‘85 Cutlass Grille Hardware

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Sodee

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Feb 1, 2018
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I am trying to properly mount these grills but i feel as though I am missing something. They don’t sit flush with the bumper, aren’t firmly mounted as they move. I also have an extra bracket?

2nd, what is the pitch of the bolts that secure the bracket to the header panel? I need 3-4 of these and can’t find replacements. Thread pitch looks like the last included picture
 

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69hurstolds

Geezer
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Jan 2, 2006
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For one, that's an 84 grille you got in there.

That bracket in the center pic is a support piece that goes up above the grill where it mounts to the header panel. There's a spring, or what they call a "hinge" which is nothing more than a partially bent steel plate that screws to the top of the grille plastic and to the header panel. The hinge is sandwiched between the support bracket and header panel plastic screw mounts.

The bolt in the 3rd pic is a hex head and are known as hi-lo threaded bolt. They have a dual pitch on them and make them useful for the header panel plastic. 30 and 60 degree threads all on the same screw.

Two sizes according to the parts book. For the hinge to the header, you're needing 6 of the M4.2 x 1.41 x 16 (for the hinge to grille) GM p/n 11503551. Issue is, I don't recall if this is supposed to be a hi-lo thread or just a self tap into the grille plastic. EDIT: To clarify, you'll need to use 3 on each side.

And you would need 6 of the M6.3 x 1.69 x 20 (for the hinge to the header panel) GM p/n 11503648. This is a hex head hi-lo thread.

EDIT: This is what an 85 grille looks like. Although I get that the 84 somehow does look better. You said they move? They should at the bottom. There's also a "stop" on top of the bumper support inside (bent L-shape looking metal bracket) that prevents the bottom of the grille from caving in too far. They're designed to flex and not break in the event the front bumper is hit something or someone bumps you....LIGHTLY. Cheap design, but, well, because...G-body.

17562228-1985-oldsmobile-cutlass-thumb.jpg
 
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69hurstolds

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Here's the breakdown of the general assembly...

85 Grilles are GM p/n 22526644 for RH and 22526645 for LH

G-body Olds 81-86 Grille Mounting Diagram.JPG
 
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69hurstolds

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Note in the picture above, it's sort of a mish-mash of drawings that the illustrator people must've got the "intern" to fix real quick before going to press and it just became a fugging mess.

Check it- the header panel is for the "new Euro nose for 1986" that actually got pushed back to 1987. Thus, they had to do a lot of fixing on parts in the front end. They decided to continue the current grille set up from 1985 into the 86 model year. Then, since they didn't have a different grille for the 86 (as they tended to change the design every year), they went back and recycled the 1981 grille. The 86 Salons got a new treatment of BLACK grille centers that 81 never got, which, IMO, was one of the best looking grille sets in the 80s.

So what you see in the picture above, they forgot to change the header back to the OG 81 style, and the nose emblem shouldn't have been there either. And look at the screw for part #19. Someone forgot to tell that intern that it shouldn't be there. Again, another mishap from the Euro nose. Euro grille pieces have screws that come in from the front since they were stationary. But the 81-86 spring hinge grilles have the screws in the back.

Another trivia note about the 86 Cutlass line was that at least the G47 models were supposed to get Monte SS style wedge side mirrors. Didn't happen either, but the 86 brochure still shows them on the cars as they forgot to air brush that out like they did the front ends. The parts book even shows the side mirror glass on the driver side, IIRC, as a Monte SS mirror glass. "The object called the mirror is different than it appears."
 
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Sodee

Greasemonkey
Feb 1, 2018
186
202
43
Note in the picture above, it's sort of a mish-mash of drawings that the illustrator people must've got the "intern" to fix real quick before going to press and it just became a fugging mess.

Check it- the header panel is for the "new Euro nose for 1986" that actually got pushed back to 1987. Thus, they had to do a lot of fixing on parts in the front end. They decided to continue the current grille set up from 1985 into the 86 model year. Then, since they didn't have a different grille for the 86 (as they tended to change the design every year), they went back and recycled the 1981 grille. The 86 Salons got a new treatment of BLACK grille centers that 81 never got, which, IMO, was one of the best looking grille sets in the 80s.

So what you see in the picture above, they forgot to change the header back to the OG 81 style, and the nose emblem shouldn't have been there either. And look at the screw for part #19. Someone forgot to tell that intern that it shouldn't be there. Again, another mishap from the Euro nose. Euro grille pieces have screws that come in from the front since they were stationary. But the 81-86 spring hinge grilles have the screws in the back.

Another trivia note about the 86 Cutlass line was that at least the G47 models were supposed to get Monte SS style wedge side mirrors. Didn't happen either, but the 86 brochure still shows them on the cars as they forgot to air brush that out like they did the front ends. The parts book even shows the side mirror glass on the driver side, IIRC, as a Monte SS mirror glass. "The object called the mirror is different than it appears."
Goodness, I owe you a beer for all this info.... thank you so much.

I didn’t know they were 84 grilles, I just knew I preferred them over all others except the blacked out ones (they cost a lot). So much great info here, thank you a million times over.
 
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