Bumper brackets... 1st gen front bumper onto 2nd gen frame

[eightynine4x4]

Hi all,
So I've got most of my 89 nose converted to 1st gen, only things left are mounting the 1st gen bumper and valance/signals.

My 89 had a 3" body lift done a long time ago. It had some kind of steel brackets that raised the bumper to match the lift. I have removed the 89 bumper, and have picked up an 88 bumper locally. Currently the lift brackets meant for raising 2nd gen bumper 3" are still in place on the front of frame ends. See pics. They were bolted, but after unbolting they still have a few spot welds presumably meant to reinforce. I haven't grinded those off yet.

Biggest question first... are the 1st gen frame and 2nd gen frame the same at the very front end? That kinda dictates my next moves so i'm trying to figure that out. If they're the same, I'll start my search for 1st gen bumper mount/brackets and whatsoever is involved.

I have considered making use of these lift brackets somehow, but no idea yet.

Does anybody know where there is a diagram of the front end of both the 1st gen and 2nd gen?

 

[SenorNoob]

First gen doesn't have brackets of any kind. The frame is solid on the end and the bumper bolts directly to it.

So to put the 1st gen bumper on a 2nd gen frame you'll have to make something. Unless of course it'll bolt to the current brackets and look right?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I cut the front frame horns from a donor truck and made plates to bolt to the newer frame.

 

[eightynine4x4]

Gotcha, and thanks! Well, I don’t have a donor truck, but I do have both generations of bumpers. So maybe I’ll attempt to make use of the 2nd Gen bumper mounts that are inside the bumper and bring them over to 1st Gen bumper.
Predicting right now that’ll be more work than it’s worth, and will probably end up custom building some kind of steel brackets to bridge the connection from 2nd Gen frame to 1st Gen bumper.
Another option I considered is getting an aftermarket bumper (maybe with winch) that bolts up to 2nd Gen frame but somehow also cosmetically/physically aligns with the 1st Gen fenders. Haven’t scoped what’s out there yet and not sure that’s even possible.

 

[eightynine4x4]

Just a small update.. comparing to other's pics of 2nd gen frame, it seems a previous owner of my truck actually cut away half of the bottom holes in my original frame so as to fit on their contraption which reaches down with an extension segment under there. You can see this in pics above.
So my original frame doesn't have a vertical pair of mount holes anymore, it just has one. Certainly complicates the challenge here!

 

[Shran]

@eightynine4x4 this is what I did (2nd gen frame, 1st gen body.) The bumper sticks out about an inch further than it should but it looks OK. I built these adapters with cut off frame horn sections from the old frame.