Last week, a headlight went out on the S70. I went to check the bulb and discovered that the reflector inside the lamp assembly was loose and pivoting. Probably damaged from the deer strike in December.
So, off to the junkyard I went, in search of another headlight assembly. There in the third row from the entrance, I found a white ‘98 S70 that conveniently enough, had not only the headlights, but also the whole front bumper was removed. I seized the opportunity to grab the composite core support that was fully exposed. Only took an extra 5 minutes.
After removing the horns, headlights and turn signals, it was surprisingly easy to remove the old broken core support, since I was able to take it out in two sections (it was cracked anyway, I just broke the right side completely apart to ease removal).
What did surprise me, was that I was able to finagle the new, undamaged support into place without removing the bumper:
I had to slot the passenger side edge into place, then very gingerly “persuade” the driver side edge under the tip of the fender, but once I slipped it under the fender tip, it dropped into place perfectly. Saved a couple hours of work there. All the bolt holes lined up, so I don’t think there is any other hidden damage from the deer.
Now the secondary hood latch works correctly, and the headlights are aligned properly. Back to original condition!