I'm about 90% sure you should just be able to swap it. The late 740's have a lot more in common with the 900's than they do with 87 and earlier 740s. I'm pretty sure you already have the bumper for that look, so you would just need the headlights and grille.

Also, i dont know where you heard that there's welding involved in mixing and matching front ends? I put an early 740 bumper on my '93 940 just to get the fog light / rally lip, and all that took was swapping the bumper struts along with it. Maybe the upper parts? But even then, I'd be really surprised if they weren't interchangeable.

 

It can be done by just swapping lights and grille. I did on my old 92 740. I am currently looking for headlights to do the same in my 940!

 

Its not just lights & grille - the headlamp support brackets and grille brackets are all different. I converted my 91 this past year. As long as you have a parts car (88- 760, 960) to take the parts from, you will be good to go. If you're buying aftermarket lights like mine, not so much as the brackets are NLA

the stock cover panel can be trimmed

 

Ah, I see what you mean. Which brackets did you need for the AM lights?
I can confirm that I swapped 960 headlight and grille directly into my 740, but the headlight brackets must have been the same. I assumed they all would be for halogen bulb reflector headlights.
TIA

 

Ah, I see what you mean. Which brackets did you need for the AM lights?
I can confirm that I swapped 960 headlight and grille directly into my 740, but the headlight brackets must have been the same. I assumed they all would be for halogen bulb reflector headlights.
TIA

If you look up the parts diagrams for the 760/960 and the 740, you will see that the grille brackets and headlamp brackets are not the same. I cut & welded my 740 metal headlamp brackets (next to the grille) to fit the eCode lights. When I did the job, the correct plastic grille brackets were still available.