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Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1987

posted by  someone claiming to be Matt Campbell on  Sat Nov 18 21:03 CST 2000 [RELATED]

Hello,

Got a couple funky questions. I'm looking at getting a pair of front fog lamps for my '87 245DL and the Hella Optilux dual fog/driving lamps intrigue me. I'm not opposed to getting separate driving and fog lamps, which would give my car that cool euro rally look, but praticality and price tell me it'd be better to combine the two if possible. Has anyone seen these lights? If so, do they have a separate switch controlling each lamp? It seems like you'd have to as a driving light would be horrendous to have on in a foggy or other inclement weather situation. My second question has to do with rallying, sort of. I'm one of the weird guys who likes my Volvo with the factory high ground clearance. Anyway, I saw a photo once of a Volvo 240 series-looking wagon in some kind of rally, only it was listed as something funky like a Volvo Cross Country or something. The weird thing is it looked like it had a taller roof than a standard 245. Has anyone else seen this ride in photos or articles or whatever, or was this some one-off? Finally, is there some source that would give tips on how to wire aftermarket lighting like auxillary fog and driving lamps. I know every system comes with it's own instructions, but for once I'd like to use Volvo switches that I could put into the open slots in my dash and actually have the lighting running through the fuse box the way it should be instead of tapped into the cigarette lighter power as I've done with auxillary lighting in previous cars. Thanks for any info.

Matt Campbell '87 245DL (rally-mobile in the making)







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    Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1987

    posted by  someone claiming to be dave lotman on  Tue Nov 21 04:48 CST 2000 [RELATED]

    I recommend that you look at Hella XL lights. This is a beam that is listed

    as an auxilliary headlight. They are supposed to be mounted high but they

    can also be mounted low. They have a beam that is wide like a fog but also

    gives you some distance, too. I used them below the bumper and like them

    very much. If I had mounted them high I would have probably liked them even

    more. The other cool thing is that they are spec'd as an aux headlight thus

    are legal to use all the time with your low beams. The Stern websight for

    lighting is good and I understand OJ rally has a lot of good lighting

    products, also. One of the posters on the brickboard is Skip. He Pro Rallys

    a 1980 242GT which he brought to Rockleigh. I'm sure he won't mind giving

    you some guidance about lighting for rallies.

    Dave 82 242ti have a nice holiday.







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      Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1987

      posted by  someone claiming to be Greg Wong on  Tue Nov 21 16:09 CST 2000 [RELATED]

      I might be thinking of something else, but aren't these XL lights rather large? Do they fit ok under your bumper? Do they look "too big" down there, or does it look like they are supposed to be there? I think I was mainly concerned with their width. I just thought that 7 3/4" wide was larger than most of the fogs I have seen on 240s.

      Thanks,

      Greg







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        Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1987

        posted by  someone claiming to be dave lotman on  Wed Nov 22 02:08 CST 2000 [RELATED]

        Yes Greg,

        The XL lights are large. They were OK but large when my car was stock

        height but once I lowered my car they were too big to keep. I bought a set

        of the compact ZKW fogs from IPD. I would use the XL lights above the

        bumper next time. They specify that location as the ideal one in their

        instructions but under the bumper still gave me a good improvement in

        lighting. Now that I have real fogs I can really see the difference the

        fogs have a very wide beam that goes under the fog. The XLs have a wide

        beam but not as wide as the fogs but they do have much more distance.

        I really like them alot and I'm thinking about using them again only

        up top where they are best. I did have to be careful when they were under the bumper. Have a nice holiday.

        Dave 82 242ti







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      Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1987

      posted by  someone claiming to be Ron DeBlock on  Tue Nov 21 05:51 CST 2000 [RELATED]

      dave lotman wrote:

      > I recommend that you look at Hella XL lights.

      I second the recommendation. I have my XLs mounted on top of the front bumper. They are a vast improvement.

      The XLs are definitely NOT fog lights - way too much glare from fog. They may be better if mounted below the bumper. The beam pattern is wide like a fog light, but also includes a very bright, narrow, concentrated beam for medium distance.

      When aimed correctly, they will not bother oncoming drivers. If aimed incorrectly, they are blindingly bright. Fortunately, Hella included a leveling tool in the kit, so it's easy to get right.







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        Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1987

        posted by  someone claiming to be Doug Smith on  Tue Nov 21 18:28 CST 2000 [RELATED]

        Ron,

        I'm interested in how those XL's look mounted above the bumper. Any chance of sending me a photo if you have one available?

        Feel free to respond to my personal email.

        Thanks,

        Doug







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          Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1987

          posted by  someone claiming to be Michael on  Wed Nov 22 16:33 CST 2000 [RELATED]

          They should look OK above or below the bumper. Check out this picture of some extreme lighting on a Volvo:







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          Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1987

          posted by  someone claiming to be Ron DeBlock on  Wed Nov 22 08:31 CST 2000 [RELATED]

          Doug,

          I don't have a picture. However, if you're willing to wait, I can take one and scan it. Of course, this is a perfect excuse to buy a digital camera ;-)

          The Hella XLs are big. Mounted on a 240 bumper, they are anything but sleek. I don't think they detract from the looks of a 240, but then most folks think 240s are ugly anyway (they are wrong).







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        Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1987

        posted by  someone claiming to be Michael on  Tue Nov 21 09:20 CST 2000 [RELATED]

        One question: How much did they cost?

        thanks.







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          Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1990

          posted by  someone claiming to be Doug E. Smith on  Wed Nov 22 03:24 CST 2000 [RELATED]

          Michael,

          If your interested in picking some of the Hella XL, surf over to eBay and search for Hella XL. There is one seller who is running multiple auctions on these lights. After completeing many auctions of the same light, the final price has dropped, and seems to be running around 45-50 bucks (includes the 10 shipping). The offer includes the wires, relay, some mounting stuff.

          I don't know if this price is competitive, as I haven't done my usual scrounging, but I thought I'd mention it...







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            Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1990

            posted by  someone claiming to be Michael on  Wed Nov 22 12:04 CST 2000 [RELATED]

            Thanks for the tip on the ebay seller. I always recommend ebay to others for great prices. There's one seller who has a few dutch auctions starting at $34 + $10 shipping. For $44 delivered, how can I go wrong?!







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          Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1987

          posted by  someone claiming to be Ron DeBlock on  Tue Nov 21 11:14 CST 2000 [RELATED]

          $100 US at Pep Boys. JC Whitney has them on sale now for $89.99 (item 81ZX0603T ). www.jcwhitney.com, hit the link below to take you right to them.

          The proper name is "Hella XL Auxiliary Low Beams"







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            Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1987

            posted by  someone claiming to be Ron DeBlock on  Tue Nov 21 11:22 CST 2000 [RELATED]

            Dang, that never works right the first time.

            Link included this time.







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    Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1990

    posted by  someone claiming to be Doug Smith on  Mon Nov 20 17:35 CST 2000 [RELATED]

    Matt,

    I just finished installing a set of fog lights on my 240 wagon. I was curious if you had considered where you would mount the lights and how this would affect the functionality?

    You mentioned the combination, fog & driving light marketed by Hella. Consider this: Having the best of both worlds in a single light may have appeal, but on a high mounting the fog light would be worthless, while a low mounting would reduce the capability of the driving light.

    I wavered about having fog or driving lights. I couldn't figure out where to mount the driving lights that wouldn't look dumb so - In the end I installed a set of used 759 Marchal fogs I found on eBay.

    I made some brackets & mounted them out wide & below the bumper. I installed a 30 amp relay and to keep things looking Volvo, transplanted a lighted fog switch from a 740.

    I started this project out of frustration with my original lights. I read up on the Brickboard, ran metasearch queries on wiring auxiliary lights. Bought a prefabricated wiring harness that I looked at to understand & returned so I could make a better one!

    In the end I learned a lot about lighting & wiring and especially removing & reinstalling my instrument panel. But best of all, I'm no longer scared of the dark…

    email me if you have any specifics about my install. If I can't help, I may be able to direct you to the sites that informed me.







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    Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1987

    posted by  someone claiming to be Jason Kneier on  Mon Nov 20 01:14 CST 2000 [RELATED]

    I think they called it the 245 Express (also made a 145 version.) It was as you described, a tall-roof 245. They made them into ambulances and emergency response vehicles and stuff like that. There are a couple in the US...







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    Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1987

    posted by  someone claiming to be john l on  Sun Nov 19 12:03 CST 2000 [RELATED]



    It seems to me that the height you speak of could simply be

    a wind breaker for the luggage rack on some 245's..

    I've seen quite a few wagons running around with these breakers,

    and some are fitted so well as to appear part of the car.

    therefore, in a head-on photograph, it might look as though

    the car is several inches taller.







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    Re: Hella headlights and rally Volvos 200 1987

    posted by  someone claiming to be Jonathan Knauer on  Sun Nov 19 02:33 CST 2000 [RELATED]

    Two excellent sources come to mind:

    http://lighting.mbz.org/faq/ - This is the Dan Stern lighting FAQ.

    http://www.vclassics.com/ojrallye.htm - OJ Rallye automotive, owned by David Hueppchen.






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