Well, the grill in my 1991 Troop seems to have given up the ghost; the paint is off, the clips have broken, and its just sorta hanging on to the front of the truck. Furthermore, the headlamps are rusted inside and need replacing and the turn signals are cracked and letting water in. This seems to be a perfect time to convert to the round headlamps and grill.

I just did a search (+headlamp +conversion and newer than 5 years) and found little to no info on the conversion. I assume that everything is plug and play, right? The mounting clips on the grill will work with the tabs on the front of the truck? No mods needed? How 'bout the lamps? Generic headlamps from an auto parts store should fit, right? Any special wiring needed? Same turn signals on both grills?

Any info you guys can give a relative n00b would be much appreciated. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I did a search on +round +grill and got a ton of hits, many of which were right on target for your question.

Most of them. On the ends though I had to drill a couple of holes in the rad. support behind the signals and put in some 8/32" bolts in the grill and jamb nutted the back creating a stud then nutted them to the back of the support. If you have a/c, the drivers side is a pain in the <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/butwiggle.gif" alt="" />



While all of the wires are there you will still have to change some things. First your headlight harness will have to be changed. You will need the H4 style 3prong because yours is a H3 style now. Also you will have to adapt your new signal lights to you current wiring.

Matt over at indy4x has Grills for sale. I think he even has a whole setup to do the swap. However I scored mine off ebay for $50 and got everything. Don't for get to get the headlight buckets too.

Thanks for the search info - I'll try that, too.

EDIT:

89 Mudslinger - I found a place that will sell a new grill for $32 plus shipping (roughly $40 to my door).

How involved is the wiring job? I'm clumsy with this stuff sometimes and have no desire to screw things up. Is there a harness I need to buy, or if I buy the right lamps will it come included?

EDIT: just double checked the shipping charges on that grill - it wasn't $8.95 like I thought, but $68.95. I think I'll keep looking for a cheaper alternative... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

What about just going to a local wrecking yard and pulling it yourself, that way it should be MUCH cheaper.

Actually, I've considered doing just that. Maybe it's time to stop considering, huh?

$68.95 for shipping <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" /> Your getting robbed. The guy shipped mine UPS for like 10bucks. Good luck at the salvage. Those are getting hard to find in salvage yards around here. Most of the salvage Troopers are hit in front.

As for the wiring, it is easy you just have to take your time. The only harness you need is for the headlights and you can get those at any parts store in the replace-a-part section. You just have to be sure and get the high beams and low beams right. If you have any mechanical ability and a voltage light you can do it. As for the signals your current running lights are in your headlamp assembly, and now they will be in your signal assembly. Then all you have is a little side marker light and a turn indicator. In all you will have three lights in the new housings, two of which tie into the two wires you pull from the light next to the headlight in your current ones and the other is your signal. If you want me to I can try and take some pics tomorrw night. I would recommend that you solder and heat shrink all of your connections because the front of your Troop takes on a lot of water and crimp-ons will eventually fail.
Oh, something extra I did was instead of using the plastic clips, I welded little 8/32" nuts in the clip holes and used screws to hold the grill in place. It is much stronger that way.

Send Joe Hope a PM, he could get a grill for @ $ 20.00