Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Alternative Headlight

Did they get the lights off a BSA Bantam?

My light used to rattle loose and dangle out of the holder whilst riding along.

Took a little modification with some additional brackets and screws.

Dynamo powered lights were an experience!


As for led lights be wary iirc the mot will be checking for none standard lighting (it's okay for new cars to have dazzling lights but that's a different story)

I checked suppliers for the Luxeon LEDs & none of the suppliers claim they are E marked. So you may want to take a chance fitting them. My Philips +130 are E marked & do give noticeably more illumination. If you go for LED side lights with Halogen headlamps maybe best to get ones with ceramic caps as plastic caps may melt.

I suspect the poor night vision may be because your eyeline is only a little above the lamps. Sitting low you will always be more likely to be dazzled.

I know various people are fitting LED headlights on their 4 wheel Morgans. I collected my M3W from Malvern yesterday, after its complete "from the ground up" rebuild (repairing the very sub-standard 11 month chassis replacement in France).

My M3W was by a huge margin, the best it has ever been in my ownership, since 2015 but this is the first time I have driven it for any distance in the dark. Admittedly the headlights are right hand dip (it is a LHD model) but they seemed totally pathetic, particularly on dip. I know I am comparing them with the 80 unit LED headlights on my 2018 model Porsche Panamera with the dynamic light system, which are fantastic but even so the M3W's headlights are sufficient poor as to be dangerous on narrow, dirty rural roads with no white line at the edge.

There must be an LED replacement for the whole reflector/glass, which might even have the option to change dip orientation for UK/Mainland Europe as well.

Wilson

Missed you yesterday!
Barring the headlights, I hope all is good now!

Uprated halogen bulbs help but I suspect part of the problem is that your eye line is not much above the lamps. Is the aim correct?

Hi Graham,

The car is hugely better, given that I am pretty sure that when I acquired it in 2015, the chassis was already broken. The whole French repair saga is best forgotten - complete disaster from beginning to end but at least Morgan stepped up to the plate and sorted it out.

Wilson

Tim the aim is not 100% perfect but it is not far off. Also they are LHD dip lights which does not help with illumination of the verge. However on main beam, the pattern seemed poorly defined and on dip, they are just plain dim. On my rally 911 RSR, I switched from H4 halogen bulbs to rally spec 70W HID units and got a huge improvement but of course you have to install ballast resistors and a starter unit for each bulb, easy in the Porsche but more difficult in the Morgan. These HID were solenoid mechanical dipping and they seem to provide a well defined pattern on main and dip with no dazzle. Given that I am unlikely to be doing a whole lot of night driving, the easiest answer is the Philips uprated halogen bulbs. LED would be nice for the ability to switch from RHD to LHD like my Panamera but I doubt the availability. I am taking the M3W to Halfords this morning anyway to see what child booster seats they have that would fit. I can buy some of the Philips halogens there.

Wilson

The Philips +130 bulbs are pretty good for a straight replacement.

I just got some H4 LED replacements. Vastly better than the standard bulbs and less current drain too but not up to modern all singing, all dancing purpose built LED standards.

I don't think these pass MOT tests (yearly mandated inspections to avoid having dangerous vehicles on the road - in theory) in the UK - the LED bulbs dont play nicely with the beam pattern forming. I gave up on that idea.

The aftermarket LED headlights are all for LHD or RHD, not both (or neither - vut these motorbike units, that seem acceptable in the US, fail beam pattern tests in the UK).