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Euro light conversion for late model 740?

I haven't done this yet, but I have a 940 with the same front end as your 740. You need to get several pieces (grille and headlight supports, etc...)from a 760 or 940 with the combo head and foglamp setup. Then the Euro lights will fit.

I'm sure somebody else can tell you exactly which parts you need.
 
Hmm, I always see people on this forum wanting euro headlights for their US spec cars, I got interested one day and found a few places/guys in europe selling full kits, but at very serious prices.

Funny thing is, all the Australian spec cars have got Euro style headlights already, makes me wonder if there is a buck to be made there, I wonder what sort of prices the parts go for here?
 
i have european lights on my 90 740...the guy i bought them from upgraded to a v90 front end, and sent me the whole frame for each side, including signals and trim. The frame that holds the glass housing is different than the us spec one. I found mine used on brickboard, paid 120 for the signals and lights shipped. pics are on my pbase account, and in my sig
www.pbase.com/ptouch20/volvo
 
Well, for USA-DOT cars we need headlamps from a LHD car. RHD cars have the light break going the wrong direction so we would be blinding all oncoming traffic with even our low beams which is a dangerous situation. I can get a set from UK with lights, turn signals, mount brackets and trim for $200. The US headlights stink! They have a terrible low beam pattern. The plastic housing and lens make for bad optics to begin with (they yellow) and you cannot put in an overwattage bulb for fear the headlamp will melt. Euro's are supposed to be glass. Are the Aussie unit glass (but RHD of course)? I appears that the light shown on eurosports website take fender and hood replacement in order to fit on a 1990's vintage 740. I will keep digging. When are you guys going to start driving on the correct side of the road? :lol:
 
ptouch20 said:
i have european lights on my 90 740...the guy i bought them from upgraded to a v90 front end,

Pete, are there any part #'s you can pull off the lamps,frames,turn signals and trim? :x: If we can start putting together part number kits for certain conversions, it would sure help people out. It would allow them to know what is going to fit before they spend the $ or at least what mods they will have to perform to get it to fit. Was the seller's car a late model 740 like yours?
 
Doh, I forgot about the lens pattern spread, that would certianly freak out a few drivers.

Erik, we will drive on the right when you guys finaly stop using the imperial system and come into the 21st century and use Metric.

:-)
 
Parts list:

Grille from '87- 760, 940 or 960 with head/fog setup
New radiator top support to grille filler panel
Left and right headlight support brackets
Left and right grille support brackets
About 16 female pin terminals

Corner lights are different from US version, but US corners might work...
 
Okay, here is what I have been able to find out. there are two versions of the 1990 and later 740 European Headlamp. We will call them aAlt-1 and Alt-2. FYI, top grill mount/filler panel is same # for all models though it could be diferent in US vs Euro models so have the parts guy look up:
Cover, Front Grill 81-9045267

For Alt-1 (740), this looks like the US front end from what I can tell:
Grill, Black/Chrome 81-1369616
Grill Support special order
Attachment wedge pins 81-1358491
Lower Trim peice Special order (but looks exactly like the US peice)
Headlamp Assy (No Fog) L 32-3534171 R 32-3534172
Turn signal (oem) L 32-1369605 R 32-1369606
Turn Signal (After Market) L 32-109605 R 32-109606


For Alt-2 (740/ std 940):
Grill, Black/Black 81-3518656
Grill Support L 81-9040265 R 81-9040266
Attachment wedge pins 81-1358491
Lower Trim peice L 81-9040927 R 81-9040928
Headlamp Assy (Fog) OEM L 32-3518252 R 32-3518253
After Market L 32- 8252 R 32- 8253
Turn signal (oem) L 32-3518624 R 32-3518625
Turn Signal (After Market) L 32- 8624 R 32- 8625
 
In 1990 European 740 came in two front ends, one is same as the US spec with headlights only (the Alt-1 you mentioned) and the other front end is identical to the the European 940 (Alt-2) with larger headlights which includes fog-lights and auxilary driving lights. Apart from the headlights, difference between Alt-1 and Alt-2 front ends include different hood (or bonnet), different grille and front bumper, and parking light / indicator assembly. Alt-2 front is more slanted and protruding than Alt-1. In Europe Alt-2 front can be found on '90 740 Turbo and GLT (B234F 16V) with a black eggcrate grille. In Australia the 16V engine is sold under GLE badge and it has the Alt-2 front with chrome vertical bar grille.

Just to make things more "interesting", in 1991 Volvo decided to use Alt-2 front's hood on Alt-1 front, to save on production and minimise part variety I imagine, and to streamline 740 production with the newly introduced 940. To adapt to this change, Alt-1 front needs a different L shaped plastic trim around headlight and a different grille compared to the 1990 cars. In other words, the hood, plastic headlight trim and grille on 1990 Alt-1 front 740 are exclusive to THAT YEAR MODEL ONLY! Bumper and parking light / indicator assembly are still the same, I believe.

Hope this helps... you can try http://www.volvonet.org/tpc/main.htm for Euro spec headlights. I bought a pair of used headlight wiper assembly for my '90 740 and was pretty happy doing business with them.

Will
'90 744 GL
 
Anonymous said:
Just to make things more "interesting", in 1991 Volvo decided to use Alt-2 front's hood on Alt-1 front, to save on production and minimise part variety I imagine, and to streamline 740 production with the newly introduced 940. To adapt to this change, Alt-1 front needs a different L shaped plastic trim around headlight and a different grille compared to the 1990 cars. In other words, the hood, plastic headlight trim and grille on 1990 Alt-1 front 740 are exclusive to THAT YEAR MODEL ONLY! Bumper and parking light / indicator assembly are still the same, I believe.

So, what does the US-spec 1991 740 have? :???: The Fenders listed for both 740 1990 and on and 940-all are the same as is the two structural pieces behind the headlamp. Since I have the Alt-2 hood, can I use the alt-2 head lamp if I get the Grill, side-grill-support, headlamp trim, and the turn signal for the alt-2? Or can I just slap in an Alt-1 e-code lamp with no mods or other parts? :???: Also, you said you put the headlamp wiper on your 740... Are you in the US? Got pictures?
 
You're right, the fenders and structural piece behind the headlights are the same for '90 and later 740 and on all 940.

Since your car is a 1991 740, you have a choice of going to Alt-2 front (940 style headlight with intergrated fog-lamp and auxilary high beam) without changing the hood. But apart from the headlights and matching E-code driving / indicator assembly, you'll still need to change the grille and front bumper, as well as headlight trim and side-grille support. Or alternatively just get the Alt-1 E-code headlight with matching turn signal assembly, and use the existing grille, grille support, headlight trim and front bumper on your car. Depends how much you want to spend and if you like the Alt-2 front better.

I'm in Australia... I wish I could send you E-code headlights except they're for RHD traffic and it'd blind all the oncoming traffic in the US! I haven't installed the headlight wipers yet, need to get my headlight trim drilled for the wiper arm attachments to poke out. Volvo sells two versions of headlight trim for 740's, ones pre-drilled for the headlight wiper and ones that aren't, so if you're intending to mount headlight wipers in the future, my advice is to get the ones pre-drilled and just plug up the holes for now. Dealer here wants to charge me US$50 EACH, and then I've gotta get them painted... so I decided I'm just going to drill mine instead.

Will
'90 744 GL

P.S. If you're a gadget freak like me, get your E-code headlights from Germany. They're for LHD traffic and they've got built in motors for headlight beam angle adjustment!! :badboy: You'll need to install additional wiring and switch for it, but that wouldn't be too hard... I have the factor Volvo wiring diagram for 740 and I can help you with it if you want.
 
Man, my head is spinning from all of that:

My car (actually Katherine's car) is a 90 744t and needs both headlights, markers and the grill any way.

What happens if you use the alt 2 front end without changing the hood. Someone on one of the other boards had a link to 760 headlamps in his 740 and there was just a minor misalignment in the grill and hood styling lines which was not very noticable unless pointed out?

Also, with the posted part mumbers, can any Volvo dealer order these parts?
 
I'm based in the UK and know all about the problems with the RHD LHD Beam.

I spent some time researching and looked into sourcing the bits for the early 740's and 760's the ones i most experienced with.

I was able to supply everything to do the conversion to get the euro look for 300 dollars plus cost of shipping. Every thing was pulled from cars in scrap yards bar the Lenses which were brand new LHD Glass lenses from Volvo.
They would even come with the headlight wipers and the fender indicator lights. so you had the choice of using them or not. There are so many 700series in the yards that i would have been able to choose only the very best secondhand parts.

I dont really know much about the later 700's as i was never keen on the style and there not a common site here in the UK strangely. I perhaps see one late 700 series for 20 of the old style ones.

Anyway there you go, thats what i found.
 
I ordered a set of euro headlights for my 1990 740 from jpstyling just recently and waiting on their arrival. Lately ive been hearing some things about how im going to have to rewire some stuff to accomodate the new headlights? is this true? I thought i would be able to just put the whole packaged in and connect it to my old terminals.
 
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