The grill support brackets for the Mach1-style grill underwent a change late in the '71 production year. Before 6/14/71, the '71 Mustang featured dual vertical hood latch support braces. After that date, all '71-72 Mustangs were equipped with a single vertical hood latch support. It's important to note that there will always be slight variations before and after any dated change on the assembly line. These cars were not built in consecutive serial numbers, so it's possible to have two vehicles with consecutive numbers yet be built weeks apart.
The service replacement and aftermarket grills have mount holes for the 8182 brackets for both before and after versions of the hood latch support.
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View attachment 87898