Front End Conversion on a first gen (finally repairing after wreck)

[mbelcher0014]

well i decided to fix my first gen after wrecking it, and im going to be doing a front end conversion.. does anyone have any experiece with doing this.. im either going to go with a second gen front end with the rear fender flares or the 2002 front end with the rear fender flares as well....

also i will be painting my truck solid red and removing all body trim, i will be shaving my door handles and the rear wiper as well as the roof lights and rack.... i will be getting nitto dune grappler 35in tires and 5% window tint


as for the interior i will be fiberglassing my dash and installing a flush mount 7in tv and dvd player. i will also fiberglass the door pannels......

Im in the process of fabing up a custom fiberglass center console as i speak with switches and two 8in subs and another 7in tv where the console meets the dash


What are everyones thoughts???? i also will be undercoating the entire truck and bed linering the interior floors...

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

I think the conversion is definitely possible.

I think at one point I even considered doing the same thing. I didn't look into it as much, but more thought about what all I was going to do. I'm wondering though if the fenders will just bolt on and if the radiator support will have to be changed out or not. I think one of the best things to do is start measuring everything. Figure out where everything mounts and compare it.

As for what style you go with, I'd think about what's going to be the easiest. But I think the Sport Trac front end looks best. Just the angles of it seem badass

 

[Turdle]

Rick's truck is a 1st gen with a 2nd gen front clip. Check his threads.

 

[flamingX]

The only differance between the first and second gens (that I have found) is the rad support and cowl panel. You will most likely need to swap the rad support in order to mount your headlight panel. The cowl panel is a totally differnt shape where it meets the top of the fenders (and of coarse it's welded on) so you will need to either swap it or weld a piece on the 2nd gen. fenders to fill the gap. Other than that It should just bolt right on and line up. (I'm currently useing a 1st gen. sport to make my 2nd gen. 4-door into a long wheel base 2-door and everything is lineing up perfectly)

As for the '02 front end, that is a totally differnt animal all together, It's quite a bit wider and non of the body lines will line up.

 

[mbelcher0014]

The only differance between the first and second gens (that I have found) is the rad support and cowl panel. You will most likely need to swap the rad support in order to mount your headlight panel. The cowl panel is a totally differnt shape where it meets the top of the fenders (and of coarse it's welded on) so you will need to either swap it or weld a piece on the 2nd gen. fenders to fill the gap. Other than that It should just bolt right on and line up. (I'm currently useing a 1st gen. sport to make my 2nd gen. 4-door into a long wheel base 2-door and everything is lineing up perfectly)

As for the '02 front end, that is a totally differnt animal all together, It's quite a bit wider and non of the body lines will line up.

thanks for the info, sorry i ment to list that it was the 2001 sport track explorer (truck version) front end...... there is that and a 1998 here at the local junk yard with rear end wrecks.. i was going to buy it and swich the 5.0 into my truck along with the tranny and trans case..... then was going to use one of the other front ends and use some fender flares to make a custom wide body in the rear and smooth the flares to the truck.

havnt decided yet, i have about a month to complete it so im trying to get started faily quick.

ill make my decision and pick one of them up this weekend and get it started.

 

[91ROKKRAWLER]

Look around at the (hate to say it) mini truck sites... A lot of good info on conversions...

s10forum.com
streetsourcemag.com
blazinlow.com

etc.

 

[CDW6212R]

The swap of front ends is not simple or easy. I chose to convert to the whole 2nd gen front clip, which officially made mine a 99.

To swap just the body and keep the firewall etc; keep the lower half of the front radiator support etc, back to the firewall. That will mount the old radiator and engine bay parts.

You need the top half of the radiator support back to the firewall, for the whole front body and hood. I almost did that, my body man suggested what I did, avoiding all that difficult cutting/sectioning/welding etc. Good luck,