Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Fog Lamps.............is less best?

There has been quite a bit of discussion here on the new American rules concerning the position of the front lights on our beloved M3W. Let it to the bureaucrats to mess everything up as they don't have enough to do already!

So early one morning this week I was unlocking High Noon Speed Shop and I remembered I had an old set of fog lamps ....but where? I started looking through the cupboards and soon I found not one but two old pairs of four inch fog lamps wrapped in old newspaper. One pair is made by Fruehauf and the other by Dietz. Both sets are in nice condition that I bought sometime a long while ago to use on the 32's. I can remember but every time I would start to put them on something in my mine said ...less is best!

So I taped them temporarily on the M3W and stepped back. This time around I was about halfway on board. Then I thought was I breaking the old school hot rod rule of "less is best"? I sat down and just starred at the front of the M3W with them in place. After a while I wondered back in my storage ares to see if I had any scrap steel to make two mounting brackets. Soon I found one piece of painted black bar stock off of something that I just can't seem to remember now. With the rain pounding on the metal roof I started hand and hammer forming a bracket. It's just therapeutic for me at times to work on these old hot rods and now the M3W. Then I started on the second bracket and was almost done and walked back in front of the M3W and starred some more. I just wasn't sure...

So I sent a note with a couple photos to my friend Grockle who is one very sharp and talented guy. I sat down starring at the front end trying to decide and patiently waiting for his reply. Then it suddenly came...."less is best" .....are you kidding I'm almost done with the brackets. So I tossed them in the scrap box, wrapped the vintage fog lamps back in the old newspaper and locked the building up.

The next morning I unlocked the building and started starring at the front end again. I just wasn't so sure this time. The rain still pouring down and well you guessed it I wondered back to the old scrap bin and pulled those brackets out. Then I went over and unwrapped the old fog lamps again. I just starred at them. So vintage...so cool with the little crest and Fruehauf tag on top. What the heck the brackets are almost done lets just install them and then decide.

I got the brackets installed in the area that I felt would really look good, fill a blank space and not take anything away from the big Twin-V. I would mount the lamps in the evening after work. The following morning I drove in to our local NAPA store and picked up a few wiring accessories and a simple switch. Once home it took me the rest of the morning to wire them up and install the switch. I'd much prefer to do metal work!

So last evening at about dark and still raining I pulled the M3W out of the building and turned on my old vintage fog lamps. I was really surprised as they illuminated the entire garage with a soft amber glow which is not that close by. I pulled up to the house and asked Linda to come out and see the new fog lamps. I actually wanted her spontaneous opinion. I didn't say anything and just waited. She looked at me and said I like them, the soft amber light really matches your High Noon Speed Shop lettering and the round old cat yellow plate.

Well I'm still thinking....less is always best on old school hot rods. Like Grockle said I don't drive much at night but I do drive a lot at early dawn and dusk when the deer are most active and I do worry about oncoming traffic seeing the low M3W.

Well what do you all think......I can easily take them off.

High Noon Speed Shop

My Blog: https://ontheroadtonowhereville.wordpress.com/

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Interesting, but could you post a picture showing the whole 3wheeler?
Would be easier to have an opinion about the aesthetics then :-)

GK

I like them! But, then I'm partial as I have had two on my car for a while. Now removed as one got smashed to bits by a rock. Going back on when I have sourced acrylic lenses.
Decided to tinker with the turn signals in stead. Always something new and/or different. *s*

Hi HN, do you a) get a lot of fog in Buzzardville, and b) drive in it

Think I've had my rear fog light on once one damp misty morning, but this is the UK

Would be nice to see the front end from more of a distance to get a sense of the overall style/balance.

Seems like personal taste--and also the style of the lamps. I've seen sports cars side by side, one with extra rally lights and one without. Liked both if done well.

(btw, originally from Springfield; spent a lot of years in/near Columbus)

Agree... need to see the long shot.

Looks nice.

Here are a couple more photos and I will soon post late evening photos with the lights on in different ways for comparison. To answer we do have a lot of fog in these deep valleys of this Appalachian hill country. In fact it's rolling it right now in the middle of the day! crazy...

Linda and I drive our Toyota's a lot at night with the low beam and fog lights on. We have learned every second counts when cresting these steep hills and bends. That combination allows us to see low and wide and enough distance the best.

I feel the amber lens of the vintage fog lamps makes the M3W a little more visible even when they are not on and tend to give it an old school look helping to cover up those massive modern coil springs that I actually like. (the ride that is)

I'm still trying to decide....some night driving is on order too.

High Noon Speed Shop

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I'm usually in the less is more category. But they're actually not bad. I do like the vintage look of them (actually they ARE vintage) and it doesn't hide anything in front like the new US spec M3W lights do. You have placed them very well!

But (you're not gonna like this) I wonder if it would look better without the yellow plate on the air filter. There's something about the upside down V that the 3 yellows make combined with the V of the Twin that I'm struggling with. Could you put your logo on a black plate on the air filter so there's only 2 yellows and not 3?

Either way, great job with the mod! Yellow vintage looks much better than white and new!

Reminds me of les Francais preference for yellow headlamps! I kind of like them. More 1950s Euro than 1930s Brit though?