I was wondering if an 80-86 front cap would fit on my 96 lightning?

 

There was no 96 Lightning. 93-95 and 99-04 only.

 

true. it was made in 95 so i assumed. hoping to make it an 86

 

That would be a neat project, but you'd lose the aerodynamic advantage that the 92-96 bodies have over the 80-86's.

The swap can be done......but you will have to take the bumper extensions off and do some other small things to make it look seamless.

Usually the conversion is the other way around, going from an 80-86 to a 87-96...