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740: increased light output

I

iHateVolvoPeople

Active member
Joined
Feb 1, 2014
Location
Midwest
1990 744.

My 740 has the typical yellowed headlight lenses. Light output is very poor, and I just had the windows tinted so I don?t want it to be even harder to see at night.

What has everyone done to increase light output? I have new lenses to install, but even with those the light output is sub par. Car is bone stock with a denso 100 amp, cleaned grounds, and good bulbs. I am not opposed to adding fogs or a light bar, but I?d like to keep stock-ish look if possible, without blinding other drivers.

All glass e-codes would probably help, but i think for the 1990 front end they are quite pricey.
 
Getting a set of glass e-codes does make a big difference both for light output and usable pattern. You'll need to find someone overseas to get OEM ones, stateside I haven't had any luck with dealers selling them. Until you can source them, at the very least put in a relay kit. Summit has a few options depending on bulb pattern. If you plan to go H4 later with e-codes, get an H4 harness now, and some pigtails to adapt to the 9004's.

Don't buy into the hype of the superwhite bulbs and ****. I stay up on this stuff a little, also staying up on Daniel Stern's research. Currently, the Osram Nightbreaker and Phillips ExtremeVision bulbs are the ones to get. If you're on a budget, you can also go to a higher wattage bulb, but that definitely means getting a relay kit FIRST and there's more risk of melting the reflector.

I have e-codes, relays, and some ExtremeVisions on my 90, actually gives me a little better light than the wife's V50 with e-codes and ExtremeVision's. I do also have some Hella 55/100 bulbs to toss in, see how that does. Amazon has them stupid cheap as an add-on right now...
https://www.amazon.com/HELLA-H4-130...lb&qid=1561943492&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&th=1

I actually picked up a pair of the 80/130's for the truck that has all glass housings. Funny, e-codes in there (notice a pattern on my fleet yet?), high wattage bulbs, aimed correctly, and it is actually far less obnoxious for oncoming traffic than 90% of the new vehicles on the road, yet the light on the ground is incredible. Hell, it makes my light bar virtually worthless. lol
 
OP, you got a FOG or NON front end on that 90? I've got a pair of NON fog EURO glass lights with the 90 only plastic trim...... they need some work, but they beat the crap out of DOTs.

PM with interest.......
 
Kjets On a Plane said:
Packing tape not good enough for 7/9 guys?

Just reporting from the field...

TB; without pics it's worthless...
Click to expand...
I?m not even sure what you?re talking about
DET17 said:
OP, you got a FOG or NON front end on that 90? I've got a pair of NON fog EURO glass lights with the 90 only plastic trim...... they need some work, but they beat the crap out of DOTs.

PM with interest.......
Click to expand...
I have the '1 year only' (that?s what i was told) 1990 front end with NO fogs. I will send you a PM in the future. Pics would be awesome so I can see how much work they need.
gsellstr said:
^^^^'s your answer OP. Grab those, relay kit, some 55/100's, and party.
Click to expand...
Noted. Thank you for this as well as your thorough previous post. Huge helps!
 
The only real difference between 90 and 91+ is the trim sticks, grille, and hood. You can use 91+ lights on a 90, just gotta be sure to use your 90 trim. My lights came from a non-fog 92, no issues at all. You will need corners as well as those are difference.
 
iHateVolvoPeople said:
I have the '1 year only' (that?s what i was told) 1990 front end with NO fogs. I will send you a PM in the future. Pics would be awesome so I can see how much work they need.
Click to expand...

Those are exactly what I've got, including the 90 only trim sticks. I'll make you an offer you can't refuse........
 
I put eBay ecodes in my 940 truck, one side is a DJ Auto the other is from... Taiwan? The DJ is a bit better quality but it was a random NOS score.

For bulbs I made a relay harness up in the front corner drawing power straight from the battery (10awg) and just pulling the trigger for the high and low relays from the switch. I have 90/100 in the mains, and 100w driving lights. It's plenty of light, lot of light. The beam pattern is OK, but my 7" round 100w h4's on the 242 are better.
 
I had similar experiences with the repop lenses. I had e-codes on the R as well, BIG difference in pattern between the Depo's and the OEM glass. Sharper cutoff and better light on the ground.

I opted to buy my relay kit since $38 made it cheaper than parts plus my time to build it. lol
 
So here’s a silly question, why a relay kit? When I turn on the high beams I seem to recall hearing a relay anyway. Is the purpose of a relay kit so we can get more current and voltage to the bulbs than the factory harness can deliver?

Kind of like how crappy the 240 horn was until I added a relay.
 
I have a few of these installed. Only difference is I swapped the fusible links for fuses.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/upd-34263

The stock wiring goes from the battery to the fuse block to the switch to the lights with some connections along the way. A relay kit uses the stock wiring just for a control side, with a hard wired line straight to the battery for current handling. Just on normal bulbs I picked up 1.2v at the bulb with the relay kit, getting a good bit more light out. When you swap in bigger bulbs you'll maintain battery voltage a lot better, plus no risk of melting any of the wiring or components along the way.
 
gsellstr said:
The only real difference between 90 and 91+ is the trim sticks, grille, and hood. You can use 91+ lights on a 90, just gotta be sure to use your 90 trim. My lights came from a non-fog 92, no issues at all. You will need corners as well as those are difference.
Click to expand...

So there are glass euro lights that fit the same size slot as the 90+ 740 headlights?

I feel like anytime I see a pic of a euro convert 90+ the lights go all the way to the grille. My favorite part about my white SE is how pinched the hood to grille lines are, with the chunky hockey sticks.
 
Yup. Standard 90 sticks, non-fog setup. This is my 90.
MB5dmKUl.jpg
 
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