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Projector retrofit, 1994 940

Photos in order (more or less) here: https://forums.turbobricks.com/showpost.php?p=5659293&postcount=36


So, I generally don't do indoor mods during the warmer months, and I shelved this project until I wrapped up the various things I needed to do.

But when the weather turned and the days got shorter, I remembered that I wanted more light to drive.

As as I mentioned before, USA DOT 9004 headlamps are just about the worst.

I'll trace my steps with the new headlamp I got from the now defunct lampsandlenses.com.

After separating the lens (not lense) from the reflector housing, (oven @ 180? until seal softens) I cover the outside of the lens with painters tape to both protect and to apply a card that I can use to judge my progress:

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I can use the taped up lens to judge where I need to mark off where the removal of material needs to take place. Some people like to flatten out the entire lens, but I prefer to only do what's needed. In my case, a 3" circle directly in front of the projector aperture.

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Doing this, I can mark off a 3" round.

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Using PLENTY OF WATER and my drill press, I use a 3" "Roloc" style 50 grit sanding disc, just for aggressive removal of the Fresnel lines.

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I then move up to 80 grit.

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Progress:
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Basically it's a matter of "sand and rinse" several times until the area is completely flay. Swirl marks are to be expected as long as they aren't too deep.

CLEAN the disc so that material can't clog it and cut marks into the acrylic.

Eventually working up to 240 grit:

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And to 320:
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With a padded sanding block:
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After that, I move to a Griot's Garage 3" D/A.

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And move through 320 to 1500 grit.

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With each progression, the sanding takes longer and longer. Water is still needed, but with the D/A, the swirl marks are gone.

(1500 grit, D/A)
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Then to 3000 grit.
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Once @ 3000 grit, I'm nearly there. I need to polish. So I used Meguiar's D30016 DA Microfiber Correction Compound and my D/A with a microfiber pad.

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Thus:

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To protect the back side of the lenses from UV, I treated with Opti-Lens Permanent Headlight Coating

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And Bob's your uncle:

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I know that the output of one of the projectors isn't so good. The cutoff seems to disappear. I don't know what's causing it so at some point I'll need to take it apart again and see what's what. I'm thinking that there might be something on the reflector or stuck inside the projector's lens. One of these I bought from TRS gave me trouble from the start. Stripped screw hole, etc etc. TRS was kind enough to send out a replacement reflector bowl, but I don't remember if I replaced it or not. For all I know the HID bulb is out of alignment. So I won't know until I get in there.

I also know that the output angle isn't as good as most people typically get. I think I'm @ 130? or so. I chalk this up to the recessed nature of the projectors. they sit back about 1.5 inches from the stock lens surface. If I brought them forward a bit, I think I could get a better angle. HOWEVER, these are already wider than the stock lenses so I'm really not worried.

Some people have asked my why I didn't clear out the entire lens and only did a 3" section.

There's a few reasons.

First, time. Just doing this one spot is about 1.5 hours. I really didn't want to spend an entire day on this.

Second, The Volvo has what we in the old Volvo community calls "TV set head lamps" I don't think a small projector in the middle of such a large opening would look all that good. I know of people who have incorporated BMW 5/7 series round projectors into these, but I didn't want to go that route. I figured, if all I need is a 3" aperture then that's all I'd give it.

Lastly, I wanted the lamps to be as inconspicuous as possible. This is why I went with 4300? lamps and not the more common 5000 or 6000?. I know that people aren't getting pulled over by the local constabulary, but I'd rather not take the risk. I did this to increase the level of light that my car has but not to "show off" to other people.

I've been running these for about 2 weeks now, and so far I've had ZERO flashes from oncoming drivers, no attention from the rozzers and nothing but good output from them as compared to my stock lamps.
 
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The lighting looks great, but I wonder what can be done to make it less Johnny 5? Thinking about doing the same mod on my car.

I've heard the 760/940SE/960 integrated fogs make it look less paranoid android and more like a possibly stock option... :-P

A+ work on the defluting! Looks like it's putting down tonnes of light, must be a pleasure at night!
 
I've heard the 760/940SE/960 integrated fogs make it look less paranoid android and more like a possibly stock option... :-P

Well, there's really no way around it with these cars. It's even worse with the 240.

There's way to incorporate a BMW 5/7 series quad round projectors in there, but I think that's a little over the top and it makes your car look just like a Bimmer at night.

I'm also looking into incorporating a single round 9" into the stock reflector, but I'm still pondering.

A+ work on the defluting! Looks like it's putting down tonnes of light, must be a pleasure at night!

You have no idea. It's over and above better than the ECE lamps I've used.
 
Very cool retrofit! I just popped the DDM V1 kit in my 240. For some reason the highbeam function is reverse now.. when I switch the stalk so the blue highbeam light is on the dash the lowbeams turn on. When I switch the highs off from the stalk it activates the highs. Does your 940 function correctly?
 
Very cool retrofit! I just popped the DDM V1 kit in my 240. For some reason the highbeam function is reverse now.. when I switch the stalk so the blue highbeam light is on the dash the lowbeams turn on. When I switch the highs off from the stalk it activates the highs. Does your 940 function correctly?
You'll have to reverse the pins for the connector that goes into the car. Lots of kits have them backwards.
 
Very cool retrofit! I just popped the DDM V1 kit in my 240. For some reason the highbeam function is reverse now.. when I switch the stalk so the blue highbeam light is on the dash the lowbeams turn on. When I switch the highs off from the stalk it activates the highs. Does your 940 function correctly?

The solenoid pins don't car which way they are wired. They'll fire as long as one of the wires is hot.

Just make sure that your 9004 connector is wired correct. Sometimes they are wired for 9007.
 
The images from the build in more or less the correct order.

Sorry for the delay.

Let me know if you need them reincorporated into the original posts.


Part 1
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I copied your idea but didn't go through the process of polishing out the lens. I wanted mine to look OEM but have better light output. It's been almost 2 years and I haven't gotten high beamed by anyone. Cutoff is actually pretty crisp. Is it as crisp as a new BMW? No. Is it 20x better than two candles in the wind aka 25 year old headlights? Yeah.

I also omitted the shroud. That way some of the scattered light from behind the projector lens fills up the reflector so it looks more stock. In this pic you can see the difference with and without shrouds. Not a completely fair comparison because the driver's side assembly is new, the passenger side is original and it has water damage so the silver coating is oxidized but you get the idea.

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I screwed up and aimed them AFTER I glued them back together. Aim is fine but you can see they don't line up with the body and grillwork correctly. If anyone does this I recommend you put them on the car without the lenses, aim them, then glue the lenses on.
 
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I screwed up and aimed them AFTER I glued them back together. Aim is fine but you can see they don't line up with the body and grillwork correctly. If anyone does this I recommend you put them on the car without the lenses, aim them, then glue the lenses on.

That's an excellent point. I was lucky and the horizontal aim is spot on, but my vertical is just a bit too narrow.

Eventually I'll remove the lenses and readjust, but for now, it's good enough. I don't quite get the 180? that the kids like, but it's still a whole world better than the stock 9004s.

Remember, just a few degrees at the lamp is enough to alter where the light ultimately lands.

I think in my case just 3-5? outward on both sides will get me where I need to be and still have the lenses match the body lines.

On second thought, I might be able to realign my projectors without removing the outer lenses. Just remove the bulb, loosen the nut and reposition. My flange inside the lamp won't allow it to rotate so a little left-right action should be fine.
 
Old thread bump here.

Ursan, I've been considering an HID retrofit on my 940 but I can't see any of your pictures. Could you upload them again or post a link to your gallery?
 
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