71 cuda grill in a 73?

[prairiedoghunter]

Will a 71 grille bolt in a 73 cuda?

I have a 73 cuda without any grill, or head light buckets or anything at all, I love the look of the 71's grill so i would like to put one of those in if possible.

does anyone know if the fenders are the same (other than the markerlights)? Any other areas of the car, (such as the radiator support) that would cause a problem with the 71 grill. thanks

I realize this is probably a dumb question, because the 71 has four headlights and all other years have only two, I imagine there are quite a few differnces, but i cant find anything on it, or even good pictures of a 73 and 71.

 

[71cudajoe]

I'm not sure if this will give you any information or if it will help, but BK Auto did a great job restoring a 73 Cuda and turning it into a 71 Cuda clone. The car looks fantastic. They kept pretty good documentation of the restoration, so you can read more about the project and see pictures on their website if you're interested. Here's the link:

http://www.bkauto.net/1971%20HEMICUDA.htm

 

[prairiedoghunter]

well, I don't think that really answered any questions, because they used 71 fenders and completely rebuilt everything. but thanks for posting it, it was quite interesting!!!

 

[prairiedoghunter]

I've talked to a coupple guys who say the 71 grill would work, but they are not sure. I am really looking for some definitive advice before buying a grill. So if you know anything or anybody, please let me know. thanks

 

[prairiedoghunter]

or even good pictures of a 73 and 71.

By good pictures I mean pictures of the front of the fenders w/o the headlight buckets in them, so I can see the mounting bolts for the headlight buckets, and any differnt shapes/contours

 

[ram250098]

Hey Hunter, I have a 73 Cuda as well. It depends on which way you want to go with the look.
The 73 has a front filler piece from the bumper to the grille which bolts to the underside of the 73 grille. What that does is hide the space between them because of the 5 mph law that came in. The way to get around that is to suck the bumper in close to the body like the 71s in which the filler piece is not needed.
Hope that helps.
AL

 

[Chryco Psycho]

the 71 grille surround / header panel is different from all other years , I believe you need that part or you have to do significant fabrication to hold the grille in place .The other obvious problem is the 4 headlight buckets , I am not sure how you plan to address that , the challenger headlight supports May work but the spacing of the headlights could be totally different

 

[prairiedoghunter]

the 71 grille surround / header panel is different from all other years , I believe you need that part or you have to do significant fabrication to hold the grille in place .The other obvious problem is the 4 headlight buckets , I am not sure how you plan to address that , the challenger headlight supports May work but the spacing of the headlights could be totally different

ok i found some photos of the 71 header pannel. that makes sense.

So just to be clear, if i get a '71 grill, '71 header pannel, and '71 headlight buckets, you think it would bolt in???, or........ that is all that you KNOW is differnt.

If I have to change the fenders I will dismiss the idea of the 71 grill. So now i am just wondering if there is a differnce in the fenders

thanks for pointing out the header pannel I didn't realize that was differnt

 

[ram250098]

Opps sorry about that I missed the fact it was a 71...
AL