2002 Front End Damage

[romel68]

Long time listener First time Poster. I've been lurking on this site for a long time absorbing all the Knowledge this site has. I started in the 4Runner world and have graduated to LCs because of it. I currently have a '96 and 2002 and a couple 4Runners I can't shake loose from (old habits). I finally found a reason to post. My 2002 has got front end damage (bumper,bumper support bar/foam headlights, grill) so I found my excuse to upgrade to '03-5' or '06-7'. What I am running into is I am able to find an 03'-5 bumper cover and grill locally but nothing 06'-7'. I know people are screaming to just upgrade to a ARB or TJM for the bumper (thats what the '96 is for) this is my grocery getter so I'm looking for a stock look. I have found all the write ups about the swap to 06-7 headlights so I understand what is involved with trimming and fill in bars. Since I am upgrading from an 2002 the parts shop is saying I would also need to swap out the core support as well to be able to bolt up the bumper,grill, and headlights. So there lies my question. Is that actually needed to do the upgrade or can I use the existing core support and stiil bolt on the bumper support bar and cover, then grill then "06-7 depos.