Horn relocation

[turbocon86]

I had to replace a headlight this weekend which was broken from flying road debris. You have to remove the cars facia in order to do this. While I had the car apart I relocated the two horns and removed the intake baffle to clear the area in front of the intercooler behind the grill. I put up a web page with details and photos in case anyone else wants to do the same. Find it here: http://www.ricdidonato.com/Downtime/XC70_horns.html

[XC70Geo]

Great pics and detailed description. Thanks turbocon86.

[Pennhaven]

Nice idea & writeup.

[Willy]

Hi,
It's been a while ago since I removed the front bumper, but if I remember well, it is better not to remove the torx screws in the wheel wells, just loosen them enough to remove the whole thing (they fix the sides of the bumper by a "clamp" .
Not removing the screws should make it easier to reassemble the whole thing.
Willy

[turbocon86]

I figured that out after I had gotten them apart. But I really had no problem putting them back together. I think it may be easier to get the bumper off if you completely remove the screws and mounts, then you can loosly put the mounts and screws back on before putting the bumper back on.

[XC70Geo]

turbocon86, can you feel the advantages of better air flow?

[Bluegrass-XC]

OK - I'm gonna go off on a tangent here so bear with me ....

Is it really necessary to remove the bumper in order to replace a damaged headlight? I (still) have a small hole in my headlight lens from a rock thrown from an 18-wheeler. I was under the impression I could just remove and replace the lens with little effort. Please tell me I don't have to remove the dang bumper to do this!

[RedXC]

thanks for the idea

[turbocon86]

XC70Geo,
I haven't driven the car yet so I couldn't tell you--It's my wifes. I drive a '94 Saab 900. I mounted a pull fan on the intercooler of that car and yes, I notice a difference. In theory the more efficient an intercooler is the more horsepower you will gain. Removing anything which impeded airflow should have an effect, how much I couldn't say.

Bluegrass-XC,
Yes, you have to remove the bumper. And no, you can't just replace the lens. They are bonded to the headlight housing. You need to replace the whole unit. The bumper is not hard to remove. The whole job should take less than an hour. One thing I will tell you, It will look like you have to remove another piece of molding (once you get the bumper off) to remove the bolt on the fender-side of the headlight. You don't need to do that. There is a hole in the molding to put a socket wrench through. I got my headlight on ebay for $25 (the seller wasn't sure what model it went to, which kept other buyers away). Expect to pay between $130 and $200 for a good used one. The other option is to purchase a set of clear plastic stick-on lens protectors. You wont have to pull anything apart. The hole will be sealed. It just won't look as good if you are concerned about appearance.

[turbocon86]

Bluegrass-XC,

Not sure what side you need but here's a headlight assembly on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7973548429&category=38661

[Bluegrass-XC]

turbocon86 - Thanks for the info. The current problem I have is that all of my tools are 650 mile away (haven't completely relocated yet). Appearance is a significant issue to me so a "cosmetic" fix probably won't do. I did check ebay right after the lens got hit, but I wasn't very successful in finding a match. I was also a little put off on what the dealer wanted to replace it. So far it hasn't been an issue as far as function is concerned.

[XCS]

Bluegrass,
Do you really have MY00? The headlights are different on those. I believe they can be changed without removing the grill. Here is a link to the IPD site for the 2000 V70 headlight lens only.

http://www.ipdusa.com/ProductsCat.aspx?CategoryID=336&NodeID=380&RootID=629

[DonWillson]

Speaking of horns.--
30 years ago I had a BMW (Isetta, that is) that only had the beep, beep horn. I wanted something bigger. So I found a set of air horns with compressor for about $15. I just wired them in, in parallel with the beep beep horns. So a quick tap and I get "beep Beep' but if I hold it down a second or more it gets attention. I got a second set for my other car. I have since transferred them to each car so that I always have horns with authority.

Even though it is 30 plus years later I still see these for less than $20. I think it is a great addition for safety.

Don Willson

[Bluegrass-XC]

Bluegrass,
Do you really have MY00? The headlights are different on those. I believe they can be changed without removing the grill....
XCS - Yes - I have a 2000 XC70. I thought I read that I can just pop the old lens off and now that you sent that link - I do remember checking out what IPD had to offer. I forgot what forum I was in when I posted that earlier response. Sorry for the confusion. Good pix though.

Don - I've been wanting air horns for years in my Blazer. JC Whitney has a cheap set but I haven't gotten around to getting them.

[turbocon86]

My wife borrowed my convertible for a couple of days so I've finally had a chance to drive the XC since I did the horn relocation. Iv'e noticed a definite performance improvement. Throttle response has improved with the removal of the intake baffle--even better than when I first installed the K&N filter. And, I can feel a definite gain in top-end power from before the modification. Driving to work this morning I passed a line of traffic (about 6 cars) going up a steep grade. I went from 50 mph to 85 mph in the wink of an eye without feeling like I was close to tapping out the power under the hood. I don't have any definite numbers but the seat-of-pants feel tells me it was worth the time invested!

[XC70Geo]

You must feel right, but contrary, I placed a mesh for protecting the radiator, and found no differences in power. And I have the BSR PPC tuning, that should be aware of air flow. Might be the petrol quality instead?