1972 Ford F100 Grille & Bumper Upgrade - BulletSide Facelift

It was time-consuming but worth the effort to mask the grille surround off and repaint the areas that were originally semi-gloss black. Also note that it was easier to mask the grille surround with it bolted back into place.

To achieve a clean edge, we used 3M blue plastic fine-line masking tape instead of crepe masking tape that has a tendency to allow the paint to "creep."

Stopping as soon as coverage was achieved produced a perfect edge replicating the look of original.

It is interesting to note that 427 is stamped into the '72's core support. The next time you spot a '67-72 F-100, check it out and see if it has an engine displacement stamped into it.

Before installing the '72 F-100 grille inserts from LMC, it was necessary to check that the mounting tabs on the grille surround aligned perfectly. This means the holes in the mounting tabs could be viewed directly behind the mounting holes provided in the grille inserts. Failure to do this step can result in breaking the grille insert.

The replacement bumper from LMC had some of the best chrome plating we've seen in a long time and bolted into place perfectly. We used Tripoli on a bench grinder-mounted buffing wheel to polish the original Ford stainless steel capped carriage (bumper) bolts.

Our original headlight bezels were pretty beat up. The LMC replacements came with new mounting screws and fit onto the original grille surround without a problem. Little improvements like this added up to a whole new look for our build-off entry's front end.