Cadillac Front Conversion

I have always been a fan of the cadillac escalade conversion, I been saving my money and finally have enough to purchase the kit and am waiting for mine to arrive in three weeks. I wanted to open up this post to share the progress, since I am going to do this on my own (everything but the paint), I wanted to see if anyone in the past has done it and would want to share their experience, pointers and tips and I will do the same as soon as I progress through the transformation.

Also I am saving my money to put in cadillac tail lights (have it done at an auto body shop) and was wondering if anyone has had it done, and if they would mind sharing how much they spent to have it done.

I will post pictures as soon as possible.

An update on my conversion, I got the front end on eBay from Autobahn Wholesale, and eBay merchant here's their link http://stores.ebay.com/Autobahn-Wholesale_W0QQsspagenameZl2QQtZkm , I searched and searched and found the cheapest place to get the tail light buckets was from www.stylinconcepts.com and the tail light fillers from fender bender intl http://www.fbimini.com/home.php. I bought the cadillac tail lights used on eBay from Darrell from Darrell's Auto Body in allentown Pa, (610) 821-1201. He has used Cadillac, Cavalier, Taurus and Ford truck parts by the way. I am now just waiting for the parts to start arriving. I will take some before pictures soon (NLT Fri)

Where did you order your kit from?

I bought the kit from Auto Bahn Wholesale, I shopped around and found them to have the most "bang for buck", I am getting :

Hood
Fenders Right and Left
Fender Flares Right and Left (not putting them on)
Grille
Center Grille Bracket
Out Grille Brackets Right and Left
Front Bumper
Bumper Retainers(5pc/set)
Impact Bar
Impact Absorber
bumper Supports Outer Right and Left
Bar Brackets Right and Left
Bar Plate (2pc/set)
Tow Hooks Right and Left (might not put on)
Headlight Assy. Right and Left
Parking lights Right and Left
Fog Lights Right and Left

all for 1400, plus shipping and insurance. I might have gotten it all for 1350 had there not been another bidder. ( It was done on ebay ). Check out there eBay store at http://stores.ebay.com/ and type in autobahn wholesale in the store search

Today I began putting on the pieces. So far I have to front, left fenders and hood. It is a tough job that I recommend having at least one friend help out with. I only took one photo with all the fenders off, but I plan to write some tips/how to later on, as well as pictures (when I figure out how to put pictures in the reply)

do those guys sell the headlights only?

let me know how the aftermarket front end works out for you. i know someone that did aftermarket and someone that did all gm parts. the aftermarket guy said it fit like shit... while the gm guy said it fit like a charm. and about the tail lights im interested to know what people pay to have that done... ive done it before and its a good days work to do it right.

What else do you have planned for the truck beside the conversion?

I Know A Guy Who Got That Done To His 89 Chevy Truck, It Looked Nice For A While, Till His Truck Got Towed, (the Conversion Kit Has A Lot Of Plastic On It), The Tow Broke A Lot Of Stuff On It, Now It Dosn't Look So Good....so Some Advice, Dont Get Towed..

You can do this on an 88 - 98 body style? Wow....that's something else I could do to my truck!!!!!!!!

Sounds like its going to look pretty good, make sure to post pics.

- Kevin

Are you cutting in your parts?????????????

Before putting on your body panels, make sure they are cut in. Otherwise it will look cheaply done (in my opinion) when you go get it painted.

Also, most likely you are using aftermarket parts. I'm willing to bet your fenders ain't gonna line up right. Here's the trick... slot the holes (accordingly). Aftermarket hoods you have to play with to get them to line up. The grille....well, never done a aftermarket caddy grill but, you might have to make your own holes (maybe- dont quote me on this). And then your bumper I am curious myself how to make that line up. Seeems like every conversion I've seen the bumper is hung wrong. And they are always tilted in the same direction, where the gap between the fender and bumper looks like a wedge.

I also advise putting on these parts in the order I talked about them. Also, DO NOT TIGHTEN ANY BOLTS FOR BODY PANELS UNTIL THEY ARE TOTALY ALIGNED. If you tighten them down as you put them on, I garauntee you will be loosening every single one of them again atleast once. Many twice..

Recap of order I would install parts: Fenders-slot holes and align with door (bolts loose still); hood-shim, slot, whatever it takes to align (with fenders) then realign the fenders with hood-should have even gap between all panels on all sides; Next is the grille-whatever it takes to align with fenders, then realign hoodand grille accordingly; Finally bumper-let me know what you end up doing to make it line up if you don't mind.

Good luck to ya, and don't forget to have your parts cut in first, it will look 300% better, I promise!! It will make it look FACTORY!! Can't wait to see some pics!