Hammersmith
Newbie
I've done some searching for this exact topic and have come up empty for the last few years of posts. Apologies if I missed it.
I'm helping a friend refresh his '97 Chevy K1500 ExCab. One of the areas we're doing is replacing the grille and lights(all are currently aftermarket from a deer impact repair many years ago). I was hoping to go with used OEM, but even the good stuff up our way(ND/MN) is in pretty poor shape. The best grille I could find within 150miles has got flaking chrome and some cracks. (I still might end up using it unless I can find something better.)
But I'm a little more concerned about the lights. I'm (hopefully)getting a set of Artebs for the headlights, but I think I'm going to have to go aftermarket for the park lights and sidemarkers(turn signal and corners). I had planned to polish up a set of used OEMs, but the interior foils are just in too poor of shape. I'm hoping to do the conversion to make the upper corners light up as well.
Are there any good aftermarket sources out there for these parts? Quality materials with reliable fitments? Is LMC a good source or should I stay away? Summit/Brothers? What have you guys had success or failure with; especially these last few years? I generally avoid anything Amazon unless I can figure out who made it and know it's of reasonable quality. I'm trying to keep everything as stock as possible(though I plan to use quality LED bulbs instead of halogens).
And I think I already know the answer to this, but does anyone out there make a quality reproduction grille(94-98)?
Any help would be massively appreciated.
BTW, I'm actually a Toyota guy at heart, so I'll always try to stay OEM. It's just that I'd probably have to drive 1500 miles to get to a region where I'd have a reasonable chance of finding good used parts in these cases.
If anyone's interested, this is the list of what we're doing so far:
- replace grille
- replace all lenses/housings
- replace all door hinge pins/springs/pin rollers/etc. with upgrades from Cunningham
- replace interior door handle surrounds
- swap cloth 60/40 bench(broken) with cloth buckets and console(red)
- install upper console w/ DIC 1 & dome light to replace the garage remote section
- swap original dome light with a 3rd row light from a Sub
- install a modern Gentex auto-dimming rear view mirror w/Homelink Connect
- replace all the interior dash and illumination bulbs with LEDs (including gauge cluster, climate controls, radio, door controls, etc.)
- get the third brake light and cargo lights working again (used to have a topper and they never fixed the wiring after it was removed)
- replace the rusted rear bumper with an OEM one in good condition
- clean up the trailer wiring and permanently mount a socket
- full exterior LED upgrade - currently thinking Morimoto 2Stroke 4.0 for the headlights and Morimoto or VLEDS for everything else, but I'm open to suggestions
- probably remove the old running boards and install Husky mudflaps in their place(my friend frequently drives on gravel, so something there is necessary)
Rust repair(body) and a respray are in the plans, but that will all be done by professionals.
I'm helping a friend refresh his '97 Chevy K1500 ExCab. One of the areas we're doing is replacing the grille and lights(all are currently aftermarket from a deer impact repair many years ago). I was hoping to go with used OEM, but even the good stuff up our way(ND/MN) is in pretty poor shape. The best grille I could find within 150miles has got flaking chrome and some cracks. (I still might end up using it unless I can find something better.)
But I'm a little more concerned about the lights. I'm (hopefully)getting a set of Artebs for the headlights, but I think I'm going to have to go aftermarket for the park lights and sidemarkers(turn signal and corners). I had planned to polish up a set of used OEMs, but the interior foils are just in too poor of shape. I'm hoping to do the conversion to make the upper corners light up as well.
Are there any good aftermarket sources out there for these parts? Quality materials with reliable fitments? Is LMC a good source or should I stay away? Summit/Brothers? What have you guys had success or failure with; especially these last few years? I generally avoid anything Amazon unless I can figure out who made it and know it's of reasonable quality. I'm trying to keep everything as stock as possible(though I plan to use quality LED bulbs instead of halogens).
And I think I already know the answer to this, but does anyone out there make a quality reproduction grille(94-98)?
Any help would be massively appreciated.
BTW, I'm actually a Toyota guy at heart, so I'll always try to stay OEM. It's just that I'd probably have to drive 1500 miles to get to a region where I'd have a reasonable chance of finding good used parts in these cases.
If anyone's interested, this is the list of what we're doing so far:
- replace grille
- replace all lenses/housings
- replace all door hinge pins/springs/pin rollers/etc. with upgrades from Cunningham
- replace interior door handle surrounds
- swap cloth 60/40 bench(broken) with cloth buckets and console(red)
- install upper console w/ DIC 1 & dome light to replace the garage remote section
- swap original dome light with a 3rd row light from a Sub
- install a modern Gentex auto-dimming rear view mirror w/Homelink Connect
- replace all the interior dash and illumination bulbs with LEDs (including gauge cluster, climate controls, radio, door controls, etc.)
- get the third brake light and cargo lights working again (used to have a topper and they never fixed the wiring after it was removed)
- replace the rusted rear bumper with an OEM one in good condition
- clean up the trailer wiring and permanently mount a socket
- full exterior LED upgrade - currently thinking Morimoto 2Stroke 4.0 for the headlights and Morimoto or VLEDS for everything else, but I'm open to suggestions
- probably remove the old running boards and install Husky mudflaps in their place(my friend frequently drives on gravel, so something there is necessary)
Rust repair(body) and a respray are in the plans, but that will all be done by professionals.
