parts from 81 to 73

[calculato]

I found an 81 1500 with a very nice interior and a very good complete box that I would like to put on my 73 2500. Can anyone confirm that they are the same? I'm getting mixed answers on this when researching on the web.

[Matt Man]

Originally Posted by calculato

I found an 81 1500 with a very nice interior and a very good complete box that I would like to put on my 73 2500. Can anyone confirm that they are the same? I'm getting mixed answers on this when researching on the web.

The dash and door panels will be different from your 73 and would require modifications to fit especially the dash. You can swap the door panels if you get 77+ doors or just take the doors off the 81 if they are in decent shape. The 81 box will have fuel doors instead of the fuel cap, so you will have to swap filler necks as well. Also do you have dual tanks? The new bed will need to be a dual tank bed as well.

[calculato]

I can live with that, my 73 has two fuel tanks already, just as long as the rest of box is the same. How about the carpet and seats? Guessing I can make the seats work, but carpet different?

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by calculato

I can live with that, my 73 has two fuel tanks already, just as long as the rest of box is the same. How about the carpet and seats? Guessing I can make the seats work, but carpet different?

The seats are different, but it will fit with no modifications.

[kipps]

About the carpet--

I don't think it's a year thing, but there are high tunnel and low tunnel floors. I don't know if it has to do with 2x4/4x4, or if it's manual/automatic.

Maybe someone else can shed some light on this.

[Jstock85]

73-80 and 81-87 are the compatible years. Like the guys above said a lot of what you have will work but its going to take some work on most the parts.

[WyattTX]

You will make the purists cringe, but it can be made to work. 81-87, and 73-80 are very different cosmetically on the inside and out. You will also need to take the guage cluster out of the '81 truck too, because the 73-80 gauge bezel wont fit it. The tailgate on the '81 will look much different than a '73, but still work. Your end result will basically be an '81 with a '73 front clip. Perhaps you could take the drive train out of your '73, and put it in the '81, So you dont have to do as much mix, and match work. This would be the easiest route, without ending up with too much of a Frankenstein truck. Good luck.

[WyattTX]

Sorry, I forgot about the truck being a 2500, perhaps you could do an entire body swap, and make the cab transmission hump larger. Then have the VIN numbers of both vehicles merged.