Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) Plus Six Mods?

Dear all,

as a Plus 4-Driver in Austria, I am actually in the phase to bespoke/contract my order for a PlusSix F.E. Emerald. For me the car looks 95% perfect, my only concerns are steering wheel and gearstick. Did anyone of you heard about ideas for aftermarket solutions (Moto-Lita steering wheel, wooden gearstick, etc)??

No hurry, car will not arrive before later spring!

BR Manfred

Manfred,

Options on the gear lever are limited, unless there are after market BMW units available. If you find one I think a lot of Morgan dealers would be interested!
I don't understand why the lever used on the Plus 8 isn't used, they cover exactly the same functions...
Steering wheel? The paddles are part of the column, not the wheel, so it may well be that there are options.
I'd contact Morgan Park in Hamburg.

Does the steering wheel have an airbag fitted? If so it will severely limit what can be fitted I suspect.

Lotus Exige's etc all now have airbags fitted to the steering wheel as standard.

Many peeps have the wheel removed and a 'Mota-lita' sort of after-market wheel fitted... it's not a problem.

I am still amazed that Morgan were not able to 'engineer' a more aesthetically suitable gear shift knob for the Plus Six... instead of using exactly the same item as fitted by BMW. Surely the 'exterior' of the gear knob is changeable.... stuff the electronics into something 'wooden' and more appropriate?

Curious why not!

Manfred, as far as I am aware you can replace the steering wheel, as in previous models, with a Moto-Lita or similar but you will lose the air bag. Your choice! As far as the gear lever is concerned I believe someone is developing a retro alternative.

That’s good to know!

Hello,

the Plus 6 has no airbags, so it is no real problem to replace the steering wheel.
We also try to develop a better looking alternative to the serial gear lever by a retro style one, but this will take some time.
There`s a lot of micro electronic inside the gear lever and it is a part of the CAN system, so all works need to be done
extremly carefull...

Frank
Morgan Park Hamburg

Thanks for the information, Frank!

I don't see the gear knob as being all that bad however I do agree that the steering wheel is horrible. If there is no airbag replacing the steering wheel with something else should be relatively easy. Don't forget that the lateral "spokes" are probably designed to cover the paddle mechanisms. The major aesthetic problem, as far as I am concerned, is the fact that the alloy coloured spokes stand out too much. As far as the gear knob is concerned it may be possible to have parts of it "re-dressed" in a wood veneer. The specialist company that did my solid gear knob said that it would have been easier for them to cover the metal knob.

I think I would consider covering the steering wheel spokes with leather to match the upholstery and having the leather rim replaced, at least in part, with wood to match the dash and other trim items. I might consider keeping the hand grip part of the wheel in leather but it would have to match the upholstery leather.

A major issue as far as I am concerned is the awful dash. Even starting at the basic design it is dreadful. For a little more effort the dash roll in front of the steering wheel could have been raised in an arc to match the curve of the top of the steering wheel. This would then allow the tacho and the speedo to be placed where they should be in front of the driver. The alternative would be as was done on the Aero 8, as below.



Unfortunately whilst it would be relatively easy to make a new dash shifting the speedo and tacho in front of the driver would be difficult because of the limited space available. I was able to do it on my Plus 4 because there was just enough space.

Tradition is all very well but in the case of the PlusSix perhaps the design element of the centre fitted speedo and tacho should have been left behind.

One of the plus 6’s at the Geneva Show has the spokes painted black. It looked much better.