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Potential project: '83 Volvo 242 turbo light upgrade

This thread has gotten me interested in making a conversion to halogen or LED for my Bertone. The objective would be to create a dead stock external look with whatever I could pack behind the external view.

I found and added LED daylight driving lights and 'parking' lights that are really invisible except under close inspection but they are, at 6500k, so dramatically different from the standard 4000k incandescent OEM bulbs to beg for some help.

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There are 4x6 conversion glass units that permit the use of the halogen or LED modules into them. All 4 have the same reflective properties cast into the front glass. Or . . . is there anything available the would duplicate the dramatic horizontal cutoff of the headlights in my later cars.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Four-4x6-C...rentrq:1c51cdee1650a9e82b055e2afffc74c4|iid:1

Its late and dark and to avoid walking a hundred yards my question is 'should the low beams and high beams have different focus properties in the front glass?'

I would go with standard 55w equivalent for low beams and jump to 100w for high beams.
 
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You do want to use H1 high beams. With respect to LED headlamp bulbs, even the 55W equivalent bulbs are going to be too bright in a traditional H4 housing. What I would do is find some 100/55 H4 bulbs and some 100W H1 bulbs. Run them in the 4x6 housings. The LEDs really do need to be in housings designed for them.

Use the DRLs during the daytime, but maybe swap out the LED parking lamp bulbs for some 3496 bulbs, so you'll have a brighter light, but will still have an incandescent look.

Difference in beam pattern between H4 and H1... Headlamp cover needs to be cleaned and polished, but, on the left is a Hella H1 high beam. On the right is a Cibie H4 high/low.
 
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I use Narva 100w low beam and 90w high beam H4 on my 93 wagon. Well worth the light output and quality halogen H4 bulbs are very reasonably priced now.
 
I tip my hat to you fellas. After doing h3/h4 and having the same plastic covers, I still just squint my eyes looking for road lines, hopefully freshly painted so that I can point and pray my 245

even a few years ago if I truned high beams on I would get flashed (not boobies :-() all the time. These days nothing... eyes dont get use to the dark and older car lights (even upgraded) appear dim.... get off my topless lawn


I need to upgrade my wiring. Thanks for doing the hard work
 
There are many mods to be had, but by far the best is a set of E codes AND a headlight relay harness. If you can afford to toss a couple hundred bucks at it, call Ray at Susquehanna Motorsports http://www.rallylights.com/

They can make you a custom headlight relay wire harness and walk you through installing it. They are the real deal and worth the $$. They use good quality connectors, wiring, heat shrink, etc.
 
I have also bought from rallylights dot com and they have been good to buy from. I bought a summit racing harness which was in the middle price wise. It was about $45 with shipping. Gary suggested it and I am very happy with. I put that on the 93 wagon. When I buy the individual parts like the excellent hella headlight connectors. I got them from rally lights.

As John mentioned above the 100 amp denso alternator is a nice update as well. I run a denso on both of my signature cars. 100 for the wagon and 80 for the turbo. Some 80 amp versions have the smaller B+ to match up to the older 240 wiring harness.
 
It's also easy to modify the smaller ring terminal to fit the larger stud. Take a M8 bolt and run it through at an angle, bending the terminal slightly. Then, take a pair of needlenose pliers and squeeze the metal enough so it slides onto the bolt perfectly. When you install the ring terminal onto the alternator, it'll slide on easily and still make contact all the way around. The Denso alternators also have a smaller case than the equivalent old school Bosch alternators. The 80 amp is slightly bigger than a 55 and the 100 is about the same size as an 80 amp Bosch.

-J
 
Its late and dark and to avoid walking a hundred yards my question is 'should the low beams and high beams have different focus properties in the front glass?'
Click to expand...
I checked the high beam/low beam H4651/H4656 front lens. They are very different. That leads me to believe that the available conversion lens that are all the same are a real compromise. The conversion lens appear to be similar to the low beam H4656 which would mean that the high beam would be disbursed all over rather than focused forward and down.

Any other options out there?
 
^Buy only two H4 conversion lenses, and two H1 conversion lenses. Problem solved. Avoid the H4 conversion lenses with the "SAE M" mark on them. Those are meant for a motorcycle and, therefore, have the cutoff line that goes up to the left in addition to the right. Lots of light, but, not unlike a pair of DOT 1986-93 lamps, they kinda spread it everywhere. The ones that don't have that mark on them have a flat cutoff to the left, then it goes diagonally upward to the right, to light up street signs.

-J
 
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