will the front end off a 1971 fit a 1981 z28 ? just wondering before i tear them down please let me know

You need to change everything including the radiator support,except the hood.It does bolt to the body and frame of the car with no issues.I just did this swap about 2 weeks ago on my 79{see my treads below) I used a 74 radiator support and ended up having to hack up the lower corners to fit.You really need the 70 thru 73 support.For $110 for a repop I wish I had bought one.

Saw a complete 1971 front clip at our swap met last week for a measly $500! Had everything from the firewall forward including bumpers! I thought about all the times I've heard guys talk about this swap when I saw it.
Sure wish it would have been around when my frontend needed replacing! I spent 3x that on parts.

Yeah 427,but were the parts nice? rusted out fenders with bondo patches are worthless,as are the often rusted upper valance panels.Were the chrome and polished parts really that nice?After you hang it on the car and paint it,the little parts start to look a little too weahter to use and you buy new stuff anyway.I held out for absolutly mint real GM stuff including the fenders and spent about $350.I got a mint,original paint GM upper and lower valance for $150,the 2 NOS fenders and fenderwells came on a car that I bought for $1800 74 Camaro that also yeilded a fresh never run 3.90 rear,fresh th350 trans with kit,and 10 inch convertor,a torker intake and 650 carb and milodon 7 quart pan on a damaged 355 2 mint doors one of which came with a NOS GM skin installed,A mint 1981 Z hood with functional scoop and a nice flat hood,boxes and boxes of GM NOS weather strip,locks,door handles ect,and a nice white interior,so the fenders were just a small part of that.I then sold the mint trunklid and spoiler off the 74,the rear glass,window moldings,all the bezezels and btrim,the bumpers{got 4300 for those!,and finally the stripped shell from the 74 and recouped $900.I paid about $75 for all the bumper brackets$50 for a mint grille,$150 for mint GM front and rear bumpers,the headlight bezels I got were nice,but one wasnt mint,but for $15 I cant complain,the front marker lights were on Ebay for $8 each.

The stuff is out there.You kinda paid way too much for your stuff.The only thing I could see fetching big bucks would be real 1970 only mint fenders.

Oh and then I got $150 for the one mint and one slightly rusty door off my 79,$250 for the front bumper,$75 for all the lights lenses and bezels grille ect,and $150 for the dash pad, and guages since I am using the nice 74 setup with factory tach now that I fixed the slight curl in the dash,$250 for the 4 speed trans and shifter{swapped in the th350 from the 74} $150 for the 305 roller motor that was in the 79,$75 for the few nice interior panels from the 79,and I have the rear glass on Ebay for $50.I think I made money off all this.You gotta learn how to wheel and deal man!

Well since I knew a guy who was looking for a front clip I looked it over inside and out really well. All looked good, although the paint was pretty sun beaten. That's better than new primer in my book, as that just screams "what's hiding under there"?
The chrome bumper was the only part that wasn't 100%, but it would have cleaned up well and the minor scratches would have been no issue for anything except a show car.
I noticed a few extra holes on the inner fenders from what looked like accessories mounted there once. My car has the same things, so that didn't bother me either. Like I said, I wish I'd have found it when I needed it, as the repro stuff I bought took a lot of work to fit right!