Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Change of steering stalks

Hello out there!
I am very happy with my 2004 Roadster which I have owned for two years now in January. However there are two things I do NOT like. First the switch plate with the four plastic push buttons on the black steel plate.

Second the Ford black plastic steering stalks.

Therefore I have decided to change these things and have them from MK Holztechnik in Germany.
Now to my question: Is it difficult to remove the steeringwheel and the original steering stalk unit to send it to Germany for conversion? Not beeing an Einstein regarding electrical stauff I am a little conserned about what happends when taking off the wheel and the unit.
Will very much appreciate any advice from all of you handy men.
Ken in Sweden

Hi Ken, I have had both the steering wheel and the steering cowls off before.
They all come off straightforwardly with no problems.
I recall correctly the steering cowl is heldon by 3 screws underneath the cowl.

Normally the stalks are held on with two screws. If like my daughters MX5, she replaced the wiper stalk on Boxing Day for an upgrade with intermittent wipe, it is a simple case of removing the screws, slide the stalks out and disconnect the plastic connector and job done.

I would normally disconnect the battery before commencing work of this kind - unfortunately, to date I have only done this kind of thing on cars without modern electronics - hopefully some one else can comment?

There is a live feed to the light stalk so I would be tempted to disconnect the battery. If you are taking the dash off as well to fit the new one, it would be sensible to disconnect the battery as well.

What happands if I disconnect the battery. I think of the imobilizer?

Don't you loose some of the functions with the MK Holztechnik stalks?

Personally I have never seen anything wrong with the ones fitted by the factory. I can't say the same for the steering column shroud however. I think it is terrible but I don't see the MK Holztechnik stainless steel one as a solution for me either.

Ken. Put some photos of your new dash on the Traditional Morgan Dashboards [Photos] thread when it is done.

The original column shroud and stalks in a 2004 Trad are from Landrover (discovery/freelander), not Ford! They function perfectly so I personally wouldn't change them. The shroud can be covered in matching leather (e.g. see the Allon White website) which you may think looks better than the black plastic, especially if you have leather other than black. That would be a lot less trouble than changing the whole thing.

I had Morgan leather cover my 2012 shroud at the factory. It is not as well done as Allon White but either way they do not fit well with the Moto-Lita steering boss. Round peg in a square hole sort of thing. I have been thinking of making a modified one in fibreglass and then having it leather covered. If I don't do that I will make an insert like that made by Allon White.

Yes Peter, chiefly the intermittent wipe function. So that should please the 'hair shirt' brigade on TM who don't want anything newfangled on a Morgan...

Ken, do it! The MK Stalks looks fantastic and the missing wipe interval function I never missed.


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