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I like capturing mileage milestones...

Findings comparing cheap projectors with Morimoto Mini H1 7.0

So I have locally sold a few of these headlights - and with the little extra funds I have been asking myself if there really is a point to all the expensive parts.  Are they worth paying 4 times more than the cheap parts?  So I have taken to the streets and decided to build myself a "high end" retrofit.  It is a work in progress, but here is my discoveries so far.

Projector - generic ($40) vs. Morimoto Mini H1 7.0 ($135)

So I had them both in hand.  I got to say the Morimoto is definitely a heavier stronger unit.  The lens retainer is metal instead of plastic.  You can't mess this set projector up if you have to take it apart.  6 bolts hold the projector to the reflector bowl - which by the way feels like it is 3 times thicker than the generic.

I have to comment a moment on the generic projector.  I take them apart all the time to put the LEDs next to the lens.  They normally come with 4 screws.  I just have point out that these legs "twist" as you are bolting it down to the projector bowl.  If you don't catch this issue - then you could throw the focus off (you end up with a soft cutoff line instead of a nice sharp line).

In testing the lighting side by side - my conclusion is the generic one I had gave me a hot spot right up the middle.  At the distance - I purchased a light meter and was measuring over 450 lumens in the middle and it would drop off to about 150 once you got out of the middle.  Since it is going straight up the middle - it is not that distracting or bad per say.

With the Morimoto - the difference was night and day.  The light spread was noticeably much more even with no hot spots.  I didn't actually measure this light output so I don't have any hard measurements for this.

As for the cutoff, I never thought the generic was bad.  This one I was testing was not that different.  However, the Morimoto still manages to be much sharper.  The Morimoto side slide is also somewhat of a novelty, but I can see it being much more durable in the long run for sure.

The actual Cutoff fence mechanism on the generic projector is rather simple. But it can tend to bind in time.  I've had a customer complain about this once.  I think the main issue may just be the quality of the parts.  The thin wire metal is used as the hinges and Here are some images of how the cut off fence works on the generic projectors:

The Morimoto H1 7.0 have a slide mechanism instead.  It is a quality mechanism that hinges on a very stout.  It has a nice solid stop to it.

The bulb retainers are very similar in design for both.  The only difference I can say there is that Morimotos uses a larger gauge retaining clip that puts much more pressure in holding the base in place.  I will also add that Morimoto's threaded shaft is a little longer making the install on the Mustang headlight reflector a lot easier to accomplish.  The nut that holds it all together also goes on easier.  I keep feeling like I'm cross threading the generic ones.

So do I think it is worth the difference in price?  I actually do.  I think the Morimoto projectors are worth it. Keep in mind that this is a hard piece to replace once it is sealed in the headlight.  If you decide that the bulb is not your taste, then those are very easy to swap out.  The projectors...  well not so much.

So - the even pricier side of things is the bulbs. Once again I testing a generic bulb ($40) versus the whole bulb setup from Morimoto ($140).  The quality feel is again with Morimoto.  The bulb's base looks/feels tougher.  The cabling is all protected with a durable mesh that further enhances the quality feel.  The cabling on the Morimoto bulb is a separate piece that can be disconnected there.  I'm not sure I really need/care for that - but I can see how the Morimoto might be easier to work with if the connection to the ballast on the car is hard to reach.

Switching on warm up for the generic was probably a good 6 to 7 seconds.  For the Morimoto, I kind of thought this would be were it blew me away, but it still took 2 or 3 seconds to warm up.  I really thought I was going to get an instant on out of it - so I guess my expectations were wrong from the get go.

In both sets, the current consumed started out at about 5 Amps and quickly ramps down to settle at about 3.2 Amps.  Yes - I'm a geek who wants to know this kind of stuff.  Because of this I would still argue that the stock cabling for most vehicles is up to the task.  Should also point out I'm only testing the 35W sets here.

I placed the Morimoto bulb in generic projector and I still came back with the hotspots described above.  I put the generic bulb in the Morimoto projector and still got a smooth light out of it.  I was kind of dealing with apples in oranges a little with them because they were different color temperatures too (6000K generic vs. 4500K Morimoto).  Even with the color difference - it did seem like the Morimoto bulbs put out more light with the same amount of power usage.  I do not however think the light output was worth the $100 premium to get them.

However, the ballast that Morimoto provides is very nice.  Again - everything Moromoto provides just exudes a feel of quality that the generic ballast just doesn't have.

The Generic Ballast seem to simply have a sticker with the brand and specs on it.  It does peel off after time, and does not hide it's generic origins

So my conclusion on the bulb - I have a split conclusion to this.  If you are going for the show then get the Morimoto cause it really does look amazing.  It will look good under the hood.  If you just want the light output of night driving; and you don't care as much for how it will look under the hood, then go with the Generic bulbs.

Oil Change and visual inspection

A few months ago there was a nice deal on Amazon for some cheap full synthetic 5W-30 Mobile One oil. I've had it in my garage, on the shelf, waiting for the miles to accumulate on my Cobra. Day finally came a few days ago. My aCar app was telling me that I was 70 miles overdue on my oil change.

Yesterday on my way to work I stopped by AutoZone an picked up a new oil filter. My favorite is K&N filter because it has that giant nut on the top of it. I always struggle to take a used filter off, so having a nut on top always makes it a little easier than having to stab a screwdriver through the filter (and a little cleaner too).

Anyways - Started the process of the oil change by actually recycling the old oil from the last change over a year ago. Also picked up a extra quart so I can put 7 in for this change.

Once I made it home, I looked under the car and determined that the drain was on the driver's side. So, I redeposited the car so I can lift the passenger side.

I pulled the drain and let all the oil out of the engine.

Removed the old filter and placed the new one on the engine.

Put the drain plug back onto the oil pan and added in 7 quarts of oil into the engine. Satisfied with the oil change work completed I decided to look around under the engine. Everything looked fine until I inspected the lower ball joints. It looks like they may need replacing soon.

I don't think it will fail anytime soon - but it is now on my radar as a part that needs replacing soon.

Thanks Photobucket and Imgur

Here I am trying something new. I typically would just post images to Imgur and Photobucket, and then have those images show up in the Forums I participate in. However, both of these services have since decided that to charge or block all my images. So I'm moving to making a blog and hoping the images hosted here will work on the forums as well. So here is my first image: We'll see how this plays out. Also adding a gif for future use! :)