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First of all, I know this has been covered, so I'm sorry for posting on this, but after mucking through the other posts, I'm still confused.
I really like the single-round style of the pre-1980 240s. If I buy the headlights, assemblies, and grill off someone's old 1978 or '79 240 (not GT), could I more or less do a direct swap of everything into my car, without replacing the turn-signal assemblies or messing with the fenders?
Thanks!
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John--'88 244DL, M47, 103K, white/blue, IPD sport exhaust--'Hilda'
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Sorry, couldn't resist. Good luck with your project!
Regards,
Erling.
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My 240 Page
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Haha! There's an idea.
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John--'88 244DL, M47, 106K, white/blue, IPD sport exhaust--'Hilda'
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Attaching the turn signals is the easiest part of the project. A simple L-bracket can hold them properly in place, as you can see in these pictures.
Mounting the headlight buckets within the front end isn't extraordinarily difficult, either. As you can see in this picture, the quad round headlight buckets can be mounted fairly easily with three anchors. The single rounds might be a bit easier, simply using more L-brackets and some of the holes that are already there.
The absolute toughest part of a headlight conversion is making things look good. There are those brackets that are sold for Volvo Trucks, but they're exorbitantly expensive and probably won't fit whatever homegrown mounting method you use. I wouldn't risk getting something expensive and unusable, at least.
I've yet to see what I consider a "satisfactory" single-round headlight conversion in a post-1986 Volvo. I mean no offense to Kane or the others who have done this conversion, but even with the solutions that they've used, the fillers for the front ends leave "gaps" in the front end of the car. Now, everything is covered and somewhat protected that should be (at least with Kane's plastic frames), but one can still see "inside" the front end. I have not seen if tjts1 has developed a suitable filler piece yet, so I don't know if he found something that works well with 7-inch rounds.
The quad headlight setup, I surmise, is a little bit easier to adapt to the post-1986 front end. However, I'm not sure how the single-round headlight pieces would look in such a car. Once you pull the grille and headlights, the front end is pretty much wide open--one very well might be able to anchor the GT grille in and use the headlight trim pieces. However, I am under the impression that the quad headlight front end is easier to use because each piece is roughly the size of what it's replacing. The filler pieces are pretty close in size to the space of the Aero lights, but I don't think that my conversion is doable with a stock 240 grille, and be aware that there I still have overlap.
I personally prefer the quad round headlight because, well, it's the one I've done, but also I think it provides, in the end, the most light. I've already got E-codes for the high/low beams, and I might get some Cibie H1 high beams with an internal yellow cover in April (my birthday is in April; I'm currently running sealed high beams that are good enough, but I want better). The seven-inch E-code beams are an unequivocal improvement over the Aero headlights, but I think the 5.75'' quad round lights are the best since they've got a (nearly) as good beam pattern and brightness on lows, and two headlights (instead of just one) shining on high beams. I love it.
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'89 244 GL -- 108,995 miles (see profile for info on car)
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Thanks a lot, KN! Yeah, your car looks super cool with your quad-rounds. I'd seen your posting on the installation, and it just sounded way over my head, so I wondered if single-rounds would be easier.
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John--'88 244DL, M47, 106K, white/blue, IPD sport exhaust--'Hilda'
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re: "...I've yet to see what I consider a "satisfactory" single-round headlight conversion in a post-1986 Volvo...."
Have you seen the "truck" surrounds? I was going to make the conversion, and bought the truck surrounds -- they are fiberglass and ready for painting (e.g., flat black, or body color, etc.), and exactly match the necessary dimensions to fit between the parking lights and grille -- and they completely seal the space around the 7" headlights. Moreover, the hole for the headlights is contoured inward for a smooth shape, as one would imagine it should be from a 'factory' part, and they are symmetrical (right and left sides are shaped to allow for the slight bow shape on each specific side).
I think these would satisfactorally address your criticisms -- at least those you pointed out.
Yes, I am describing them here partly because I am, admittedly, hoping to sell them (at a loss, as they are expensive) -- I was going to do this, but I had to change my approach about doing the conversion, as my daughter, for whose car I was planning this, thinks it would be "ugly". I'm doing the Euroheadlight solution instead.
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I'm still skeptical that the truck bezels would work perfectly with the single-rounds in the 240s. Kane and tjts1 had to use an L-bracket when they were mounting their headlights. Presumably, the Volvo trucks needed no such addition--there were already the proper holes in place that lined up perfectly with the headlight buckets, which were matched to the bezels.
My concern is in having to fabricate something for the 240s. More than likely, the buckets don't line up the same as they do in the trucks (the only way one could be reasonably sure is if no L-bracket is needed!). Thus, the bezel wouldn't fit either.
However, I've never seen these bezels myself. I have no personal experience with using them, and by no means am I trying to discourage anyone from giving them a shot in a conversion. They very well might line up with the lights, even though one has to add the L-bracket to mount the headlight buckets. I hope someone will be daring enough to try this conversion using these parts one day--the high price of the truck bezels is almost certainly the single limiting factor so far.
Ken, is there any chance you could post a picture of the truck bezels online? I've never seen what they look like, and likely neither have other Brickboarders. Seeing them might encourage someone to take a chance and buy them from you, too!
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'89 244 GL -- 108,995 miles (see profile for info on car)
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Well, I'm afraid I don't have a digital camera (it's times like this when I wish I did :-).
I can say that, yes, the turn/parking lamp housings still have to be fastened with an L-bracket as described by one of the other project cars. The bezels do not provide any mount for the parking lamp housings -- they are strictly just a "cover" for the area around the headlights between the grill and parking lamp, and between the hood's edge and the lower trim (the one with the headlight wiper hole). But fastening the parking lamp housing seems trivial from the pictures of that other project -- merely one 3 inch L bracket and a couple of drilled holes.
The bezels will need to be mounted by using some long screws (or bolts), with spacers, that mount to the bulkhead, since there are no clips or other means of traditionally (for Volvo cars) attaching them. And of course, they need to be painted (as one chooses: flat black, body color, etc.)
The headlight mount, i.e., the headlight bucket, along with it's spring loaded adjusters, has to be mounted in the middle of the empty space because the hole in the truck bezels are placed in the center (i.e., you can't position the headlights outboard to squeeze an additional small driving light inboard, like one person did on a project shown on this board). Those holes, by the way, are nicely curved inward to be flush against the rim of the headlights, specific for each side with the holes deeper on the inboard side and shallower on the outboard side, because of the slightly bow shape of the front of the car, and so that the headlights actually point straight ahead even though the bezels are canted a little bit. And the holes also have an indentation to allow for a screwdriver to adjust the headlight aim, just like other cars normally have.
Bottom Line:
They are, nevertheless, a perfect fit (viz. size and shape) to fill in the space around the headlight and make it look OEM -- they fully fill the area of the original headlights: same width, and same heights at the inner and outer sides (i.e., the headlights are actually slightly rhomboid, not rectangular, and so are these bezels). In all, they fill the area like they were original parts (which they are as a low-cost option on the trucks which otherwise (if that option isn't ordered) share the Volvo cars' headlights.
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No offense taken. As you very well know, my setup was an exercise of function over form. I had intended to have the surrounding area filled covered wire mesh ... still hasn't happened yet, of course. Now, I'm more bound to just slap a sheet of 1/4" nylon board (stolen from the kitchen!) to the router table and cut two holes for the lights.
-- Kane
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Blossom II -'91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles -'74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup -'86 245GL/AW70
The Wayback Machine -'64 P220/M40 ... The ParaBox -'90 745GL/AW70
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http://www.powerpuff.net/volvo/headlight/
http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/index.htm?id=890458
http://www.geocities.com/bloodyl/convquad.html
-- Kane ... or you could've found 'em running a search!
--
Blossom II -'91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles -'74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup -'86 245GL/AW70
The Wayback Machine -'64 P220/M40 ... The ParaBox -'90 745GL/AW70
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re: "...could I more or less do a direct swap of everything into my car, without replacing the turn-signal assemblies or messing with the fenders?..."
No. I wish it was that easy, honestly.
The parking lights are attached to, and supported by, the headlight housings, so you'll have to fabricate some brackets.
Also, the grille on the newer model protrudes farther forward, and its upper fasteners are farther back -- you'll have to fabricate some brackets for these, too.
And you'll need something to cover or surround the headlights. You might be able to fit the original style surrounds -- if you want a fiberglass set* from the truck version, contact me and I'll sell a set to you, cheap.
[keep in mind that you will still have to fabricate a way to fasten the surrounds (either type) to the car's foward bulkheads.]
Good luck. Some folks have done a really nice job of this -- and others haven't.
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