfect, and when I mocked it up, it all pulled together without much stress, so I left it.

Couple other notes:

I installed the headlight surrounds before the stone shield/grills, and was able to slip it all together.

I had to trim the L brackets since I was going from 'S' to 442 grills. (no biggie)

I got the hardware fastener set, worth the couple extra bucks.

I too had an issue with the number '2' bowing/turning as the speed nut was tightened. (I ended up spinning the nut on and off a couple times before putting it on the grill, worked like a champ).

.

Allan R

Good info, THANKS!! I will have the OEM stone shield to play with also. So I will try your mods if needed on it as practice for the aftermarket replacement one. Unless I can fix the crack in the bottom of the OEM one, the aftermarket will get painted and installed. I'm also replacing my S grills with these

I have a set of the right brackets so it should be easier. I'm guessing the new hardware fastening set just makes it easier to work with since you have all new parts? The '2' has 2 posts on the back. I found ALL the numbers speed nuts were somewhat tedious to get on, but never ran into a problem with them bowing or turning. I started both speed nuts at the same time and went back and forth from one to the other to get symmetrical torque/tightness

HWYSTR455

I twisted a stud off a number and had to order another set. And that was before the speed nut was even tight. That's why I ended up going back & forth on the second set of numbers, tighten a turn, loosen, tighten a turn more, loosen, you get the idea.

Yeah, the fastener set was just that, easier to work with. The clips slid on easy, and didn't have to worry about taking them off the old grills. And I knew the new screws would fit right.

Here's a couple more shots, if anyone needs close ups of anything, let me know...

.

Allan R

Looks awesome. Any chance of getting any shots of the L bracket attachment from behind?
Would also love to see the shots of the dremel work you did to the stone shield. It would help a lot for mine. thx in advance.

HWYSTR455

Yeah, I will see if I can get some shots of the L bracket, but basically, all I did was cut a piece off, drill one hole, and slip a J nut on it. I only used one, the bottom one. (I should have gotten pics going together, but it's really no-brainer).

As for the stone shield mods, should have gotten pics there too, but all I did was cut out the square 'windows' that are imprinted on it. I cut the whole square out, it all gets covered up by the grill.

.

Allan R

Don't worry about the L bracket. That I can figure out no problem. Based on what you've described here I can probably get mine to fit. Did you do ALL the cutouts or just the vertical ones that were causing the misalignment? So far I've only tried to dry fit the DS grill.

HWYSTR455

I did all the windows, and they pretty much line up with all the studs.

.

Hoffman2099

How did you get the driver's side left/center to move in?

Lady72nRob71

These grilles look to be the biggest repro-blunder I have ever seen...
I envy you guys with the patience; I would have let Big Bertha (SBFH) have at 'em by now...

HWYSTR455

After opening those windows up, and got all the mounting screws/bolts in place, it all came together. There is a little tension still left in it when it was drawn together, but not excessive. (Won't crack in my opinion). Once it heat cycles a few times, I bet it will relax the remaining tension.

.

Tony72Cutlass'S'

I would like to take this opportunity to pat myself on the back for once for being a cheap son-of-a-gun and fixing up OEM grilles.

Took me 4 weeks of sweat, blood and tears, But they installed better than a pair of rain boots on a Koala.

DENT

Lol , this is a great forum.

Tony72Cutlass'S'

You betcha! Here is photo proof..

The beginning..



The middle...



The end!

Lady72nRob71

"You betcha! Here is photo proof.. "

So where is the koala in rain boots??

Tony72Cutlass'S'

(Betcha figured i didnt have this one ready, huh?)

Allan R

We're always prepared, but were you ready for the rebuttal??
baby_koala_yawn-1.gif

Hoffman2099

[QUOTE=Hoffman2099;349885]The whole bottom left corner needs to be moved in. Can't tell where it's getting hung up.



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Well I found out why the grille wouldn't fit in to place. The bottom right plastic tab where it bolts to the stone shield is way off. You can either cut off the tab or do some grinding to the stone shield. After that it fits good. Have to work on the passengers side now.

507OLDS

I finally got around to looking at my grilles I got from Fusick.They do not look exactly like the ones pictured.The repops pictured have a round stud,with a speed clip,holding the outer trim on.My grilles have a flat tab,just like the GM grilles,but has the speed clip also,instead of being bent over like the GM grilles.If I just remove the speed clip,and bend the tabs over like the GM's,I think they will work as they should.They are real close the way they are now,just mocking them up.So why do mine have a different style of stud?Newer?

Hoffman2099

Mine had a combination of speed nuts and some bent tabs. Be careful bending those tabs, they brake easily.

JCMC64

Are the newer 2013 repop grills any different out there? I liked to know if they fixed them, did what they should of from the start and MAKE SURE THEY WERE CORRECT FROM THE START!!!

Just makes no sense at all to me. They couldn't look these overs first and get it right, spend an extra 5 mins looking OEMs over top to bottoms and see if they match repop exactly?

Ive been planning on buying a set for a while, and now I find this thread.

Hoffman2099

I doubt they've improved them at all. When I emailed Fusicks about them and told them about the problems, they said they tried fitting a pair on a car and there were no problems.

JCMC64

Yeah, I hear you. I think I will call and ask anyways.
Havent heard much good about them on this site.

Saying they tried them on 1 car and all is good is pretty hollow response.