First I needed to figure out how to mount the lights to the front bumper. I did not want to drill through my bumper like a friend of mine did with his car - for multiple reasons, bot structural and cosmetic. So I started looking around for existing bolts that I could use for mounting purposes. I noticed a section of bolts just along the front of the radiator along a semi-circular "cutout" of the bumper that looked like it would work well. So I took the bolts out, grabbed some cardboard, and made a template. Then I took a piece of angle-iron and ground it down so that it fit into the cutout of the bumper cover.
Here's a pic of the bar after it was ground down into rough-shape:
Then I took two smaller pieces of angle iron, and used them as mounting points for the lights. The only was to do this right was to square them up AFTER the hood was closed, and then tack weld them on, at a risk of melting the plastic bumper cover a bit. But it was very important to do this with the bolts for the lights in the angle iron, so I could make sure that the hood would clear the bolts if I needed to open it. Conversely, I also wanted the lights tucked in as close to the grill as possible, so that they were protected a bit. Once I had welded everything together, I mocked it up again before painting:
It worked out well, and the angle iron made it very stiff and pretty vibration-proof, too. So I started painting: first primer, then black enamel, and then that rubberized stuff on top.
Here's a top view:
From the underside:
Finally mounted permanently:
Now came the hard part: How to wire this all up? What most people in Rallies do, as I understand, it wire the lights so that they turn on with your high-beams when you pull the wand-lever on the side of the steering wheel. Add a switch on the dash that disconnects the ground for the relay so that you can disarm the lights for daily driving.
So first I added a new fuse box right near the battery:
Then I mounted the relay on the inside of the fender, right up in between the battery and the hood latch. It's a tight fit, but it works!
Then I started running the wires I would need. I anticipated a big to-do when it came time to run the ground wire for the relay into the passenger compartment. I envisioned myself wedging a right-angle drill in there and powering a hole through the firewall. But then I noticed that Volvo was nice enough to have a hose already through the firewall that is for new accessories. How cool is that! I've never had a car that had something like that, but I guess it's pretty normal for Euro's. So I ran the ground wire through the firewall, easy as pie:
So next came the switch. At first I thought I would just run a simple toggle switch, but I wanted it to look completely stock inside. So I bought a rear fog light switch on eBay for $0.99, and wired it up to a new ground I put inside the compartment on one of the steel dash supports by the driver's right knee. But that wasn't enough, either. I wanted to have some kind of indicator light that would let me know if the lights were armed. Now, mind you, I didn't want to know when they turned on, since I'll be able to see that. I wanted a warning indicator, basically.
Problem is that I wasn't using the switch the way it was designed. So how to add a lamp inside the switch that would indicated the status of my accessory lights? I decided to use a full-color LED and a resistor. So I drilled out the hole for the old switch lamp, and made it just big enough for the full-color LED. After a bit of testing I decided on using a 100ohm resistor. I figured I would use a 470ohm, like I did with all my other LEDs I've put in the car, but the full-color LED can handle a bit more voltage, plus I wanted to be able to see it brightly in the daytime, AND I realized I had to wire the LED backwards for this work.
So I wired the LED backwards - positive up into the ground lead of the LED, and then attached the lead for the red LED to the ground wire for the relay >And since I wanted a "safe" indicator as well, I wired the lead for the green LED to the new ground I had already placed on the dash support. That way, when the lights were not on, the LED glows green, and when armed, both the green and red portions of the LED are on, giving me an amber/orange color as a warning that the lights are ready to go. I also cut the lead for the blue portion of the LED, so I didn't accidentally short it out...
Here's the switch when the lights are "safe":
But press the switch to "arm" the relay, and it changes to amber:
But since I had to drill out the whole back of the switch where the normal lamp used to go, I decided to go the sloppy route: I used window silicone sealant to glue the LED and the resistor in place. Then I covered up as much as I could with electricians tape to keep the LED's light from spilling all over the place inside the dash and possibly causing problems.
Here's a picture of the messy back to the switch. But no one will ever see this side of it - except for all of you!
But all in all, a very sucessful project, even if the back of the switch is a bit sloppy.
And just for giggles, I drew up (in Photoshop) a quick wiring guide, just case you wanted to try this for yourself. This could also work very similarly if you wanted to wire up a set of extra fog lights (In case you don't have any), or something like that...
Anyway, hope this inspires some of you to go out and screw around with your car!
Remember, if it ain't broke, you have messed with it enough yet!
Thanks,
Dave
