The Chevy S-10 and the GMC Sonoma have been the go-to truck in the minitruck community. No matter which brand of truck you have, there is an abundance of parts, from wheels to the smallest detail piece that you don't think is made - someone makes it.
The problem with that is when attending a show there are dozens of S-10s or Sonomas that have the same bolt-on part that you have. The only way to stand out from every other fellow owner is to take it up a notch and do something different. There are many ways to accomplish this task, like creating a killer interior or 'bag'n and body-dropping it over a set 22-inch wheels. You could even throw thousands of dollars at it for a paint job. That is cool and all, but when push comes to shove, it is still one of the most popular trucks that might still resemble the one that you park next to at shows. So how do you make your truck look different? Change the look of the front end. Look at it like this: there are only so many items that can be shaved on a truck. There are only a few options that can be done to modify the tailgate of a truck. But the front end, there is almost an endless amount of possibilities. There are many vehicles out there that have the shape of any year S-10 or Sonoma in which elements can be used to create an extension of your personality. To get the creative juices flowing, we have put together a collection of front-end swaps that we hope will inspire you.
1. For the '82-'90 S-10/S-15...
1. For the '82-'90 S-10/S-15 and Blazer/Jimmy truck crowds, this front end is a simple swap. The '91-'93 clip bolts right up for the most part, and looks a hundred times better then its predecessor.
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2. The next step up would...
2. The next step up would come in the form of a billet grille. There are several different choices along with styles of grilles. This owner chose to go with the phantom grille and shaved corner lights. For an added bonus, the factory bumper was swapped out in favor of a '89-'94-style Toyota bumper.
3. Christopher Voorhest really...
3. Christopher Voorhest really made a statement by using an '88-'98 fullsize Chevy front end. In order to get it to fit and look proper, the grille needed to be narrowed several inches. Instead of modifying a Chevy fullsize bumper, Christopher used a custom made bumper.
4. In the world of fullsize...
4. In the world of fullsize Chevy trucks, the Cadillac Escalade front-end swap is a popular modification. Adam Heglar grafted an '04 Escalade clip to the front of his first-gen S-10 and finished it off with a shaved '91-'93 S-10 bumper.
5. In the May '05 issue of...
5. In the May '05 issue of Mini Truckin', we did a tech article showing how to graft a Colorado front clip to a first-gen S-10. This front-end swap is intense and not for the faint-hearted. There is a lot of heavy modification involved. The guys at Devious found out it was easier to make a core support than use the factory Colorado support.