Which Grille Do You Think Looks Better on My Truck?

[LARIAT 85]

That is an interesting idea.  I think the 1980 style grille without hood letters, and the two FORD fog lights would look good.

I just had another thought.  How would it look to remove the "F150" and "XLT" fender emblems, and add the 1979 - 1993 Ford Mustang "5.0" emblem in it's place?  I mean, I *do* have a 5.0 engine, with 1985 Mustang valve covers and twin snorkel air cleaner...

[Dorsai]

I used to see a lot of scuzzy guys around here driving crummy little imports with '5.0' badging on their fenders.  It wasn't a good look.

[Rembrant]

LARIAT 85 wrote

I just had another thought.  How would it look to remove the "F150" and "XLT" fender emblems, and add the 1979 - 1993 Ford Mustang "5.0" emblem in it's place?  I mean, I *do* have a 5.0 engine, with 1985 Mustang valve covers and twin snorkel air cleaner...

There was a truck for sale locally a year or so ago with the 5.0 badges on the fenders. I even saved a a couple pictures of it;).




It's not my thing personally, but I've seen it a few times over the years. It's common enough that LMC sells the Mustang 5.0 badges in the 1980-1996 truck badges section as a "popular addition".

I like the factory 1982-1986 badges with the long F personally. Surprisingly, I think a lot of people pay no attention to them at all...lol. I've had guys walk up to my truck on car nights and ask me if it's an F100.

[LARIAT 85]

I don't think I want to replace my fender emblems with "5.0" emblems.  That would just invite too many people to want to race.  I can see every knucklehead in a Chevrolet truck revving his engine up beside me when I am stopped at a light.

Now that I have a 1980 style grille, I am wondering about 1980 style clear turn signals.  What is the deal with those anyway?  Was there a reason why Ford dropped those after only one year for the amber ones?  

I just *love* the way this looks.  Would the clear turn signals look better on my dark red/brown truck than the amber turn signals?

[1986F150Six]

I will guess the change to amber was law driven. The turn signals must be amber, so amber bulbs will need to be used inside the clear lenses.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=E0TZ-13200-A&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=turn+signal+lenses+Ford+F150+NOS+1981&LH_TitleDesc=0

[ArdWrknTrk]

Daniel Stern Lighting could tell you WAY more than you need to know about the legislation and the wavelength (hue) you are supposed to have.

[LARIAT 85]

When I say "clear," I mean the stock WHITE lens that was found on the 1980 trucks.  I just assumed the bulb would be amber.

[1986F150Six]

How about "colorless"?

[LARIAT 85]

I can go along with "colorless."

But I never got your opinion on "colorless" versus amber turn signals on my truck, Chief.  What do you think?

[1986F150Six]

I would stay with the amber.

The good thing, Rick, is that what is being discussed [grill / turn signals / hood letters] are all items which if changed, can be easily returned to the previous. There is no damage done... it's all what YOU like.

[ETM]

I think the 80's grill looks best may look better with some fresh paint like the 82+ grill.

[Dorsai]

LARIAT 85 wrote

Now that I have a 1980 style grille, I am wondering about 1980 style clear turn signals.  What is the deal with those anyway?  Was there a reason why Ford dropped those after only one year for the amber ones?  

I just *love* the way this looks.  Would the clear turn signals look better on my dark red/brown truck than the amber turn signals?

It's a known fact that the more 1980 stuff you have on a truck, the better it looks.

[Whisler]

"colorless" lens would look great. Every fashion conscious Ford owner knows that amber clashes with dark red.<smiley image="smiley_good.gif"

[FuzzFace2]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Shaved, frenched, chopped and channeled.

Even today debadging cars is a big thing!

The numnutz who put performance badges on their base model, or Bentley on their Chrysler 300 should be laughed out of town.

I fixed it for you
I am not much into the shaved part. Badging and chrome but I hate the look of shaved door handles.
Flush mount is fine but it have to have a door handle to open the door from the out side.

I have also added a 50's custom touch to my truck - floating bumpers!

As for with or with out the oval or the hood letters:
If you keep the 6 letters then I think the oval looks good as now you know it is a FORD and the model.
With out the oval you don't know who makes it.
Dave ----

[salans7]

I prefer the clear park lenses, but it depends on the color of the truck. A brighter color truck generally looks better with the amber park lenses.

Dorsai wrote

It's a known fact that the more 1980 stuff you have on a truck, the better it looks.

This guy, knows how it is.

[LARIAT 85]

As for with or with out the oval or the hood letters:
If you keep the 6 letters then I think the oval looks good as now you know it is a FORD and the model.
With out the oval you don't know who makes it.
Dave ----

I agree with this.  That was my original reasoning with the "L A R I A T" hood letters paired with the Ford oval in the grille.  

If I keep the "L A R I A T" hood letters with the 1980 grille, the two fog lamps have Ford ovals on them.

If I keep the 1980 grille and choose not to use the fog lamps, I will either use "F O R D" hood letters or none at all.

[FuzzFace2]

<quote author="Whisler">
"colorless" lens would look great. Every fashion conscious Ford owner knows that amber clashes with dark red.
I like the amber ones, good thing my truck is not dark red LOL

I do have a set od colorless ones I can try but with the colorless head lights and the colorless fog / driving lights in the bumper I think the colorless turn / park lens would be too much colorless LOL
Dave ----

[Dorsai]

Whisler wrote

"colorless" lens would look great. Every fashion conscious Ford owner knows that amber clashes with dark red.

Agreed, a red truck and white lenses go well together.

[Rembrant]

LARIAT 85 wrote

Slightly off topic, but is that one of the aftermarket chrome/black grills? Didn't they only come in grey or black from Ford?

If yes, those chrome grills are really growing on me. I have both the original grey one, and the black one I bought used locally, but the few trucks I have seen with the chrome grills looked nice.

As for which gen grills look better, I stated above that I prefer the later grills with the Ford oval in the center, but I do also like the 1980-1981 grill with the Ford letters on the hood. I think my personal preference would be for a factory configuration...be it early or late, with the only exception being that I'd also consider a chrome grill;). (PS: and I'm only referring to a grill that is factory in appearance...not an aftermarket grill if that makes any sense. There are some mods on these trucks that I'm personally not a fan of but they are very popular overall with the Bullnose crowd).

[Gary Lewis]

Factory grilles did come in chrome.  Here's a snippet from the Exterior/Grilles & Headlights page and the Grilles & Moulding tab:



I have a NOS one for Dad's truck, and had the paint/body man leave the FORD letters off the hood.