89 J body baron convert with lancer header panel?

[LynX853]

I know some people are gonna ask why... so ill go ahead and explain... the headlight motor on my convert lebaron adds weight and does get in the way of putting in a monster IC, which I am gonna do.. on top of that personally i like the lancer grille alot, and if im gonna get rid of the headlight doors, then i want a cleaner look. plus they still make headlight covers for lancers.

ive looked at a hellofalot of pics, and it looks as though the lancer header panel WILL bolt up in place of the baron's only differances from what I could tell is that the lancer header panel has a slightly different slope angle going down causing it to come out slightly furthur on the bumper but still looks right. I came up with this just by looking at pictures mind you so im not setting it in stone.

the bottom line is, does anybody know for sure if a lancer header panel will bolt up to a J body lebaron, any input and help is GREATLY appreciated!

[Whorse]

While we're on the topic of swapping fascias from different models, I'd like to know if any of the daytona front end (hood, grille, or air dam) will fit on a J or H body.

[LynX853]

hijacker!!

[Whorse]

Haha yeah

[Bardo]

While we're on the topic of swapping fascias from different models, I'd like to know if any of the daytona front end (hood, grille, or air dam) will fit on a J or H body.

from what i know the 87,88,are the same as a baron but i could be wrong. your going to need to look at were the hood latch is on your baron and same for what ever daytona your going to use

[Whorse]

Might be a fun project to try at a junkyard (swapping front ends on J and H cars )

[Mopar_Nutz]

There's been a few "convertible Daytona's" made by swapping Daytona noses, GFX etc onto convertible Lebarons. I think it'll bolt up but would need some finishing to make it look right. Like getting all the lines to match up and whatnot.

[Whorse]

Personally I like the look of the lancers, but the bottom air dam on the Daytona is sexy

[LynX853]

Personally I like the look of the lancers, but the bottom air dam on the Daytona is sexy

im just looking foward to people even more not knowing what the hell my car is. muhaha. well im going ahead and getting a header panel and just hoping after that!

[Whorse]

Keep us posted

[MiniMopar]

A long, long, long time ago, like early 90s, before I really knew all of the body styles by heart, I swear I saw an 87-89 Lebaron Coupe with an H-body nose. It sticks out in my mind because I knew the H-body. I learned to drive on my mom's 86 T1 GTS and I've always liked the H-body (I have a thing for the look of the early G-body, early P-body, and H-body front ends).

One of my good friends had an 89 LeBaron converable and one of the headlight motors was dead, so he always had them cranked down. One day I was walking through a parking lot and saw a red hard top with the headlights exposed. It looked odd, so I walked up to it and noticed that it did not have the headlamp doors at all. At the time, I assumed it must be an earlier LeBaron Coupe or something. I didn't know until much later that such a beast never existed.

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure if it was truely a complete H-body nose or if they somehow used the H-body headlamp buckets/bezels on the J-body nose. The buckets were black, IIRC.

[LynX853]

well i know that the lebaron GTS coupe never had flip downs.. so it coulda been that, and their pretty rare. the only thing that kinda concerns me of it not fitting is I thought the front ends were basicly the same, and i love the lancer grille... so I bought one off a board member for like 50 bux plus shipping, only to find out its a tad bit longer then the lebarons. i wasnt too happy about that, and only made half my money back selling it on e-bay. live and learn i guess

[Reaper1]

One of my plans for my LeBaron a while back was to adapt the H-body eadlight buckets to the front. I decided not to do it because I like the flip-ups too much and I found a different way to mount my IC. I'm also convertin ym Baron to a double headlight system eliminating the need for 4 lights. This lightes the car and simplifes it as well as gives me the option of upgrading to H4 bulbs!

[TopDollar69]

There is no such thing as a GTS coupe, all H bodies were 4 door hatch backs. As far as a Lancer header on a Lebaron J body, it wont work. The H body header panel is shorter from drivers side to passenger side. I parted out a Lancer Shelby, and a GTC Lebaron coupe at the same time last winter. I had both header panels sitting next to each other on the floor, the J body one is definitly longer. Hope this helps.

Ben Huebner

[mpgmike]

An alternative to consider (one I'm pursuing) is to swap the entire front clip. Best I can tell, 2 holes need redrilled along the top of the fender (on the body side) to mate up with holes in the fender.

Mike