Step one was to rewind the front of the 1999 Suburban back to 1993 pace truck standards with a few upgrades. After a quick call to LMC Truck, the crew had all the necessary conversion parts, including a grille shell, billet insert, lower grille filler, turn signal lamps, side marker lamps, front fender extensions, and the correct front bumper. At some point in its life, Brik Yrd had been converted with a 1993 GMC grille with the correct lower grille filler and fender extensions and a smooth, front work-truck bumper with no strips or guards. This is a simple conversion. All OBS grilles are interchangeable from OBS ’88-’98 with the correct corresponding year’s parts. Follow along as the team brings Steve’s vision to reality.
Our donor for this project is this 1998 Chevy Suburban. This truck is extremely clean and all factory, but we want to give it a sportier look. So, we’re going to start with the grille.The first step is to remove the old pieces. Luckily on these trucks, the grille is very easy to remove with some basic tools. Just lightly pull on the panel to find the next fastener until it easily comes off the truck.Before we paint and install our new grille, we want to test fit the LMC replacement grille that we ordered. We also are replacing the headlights and driving lights for a much cleaner look. The test fit went great, and the panels fit as they should.We also want to add a billet grille to the factory grille shell. Before we cut the grille shell, we tape off the billet grille so it does not get scratched during test fitting.We also tape off the entire grille shell around the spot that will be cut. We don’t want anything flying into the shell and scratching it before paint.With a clean cut and a perfect it, the grille is now ready to be painted and the billet metal can be set to the side.We don’t need a paint booth for something this simple job as long as we have decent ventilation. So, we hung the new grille on a drying rack and gave it a few solid coats of Automotive Touchup’s white paint to match the truck. We also added clearcoat from Automotive Touchup for a factory finish.Leaving it alone for a few hours to dry is the hardest part of this project. Patience is as important as details, so just wait!With the grille fully painted and extremely impressive looking, we can now mount the billet panel in its final location before adding it to the truck.
Keep following along online at OBS Headquarters or OBS Builder’s Guide for more updates on Project Brik Yrd.
