Morette Triple Lights

I

‘ve been planning to get Kermit hooked up with some triple Morette headlamps ever since the first time I saw them up close and personal, at Interford 2002 (where indeed, Kermit was parked up next to another Pacific Green LuxuryKa wearing triple Morettes). Unfortunately, the cost of the lights had put me off, so I was quite prepared to wait until somebody was selling some second hand within the Ka Klub.

Why Morettes?

Morette are the name that most people think of when considering aftermarket headlamps. Their units are good quality and they are a direct replacement, there’s nothing else to do other than fit them!

There’s nothing intrinisically wrong with the Ka’s standard headlights; when dipped they produce a broad even spread of light, and when one flicks over to main beam the dipped lights remain switched on (unlike the Fiesta for example). Plus the lights also look good, especially with the light brows and indicator mesh. One weakness is that the seal can occasionally fail, which in turn leads to internal lamp condensation. Kermit has not suffered from this problem, perhaps because I use the lamps a lot, but if the seal deteriorates too much the lamps need replacing.

For the Ka, there are two different types available - double Morette and triple Morettes. The double Morettes are essentially composed of two lamps per corner, one being used for the indicators and the other for a combination dipped beam / main beam. The triples are very similar, except the dipped / main beam combination is slightly smaller, and there is a third lamp, which is solely used for main beam. In essence, then, these smaller lights are simply spot lamps, with optics optimised for distance illumination.

Lightbulbs

Each of the triple Morettes use four bulbs. One sidelight, one indicator and two headlight bulbs.

The sidelights are just standard bulbs, I’ve not bothered getting any funky colour installed! I don’t use sidelights by themselves.

The indicators are Philips SilverVision bulbs. These look just about a perfect silver until illuminated, when they glow orange - so you get what looks like a silver lens until needed. They are an excellent finishing touch, not essential then but almost certainly worth the £14 or so for the blister pack.

Triple Morettes have two headlights. The larger lights are the combination dipped and main beam lenses, and for these the lights use H4 bulbs. I elected for Osram Silver Plus on account of their good write ups - it’s important to have a decent dipped beam! Osram claim that their SilverPlus bulbs produce “up to 50% extra illumination, subject to lens design.”

The smaller lamps use H1 bulbs and these are the integrated spot lamps. The lens looks especially uncompromising and I’m using Osram “Cool Blue” bulbs.

Fitting

Since the Morettes use the same Ford connectors, fitting them is pretty much a doddle. You’ll have to remove the front bumper, which sounds quite intimidating but actually it’s pretty easy. Then it’s a case of chopping out the old lamps, slapping the new ones in, and you’re off.

Of course, the Morettes need to be painted first. Fortunately, the top section comes off reasonably easily. The top cover of the lamp has a number of bolts that you have to undo, then pull the cover off.

Once you have the cover off, send it away to be painted!

With the lamp cover sent off to the painters, you can think about replacing the bulbs.

For our indicators, we replaced the scrumptious orange bulbs with Philips Silver Vision, at Charlie’s request. She didn’t want chunky big orange indicators.

We also took the opportunity to replace the H4 bulbs, too – here it’s just a case of removing the connectors, the water seal, unclipping the bulb, then replacing the bulb before putting it all back together again.

When you get the painted tops back, it’s time to fit the Morettes.

But the here and now isn’t the place for a fitting guide. Instead, you can just enjoy the results!