94 Cutlass Supreme 2dr - what front clip parts swap?

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[kthelen]

Hello all!

This weekend I scored my first W-body - a '94 Cutlass Supreme coupe (recently rebuilt 3.1, no rust, 107K miles). The former owner rear-ended someone with it, destroying the hood, DS fender, bumper plastics/grill, bumper "innards", and radiator. Her husband stripped the broken parts and shoved it into the garage, planning on finding others and putting it back on the road... but she divorced him first. Eighteen months and five hundred greenbacks later, it's now in MY driveway

I went to the local junkyard and yanked a radiator from a Lumina before going to get the car. It took about 20 minutes to install it, replace the coolant, and get the turn signals working - after that the 150 mile journey home then went off without a hitch (but with many strange looks from oncoming traffic).

Now that it's home, I need a front clip for it. Hollander says that only 92-97 coupes are candidates... but I suspect that if a person isn't concerned about authenticity (which I'm not), there might be others. What, for instance, is the REAL difference between coupe and sedan front-end parts? Or 88-91 versus 92-97? I've yet to get a straight answer.

Hopefully somebody here can give me a more detailed description of what swaps and what doesn't... I really don't care if the appearance is different, or if I have to change wiring for the lights - as long as the metal bolts up and the lines match I'm happy.

In specific, I've found two cars that had me curious:

First is a '95 4-door. It's straight, it's white (same as mine), and its parts are available on the cheap. Would this be doable? What would differ - and are there any showstoppers involved?

Second is a 2-door that I recalled being a '92 or so, but turned out to be an '88 upon closer examination. The parts would need painting - but again, they're there and they're cheap. Would this be a better option, or an option at all?


Also, slightly unrelated: I hear tell of a local kid who slapped an early '90s Grand Prix front clip onto a Cutlass Supreme of some sort. I'm not considering doing such a thing (there ARE limits, after all) - but does anyone care to weigh in on the validity of this rural legend?

--Keith

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

i say throw a whole grand prix coup front clip on it, with a Z34 hood and keep the rest of the car cutlass and paint the whole sum bitch ur favorite colour after doing the appropriate body work to line shit up!

-i dont know the answer to your question, but thats what i would like to see done.

[94 olds vert]

If you want your car to match you need to find parts from a 92-97 coupe.

You can take a hood a bumper from a convertible cutlass, but not the fender.

The 88 coupe parts will work, but you may need to make some brackets up for the different style head lights. The older style head lights are better than the mini quads that your cutlass originally had.

I don't think the parts from the sedans will work on your coupe. And I've never really liked the 92-97 sedans front ends.  I think you could use the front impact bar from a sedan. I've used the rear impact bar from a 95 on my cutlass.

As for putting a grand prix front clip on...I've never seen it done, but is it possible?? sure anything is possible, but that isn't going to be a cake walk.

Hope that helps.

[kthelen]

The 88 coupe parts will work, but you may need to make some brackets up for the different style head lights. The older style head lights are better than the mini quads that your cutlass originally had.

Good. Then I won't have to go trekking far and wide looking for a 92-97.

As for putting a grand prix front clip on...I've never seen it done, but is it possible?? sure anything is possible, but that isn't going to be a cake walk.

As the story goes, the kid that did it was no fabricator - just your regular cross-threading monkey with a few cars in his backyard and too much time on his hands. The claim was that, whatever years were involved, it was all pretty much bolt-for-bolt.

[94 olds vert]

Good. Then I won't have to go trekking far and wide looking for a 92-97.

I would suggest taking both fenders as the side marker lights are different. The body cladding on the lower part of the fender is different also. But you can change that so it can match your car.

The wheel lip is also different between the two cutlass body styles and I'm not sure if you can change them. But it maybe possible??

Make sure you grab all the head light brackets and everything like that it will come in handy.

That hood only works with the 88-91 style bumper, but since you are replacing the bumper too you won't have a problem.