front clip

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Nov 5, 2007
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hey fellas just wanted to no what front ends can i use on a camino monte, maibu,cuttlass?thanx :D
 

Chevyman85

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Oct 25, 2006
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JD_Straightline said:
hey fellas just wanted to no what front ends can i use on a camino monte, maibu,cuttlass?thanx :D
What type of car is it? An El Camino? If so they will all fit. but only a Malibu and Elco share the same front clip (appearence wise).
 
Nov 5, 2007
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yes it is a camino 85 i have a 84 cutlass roller that i thought swapingon the front clip cause the elco is real rusty. thanx for the info :D
 

PHXKSTM

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Sep 3, 2007
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i have been thinkg of a elco front clip on my monte

i want chrome bumpers front and rear
 
Sep 1, 2006
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No, you can't easily use the Cutlass clip on the Elky. You would need to swap the doors too, and then figure out a way not to make the body lines ( none of which will line up) look stupid. The only front clips you can use would be from a Malibu, El-Camino or maybe a Pontiac Le mans.
 

clean8485

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Dec 18, 2005
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I was at a car show earlier this past summer, and I saw an El Camino with what appeared to be a 1980 Cutlass front clip on it. It didn't have the downward sloped nose of the '81 & up cars, but it did have the quad headlights. I never had a chance to talk to the owner to find out how he did it, but it looked pretty good-definitely different. As other people here have already said, if you use something other than an Elky/Malibu or El Camino SS clip (the Monte SS clip won't fit-too wide), you're probably going to have to do some bodywork to get the body lines to look right.
 

GP403

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clean8485 said:
I was at a car show earlier this past summer, and I saw an El Camino with what appeared to be a 1980 Cutlass front clip on it. It didn't have the downward sloped nose of the '81 & up cars, but it did have the quad headlights. I never had a chance to talk to the owner to find out how he did it, but it looked pretty good-definitely different. As other people here have already said, if you use something other than an Elky/Malibu or El Camino SS clip (the Monte SS clip won't fit-too wide), you're probably going to have to do some bodywork to get the body lines to look right.
Err, all the later El Caminos had the squared off, quad headlight front ends. Except the Choo-Choo conversions which had a Monte-SS looking nose, it looks identical but it's different.

Doesn't Lauren sell those Choo-Choo front end kits? I know somebody does.

'87 "stock" elky:
normal_87-ElCam-01.jpg


'87 "SS" / Choo-Choo:
normal_87-ElCam-06.jpg
 

clean8485

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I know that the later El Caminos ('82-'87) had the later ('82-'83) style Malibu nose on them. The one I saw at this show definitely had a Cutlass front clip on it. It looked like a 1980 style Cutlass front clip, with the quad headlights in it. I know that the Elky requires a different nose to make it look like a Monte SS. Lauren Engineering manufactures a nose piece that looks similiar to a Monte SS, but not exactly. You can still get the El Camino SS conversion parts through a company called Honest Charley's in the States, and possibly other suppliers, but I'm not 100% sure of any others.
 

GP403

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Ah, no sweat, you were talking about a sloped nose and such...

I imagine the hardest part of it would be making the door lines match up. Unless you halved the fenders over the wheel or something, and picked one set of the wheel openings to use... and hope the hood didn't curve differently... etc etc. :shock:

too much bodywork for me! :D
 
Sep 1, 2006
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Don't quote me on this one, but I have a hunch some of the 4 door G bodies share the same doors. Since the 4 door Malibu uses the same front as an El Camino, it may work. Also, all G body El Caminos use the same front fenders as do the Malibus. Take a look at the header panel on the later quad light versions and you will see that the angle it meets the fenders at is slanted back just like the single light cars. GM did the same thing in 1973 with the Nova when it went to the ugly big bumpers, and in 1970 when the 2 door Malibus got new fenders but the 4 door, wagon and El Camino kept the 68-69 parts. So, there is a precedent.
 
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