740, US quad headlight conversion in UK.

[swedish brick]

Hi,
I've not been on this forum for a while, since I sold my old 740 saloon. I regretted doing that straight after so I've been keeping a look out for another. Recently I've been offered an 88 E reg 740 GLE auto estate which is my ideal spec and the car is free so I'm going to try to go for it!

Anyway, on my old saloon I wanted the US quad headlight conversion but never got around to it so this time I'm going to do the conversion to the new estate.

The conversion itself should be easy but the question I have is about the dip beam lights. As a US spec light it will be set up for LHD but of course I will need RHD...
So does anyone know which lights I will need to buy to stay UK legal and MOTable and where to get them from?

I understand the original US spec ones are the usual american sealed beam type. These are fine for me, I have a classic Yank I imported which uses round sealed beams, but I'm struggling to source suitable rectangular RHD spec units for this Volvo.

Any help or advice much appreciated.

[classicswede]

I think the lamps are the same as a 240, if so then this thread might help http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showth...ight=headlight

[swedish brick]

Thanks, just had a read through that and they do look the same.

I've also found these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HELLA-GENU...3D311747978653
Intended for an old Audi but the only type of UK legal light I can find in this shape and size. Apparently the US spec Volvo lights are a US standard size so the actual sealed beam units for dip and full beams are common to any US car of the era with four rectangular headlights.
This means a dip beam light from a 70's Chevy Caprice will fit a US Volvo 740. The problem is that the same type of light wasn't used much in the UK so a RHD equivalent is hard to find.
The US round sealed beams fitted to my Mercury are easy to get in RHD spec as it's just a standard 5.25'' inch light common to loads of old Euro and UK cars.

[Laney760]

I've read they put out even less light than the UK ones and many people find them unsatisfactory for this reason

They do look cool though!

[swedish brick]

I've read they put out even less light than the UK ones and many people find them unsatisfactory for this reason

They do look cool though!

I think the poor light output is because the originals were old sealed beams, plus they are a lot smaller lights than the Euro style lights we have.
The RHD replacements (like the ebay ones) are normal style glass lights with replaceable bulbs. They even come with provision for a standard sidelight bulb holder!
They probably won't be as good as the big Euro lights no matter what but an improvement over standard could be made with uprated bulbs?

I think now I've found a suitable RHD light unit I'll get a pair and a pair of US lights and just see what's what with regards to fitting them.
Of course, I need to actually get hold of the car first!

[Laney760]

Good Luck with finding a car!

[swedish brick]

Good Luck with finding a car!

I'm quite specific about the one I want! Must be a 2.3 auto estate in GLE flavour, must be an early front 740.

Funnily enough my sisters boyfriend and I were chatting about cars recently and he mentioned his grandad had one. He passed away not long ago and the family are going through his property to clear it and sell it.
There's a few older cars on the drive, and an old 72 Wolsely 1300 and the Volvo.
He said the Wolsely might already be spoken for but the others would probably be going for scrap!
I said to him I'd have the Volvo before it gets scrapped so he showed me a few pics.
Guess what!? It's an E reg 1988 740 2.3 GLE auto estate in dark blue. Perfect!
He said I could have it for free too. Only issue is that it's out of MOT and sorned, it's also about 100 miles away.
He's going to try to get it started and moveable and I'll try to get it back here somehow from there.
I've run the reg through the MOT history check site and it's a low miler too, currently on 90k! With pretty decent MOT history.
Fingers crossed it all works out ok.

[Laney760]

Snap it up quickly, as once you get it up to scratch it will be worth megabucks. My friend was selling a pristine one on here for £750 until members advised that they are selling at three grand plus on 'Car and Classic, checked it out and they are right

[swedish brick]

Snap it up quickly, as once you get it up to scratch it will be worth megabucks. My friend was selling a pristine one on here for £750 until members advised that they are selling at three grand plus on 'Car and Classic, checked it out and they are right

That's the plan.
I'll try to get it MOT'd then start a full recomissioning on it to bring back up to a good standard. I'm not sure if it'll be worth more or less with the US lights but I intend to keep the car so I'm not too bothered! I like them!

I've noticed these cars have started getting harder to find over the last few years. Since I sold my old saloon I've wanted another and there never seems many around anymore. Saying that they are very old cars now.

[NI_Volvo_Nut]

I'm told the quad lights are a flat top beam, so no kick up. However I'm told the light output is dire!!

[swedish brick]

I'm told the quad lights are a flat top beam, so no kick up. However I'm told the light output is dire!!

I'm not too bothered about the light output tbh, I've got a few much older cars and a van so I'm well used to poor headlights!
The new replacement UK spec dip beam headlights I've found are not sealed beams but have standard replaceable bulbs so should be at least a bit better than the old LHD US sealed beams. There's always those upgrade sets for headlight bulbs too if I find them too bad.