99-90 US front

In all of Europe, a popular appearance modification for the Saab 99 is to fit the headlamps and grille used on the Saab 99 in the

US front, 99 Turbo

US. Due to regulations in the US, the 99 was given two round headlamps on each side, instead of one rectangular on each side like in the rest of the world. The front will also fit any Saab 90.

Parts needed

This list contains the parts needed to replace the standard "euro"-front with the US-front.

Front grille (3 pieces)

Bezels and rings

You need the three grille pieces. There's one center grille, and one piece on each side around the headlamps. The two side pieces are often also known as bezels.

Headlamps

There are 4 headlamps. Size 5 3/4" (5.75"), which is a standard headlamp size produced by a number of manufacturers. The bulb type is H4, one in each lamp. If you want the original look, you should get headlamps with curved glass (not flat).

Remember that the headlamps used in the US, are a type called sealed-beam. These are not E-approved, and will therefore not be legal for road-use in most european countries. If you're in doubt, you should therefore check with the proper authorities what kind of headlamps you need.

Headlamp housing

US front headlamp housing

There's one headlamp housing on each side. Each of these holds 2 headlamps.

Headlamp rings

Each lamp are held in place in the housing by a metal ring. There should be 4 of these.

Chrome trim

There are thin pieces of chrome trim surrounding the grille and bezels, in total 7 pieces.

Replacing the headlamps and grille

Once you've got the parts ready, this should be a quick job. This is how you replace the standard rectangular lamps with the US lamps:

• Unmount the bezels
• Unmount the grille
• Disconnect and unmount the headlamps
• Put bulbs into the 4 round headlamps
• Connect the round headlamps to the connectors inside the housing and attach headlamps to their housing using the headlamp rings.
• Install the housing with headlamps on each side of the car, and attach wire on the back of the housing. Note: The headlamp with 2 wires attached to it is supposed to be the one closest to the cars center, that goes for the headlights on both sides of the car.
• Install the grille
• Install the bezels
• Test the lights. With the low-beam lights on, only the two outer headlights should be in use. When high-beam is switched on, all 4 headlights should be in use. If this is the case, you've got it right!