95.5-97 to 97-2000 Tacoma Grill and Headlight conversion

Hey there everyone! Here is my 96 - 2000 Tacoma grill and headlight conversion I did in 1 day. I also got a 2000 front bumper that I am in the process of bodyworking.

Before I did this I found a lot of 97-2000 and 2001-2004 Tacoma front conversions but I couldn't really find 95.5-97 to 97-2000 front conversions so I decided to just dive in and wing it.

I came to find out that the headlights don't bolt up because the core support is different on my year truck. So after looking at pictures of 2000 Tacoma core supports I decided to cut mines to make the headlight hole bigger. It took a lot of creativity to get the headlights to fit but I got them perfect and drilled holes so the headlights can bolt in with bolts and nuts I got from ace.

For this process I needed the
- Grill, Headlights, Corner lights, a Hammer, and a Dremel

In conclusion I love my new front grill and headlights. ever since I got my Tacoma I was in love with the 97-2000 4wd style. Now its time to finish the front bumper and figure out how to bolt it up on my truck.

My goal is to get my truck lifted to a 9in suspension lift and a 3in body lift on 15x12in rims on 31x10.5 m/t tires
(this setup is the Hawaii style) I live in Hawaii and really like the look of how this setup is.

Then the truck is off to get painted black

 

Xlnt!

 

A lot of guys like the 97 clip and go from the newer ones to that. But you making it the way you want is what it’s all about. Prefer the older looks to the 01+

 

I’ve only ever seen 98-00 swaps to 01+, never really anything else. So well done getting this finished without much guidance, looks like a clean job.
Happy you got the grill you wanted. But as a 95 owner though.. 95-97 is by far the best front end

 

Yes I’ve never seen 97 to 98 too. Some older posts if the reverse conversion.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/front-end-swap-98-00-to-a-95-97.307810/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/crowe’s-01-tacoma.803861/

 

95-97 is definitely the better look

 

My dad said the same thing but I prefer the 98-2000 style. To me the 98-2000 4wd front bumper and grill and headlights is a cleannnn combo.

 

I used the first link as a reference but when I Go into it, it turned into having to be creative to get the headlights to fit. The grill just clipped in so I used the grill as a reference to know exactly where the lights should be and abunch of photos to see how they sit. Since the core support is different it pushed the headlights forward so the headlights wouldnt sit properly and after cutting and hitting some metal in I got them to fit. The first headlight took me a while to figure out fitment.

 

Nice work man, it looks good.

 

Heck ya brother! Front end swaps are my favorite and yours looks factory! Did a 4Runner swap on my 98 to really confuse ppl hehe.

 

What did that look like?

 

Kind of like an overseas 1st Gen

 

Somewhat related:

https://youtu.be/4zUpSdPVMJ0

 

These give me an uncanny valley vibe.. Its almost looks like theyre AI generated to me