Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Mods for the summer.......

I'm currently getting quite excited about my first summer with a Morgan So, I'm considering my first minor mods in anticipation and am looking for a little guidance on some of the easy ones.

First of all do wind deflectors fitted to windscreen sides provide any real benefit? I'm not overly keen on leaving the side screens in place when topless Also quite like the idea of having the roof on without the screens.

Secondly I'm not a fan of the skinny wooden steering wheel fitted to my non PAS car. I really fancy changing it for a thicker Moto lita leather iteml but am wondering on which diameter to go for. Current wheel is a 14", which takes effort to turn a very low speed. However I'd prefer to go for a smaller 13" item. As my gym days are well over can anyone comment on the difference in effort required for a smaller diameter?

Thanks in advance.

with the smaller wheel you will only notice it when parking of full lock, apart from that not a lot, but for ordinary driving and feel its a real benefit, makes the car feel a lot sportier and I think you get more precise steering ie you feel more at one with the car, this is my experience from several caterhams not my 3 wheeler now as that has a steering wheel like a no 43 bus

Fit electric power steering ................... problem solved

Four Morgan's with no PAS over twelve years was no problem for my 3000 miles per annum with few restricted parking spots.

Then my Roadster went to my son who uses and parks it daily.

Power assisted conversion was essential at £3000 transforming the car to modern standards.

Pattern of usage will be the deciding factor I think.

Good Luck

I had wind deflectors on my old 4/4 . In theory they should work but I can't say they really made much difference, nowhere near as noticeable as having screens on or off. Personally I wouldn't bother.

An extra or an inch less can make a huge difference though.... I'm talking steering wheels here! I had a 13 thick rim motolita in my plus 4, didn't like it at all. Seemed far too small to me and quite 'go carty' , put a 15 inch flat 4 spoke on and it was fine. I wouldn't go smaller than 14 but maybe that's just me.

I remember the fad for fitting wide tyres and small steering wheels.. Did the same on my MGB, all it did was make it heavy to steer and nowhere near as nice as the original set up.

Yup, I'm with Steve on this. Wind deflectors look pretty but really don't do much. Driving without sidescreens is definitely windier than with them, but you soon get used to it and the advantages greatly outweigh a bit of a breeze around the ears.

I tried a 13" wheel on my 4/4 and it was just as Steve described, the 14" is ideal in my view.

I'd agree with that.

Coincidently I'm thinking of side screens as I nearly always drive 'Al Fresco' -I had the side screens only on once last year when I went up to a FellMog meet and the weather forecast was poor

Still deliberating

As to steering wheels - when I bought my Mog it came with a 14 inch leather covered offset Moto Lita which had a nice thick grip

It was the offset one as the chap I bought it from was on the large side

I liked the thick grip but didn't like the look of the wheel - too small and a bit 70's race car looking for my liking

I changed it for a 15 inch Moto Lita wood rimmed Classic Four Spoke which I thought really looked good but realised that I could have gone even larger as I'm quite slim

So I sold the wheel on eBay (Moto Lita had put their prices up so only lost £30 for about 6 months use) and got another 16 inch Classic Four Spoke but paid the extra to have their thick dark stained wooden grip so it matches my walnut dash and I love it

Big classic looking wheel, thick wooden grip, plenty of leverage

Wind deflectors didn't work in my opinion tried them and took them off ,still in the draw in my man shed .
I put a 13" wood rim wheel on my plus 4 and never liked it .
14" leather Mota Lita on my Rodster and now feel I have the perfect set up looks right feels right and it's warm and comfortable in winter and cool in summer .

I took my wind deflectors off last year. They were only partially effective as they are small, and were the type that had to be outside the sidescreen resulting in having to "open" them out to prevent the sidescreen hitting them on opening the door. The bolts mounting them had dome nuts that prevented them being moved inboard so they stuck out like jugg ears. I tried slimmer nuts but no big improvement.
There is a description somewhere of custom made diy wind deflectors/sidesreen that were effectively a "half size" sidescreen but fitted as per wind deflectors to the windscreen pillar, made from perspex(or similar) and shaped to miss the door and wing mirror for opening. Maybe worth investigating.