Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) My Top Twenty CX Tweaks

Having completed well over 10k miles in our MY22 PlusFour, I thought some members might find some interest in the top 20 modifications, gadgets and other tweaks that we’ve found most helpful on our various travels around Europe, to make the car slightly more practical. These are obviously a personal view and I’m sure some purists won’t like them all, also worth saying several I picked up through other posts on this forum - so thanks to other members who post these useful tips!

I’ve tried to loosely group these into similar categories below; some are dirt cheap, some simple DIY modifications, some technically a bit more complicated.

#1 Windbreaker

We DIY’ed a simple removable windbreaker out of some flyscreen mesh and elastic; it stretches over the headrests and makes a major difference to the wind turbulence.



#2 Door Foam and D-seal strip

The amount of water that splashes in through the doors on the autobahn is quite phenominal - after various trips shoving socks and other things into the gaps, we eventually velcro-ed some foam and D-profile strips along each door - these are working a treat; no more water coming in and less wind noise with the hood up.



#3 Floor Mat

The box-weaver carpet under the driver pedals quickly gets destroyed by heal scuffing - Halfords sell a cheap rubber mat - about 30x40cm - we trimmed that to size and glued some wide velcro on the back of it. Has worked very well and can be replaced very cheaply and easily in the future.



#4 Drinks holders

I posted about this before <see link> but these two simple holders have been very practical for water bottles and coffee cups.

https://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/715273/plusfour-cup-holders#Post715273

#5 Phone Holder

I also posted previously about this https://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/731641/re-phone-holder#Post731641 but I’ve found this simple suction cup based approach works well. I had to tweak it a bit to get the stem the right length, but now seems pretty solid and phone can charge with a short usb lead.



#6 Tunai Button

These simple Bluetooth remote controls work really well - the holder has a rubber band to temporarily attach it to the wheel. It allows you to control volume and skip music tracks easily if you are playing through your phone to the car speakers.



#7 Fader Balance

The front to rear speaker balance in the car is very poor and the audio attenuates when you have stuff on the rear shelf - hence I inserted a fader control into the sound system. It is quite a complicated fix but I tried to post instructions previously:

https://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/731648/re-front-speaker-sound-output#Post731648

The other thing this revealed to me was the space behind the speakers, which I used below for a storage compartment (#14).

The following four things are security related - in general I’m not over concerned on security for the car, but some of our travels have been very distant from countries that have dealers or suppliers of spare wheels - hence we’ve done these things:

#8 Lockable Fuel Cap

I posted previously about this https://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthrea...fuel-filler-cap-for-plusfour#Post769648. It does seem a bit strange that the car is supplied without a lockable cap.

#9 Wheel Lock

The spare wheel is standardly secured with a very simple handle that can be removed by anyone when the car is parked - as in the photo above, I replaced this with some threaded studding and a wheel lock.



#10 Monimoto tracker

I’ve gone for a very simple tracker produced by Monimoto - it’s really designed for a motorcycle but works well for a Morgan. The device is battery powered - which lasts about a year, and just needs hiding behind a panel in the car. There is a dongle you attach to the car key holder and when the car moves, the Monimoto checks that the dongle is present, if it isn’t present it calls your mobile and then starts broadcasting it’s location to your phone. Very simple and (for a tracker) very cheap (from memory about £120 for the device and about £3 per month mobile subscription), also I like the way it can’t drain the car battery as it is not connected to the car electrics.

#11 Hawk Alarm

Probably the most involved thing I’ve done - but I’ve wired in a simple alarm into the vehicle. I went for a Hawk HA-240, but using only 3 sensors - two ultra-sonic sensors that are in the two footwells (see pic on #12 below), plus a bonnet release sensor protecting the alarm siren itself (see pic). There is also the blinking blue LED when the system is alarmed, which I’ve fed into the corner of the glove compartment.



#12 Battery Charger plug

Whilst doing the alarm I also installed a connector cable under the glove compartment, as a connection for the trickle charger - simpler than having to open the bonnet each time I garage the car. The cable is visible at the top of this photo secured on a retaining clip, along with one of the alarm ultrasonic sensors (to the left).


.
#13 Diving Bags & Kanulocks

Everyone will have their own views on luggage for the Plus Four - personally I find these 60L Gill Diving bags work well and most importantly keep clothes dry! We also found these lockable Kanulock straps which have wire in them to avoid anyone slashing the strap and removing the bags (think they are designed for surfboards, etc..).

[img]https://i.ibb.co/dLY2jMm/IMG-8309.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/q1FRt3b/IMG-8315.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/nnKMWCL/IMG-8316.jpg[/img]

#14 Storage Compartment

This might be my most controversial modification; but if you access the space where the rear speakers are, there is quite a lot of space there. Extending the speaker cables a bit, replacing the lower screws in to the rear shelf with some smaller gauge (removable) bolts and applying Velcro across the top edge means that panel becomes removable, or at least can be pulled forward to provide access. I’ve stored various tools in that space (warning triangle, wheel spinner remover, tyre inflator, etc..) all secured in neoprene pockets and themselves held down by Velcro to prevent rattles. It’s not super accessible, but for those occasional emergency situations it works well. (You just need to make absolutely sure the seat belts run properly through that space and aren’t impacted).

[img]https://i.ibb.co/Sx3GZ24/IMG-4882.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/xXg4w7Y/IMG-4881.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/2g8v24W/IMG-4880.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/7GwQjz6/IMG-4879.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/gZrKnbh/IMG-4878.jpg[/img]

#15 Mini Car Jack

Allied to the above storage compartment, I bought a smaller, lightweight jack (alca compact scissor jack) which stores more easily.

#16 MotoLita wheel

Bit of an indulgence but I went for a MotoLita wheel - dished such that the boss to hold it was smaller than the boss for the flat wheels. My dealer sourced and installed it. I think it looks much better than the standard “Toyota” one .. but that’s a personal view (you can see it on the #6 Tunai Button photo above. (BTW I discovered that in the cold some leather driving gloves really help grip a wooden wheel).

#17 Rear shelf cover

Super simple, but we tried all sorts of bags and arrangements for storing things on the rear shelf behind the seats .. we’ve ultimately concluded that a piece of black fabric (with a bit of velcro to hold it at the bottom back edge) is frankly the most simple and practical; when the vehicle is parked it covers up anything we have stored, and when we are driving you can easily grab coats, hats or other stuff you’ve stashed behind the seats.

#18 Added some Windscreen Wipers

I opted to upgrade the comedy ‘windscreen wipers’ which came with the vehicle - they obviously didn’t really do anything to divert water from the windscreen, but at least caused some amusement as two of them ended up falling off mid rainstorm (despite the dealer retightening them!), the first time the wiper fell onto the bonnet, the second time I lost the wiper completely. The new versions are much more robust, actually do the job of a windscreen wiper and haven’t fallen off (partly thanks to some loctite I applied).

[img]https://i.ibb.co/zN1R7c3/IMG-8306.jpg[/img]

#19 Roadworthy Wing Mirrors

The supplied wing mirrors I found extremely dangerous - maybe it was my height but with the hood up the blind spot to the side of the vehicle was huge. I went for the convex ones that were discussed in this post <post> they’ve been absolutely transformative and much much safer.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/dJYwQYD/IMG-8304.jpg[/img]

#20 Silicon for Windscreen

Much as we enjoyed the ‘charm’ of the rain coming around the edge of the wind screen and into the cabin (see photo, which also shows an original ‘windscreen wiper’ blade).. we finally opted to upgrade the car by applying a bit of silicon to the gaps that had been expertly left by the factory windscreen fitters.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/d6nSKfX/IMG-4186.jpg[/img]

Go se, some great tips here and many thanks for posting them. I particularly like the cup holders and the music control.
On item 13. I also use Kanu locks which are great. For luggage is use an ultra samsonite suitcase like this one. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166313181702?hash=item26b909c206:g:5wIAAOSwosZk9PoW&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwHctSIS%2BtDN5Fr0tro5ALEe7iE9EByXr4CEYOm%2BbpoJTD01ujNV5gOS66Ny4nsPkrWtrosm4NXUt8jz8I6AybdUSpIaAuC5oEXkG7BPGMXejqJtgP%2FF3dGZ0%2B8iOoR46BWI8H9LlCXD4GydjnEcc1zBY6PMLm0LTiwzCLtX6tBZKMqGjj2uHVFQ%2F8krxV3hGPJYSrrWL3RGAquZR2PFVWbyGcAxV6GwKQtxH3bxC3xkexw0FA0Hm%2BiTFaHZcn4boxQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8a0iL7QYg
They are hardcase lockable, have a rubber seal between the two half’s which keeps it waterproof and even wheels. I’m not sure the modern ones have the same seal so use my old one for the Morgan.


18 windscreen wipers , I have also had one fall off so will take a good look at this mod.

#18 - I got replacement wipers from https://morgan-kent.com/parts/ if you search for ‘wiper’ they have four different lengths for a CX, so you’ll need to measure each wiper blade (all 3 of mine were different lengths)

That's a brilliant list - thank you for taking the time to collate and share them all.

Please could you provide some more detail on the door foam and d-seal strip ? Exactly how did you affix them - did you glue the velcro to the frame etc?

I've experienced the same in bad weather and even worse when a large vehicle passes in the opposite direction - I was actually getting water on my glasses

Thanks!

I am very interested too.

Well done Gonze, great post

It warms my ancient heart to know that cx owners are glueing bits of velcro and inventing storage areas...the future is in safe hands

Gaston and Neil, thanks for the questions about the #2 door seal. I used a roll of heavy duty 50mm wide Velcro tape with self adhesive on both sides (similar to screwfix code 4419P), that interlocking floor matting which is about 10mm thick (screwfix have similar stuff code: 338PV) and finally a roll of 10x12mm “Black Big-D Car Door Seal Strip Rubber Edge Sealing Trim Weatherstrip Soundproof” from eBay.

I looked from the rear wheel arch to see where the gaps were and trimmed three sections of foam to fit these gaps - one on the door, one on the side screens and a thin one up the edge of the window frame itself. Needs a bit of trial and error to fit their shape. The Velcro tape was then cut and used to stick the matting sections on - Velcro was stuck on the ridged “top side”of the mat, leaving the smoother underside visible.

Then I stuck the D strip onto the foam and around the bottom of the door (inside the existing seal). Again needs a bit of trial and error. On the rear window edge the foam stops about 2cm below the top corner, the D-strip about 2cm below the top of the foam (in fact on one window I ended up sticking another strip of D seal on top of the first one, again stopping about 2cm short of the first D-seal)

I’m not sure if you can see all this on the two photos I posted - let me know if you want more details or photos and I can try to do that next weekend.

Hi Gonze - that's brilliant thank you and thank you for the Screwfix references too! If you could post any other angles/pictures of the final fittings that would be great but the instructions are super.

Cheers
Neil

Thank you Gonzé.

The Tunai remote radio control looks a good mod as the volume control under the dash is a bit hard to find sometimes. I tried to locate a similar remote but they seem all sold out everywhere apart from somewhere in the US but at £60 + vat + postage I decided to wait a while. Might try one of the others but the Tunai mounting appears the best solution. Anybody else found one cheaper? I have all the bits to also fit the battery charger port inside the footwell similar to my last roadster. Notonly is the battery under the bonnet it is on the wrong side for my garage parking.
The local dealer has sorted some of the draft issues but i still have a water ingress problem past the seals at the front of the lower door.

I use one of these:



They're about £6-10 on ebay (search for bluetooth controller). They have a clip which you can clip to the steering wheel - I cut mine off, and fastened it to the dash with double sided tape.

Not sure if you are in the UK, but Amazon still seem to have them for about £32:

Link: - TUNAI Button https://amzn.eu/d/5lQbodV

Folks - I ditched the Bluetooth system as I wanted a radio - I fitted a pioneer MVH -S420BT radio in the upright panel behind the drivers seat at the back of the parcel shelf. It’s connected by RCA plugs to the input port of the Kenwood anmplifier instead of the Bluetooth. Benefit is full control via the Pioneer smart synch iPhone app and full control of individual speakers via the radio audio controls - all music on the phone is also available. Why they fitted the lousy musicstream unit I don’t know as a radio gives so much better sound and choice!!
Cheers!

Robbie does it need an Arial, if so we're did you mount it?

Bluetooth controller you can find everywhere, I use this one cliped to the handbrake lever, works perfect with iPhone
https://www.pearl.de/a-HZ2758-1059.shtml

A few extra photos as promised. Actually I only used the foam on the window frame and the side screen - the rest including the door was just done with the D seal. Again, takes a bit of trial and error. Good luck!

Thanks gonze, I use your link and now have a Tunai up and running on my car. Fixing works well but had not thought of fixing the other brand to the handbrake which would also work. Did it want to stick anything to the new dashboard.

Thank you for the extra pictures!

I enjoyed reading Gonze's list of improvements, and the idea of having a car that you can potter with in this way is quite attractive. Some of the improvements were ingenious. But as a non Morgan owner I have to question having to do some of the "improvem,ents" at all on a car that costs as much as a Plus Four. For that matter, arent alarms standard even on the meanest Renault?

Where is the dividing line between character and fault?

Mikemog6,
Yes - It does need an ariel -- I drilled a hole in the rear panel into the spare wheel area and pssed the ariel lead through a grommit. The ariel is mounted in the sloping rear panel as far over to the side as I could reach!! It is a 12in ariel which looks quite good - I also fitted an ariel signal booster and a seperate earth for the ariel which cleans up the signal. Car is not accessible just now but I'll post some photos when it is!

Cheers!

Many thanks for this helpful thread which has been a most useful resource.

On my new CX Plus Four, following suggestions here and in the forum, I got these immediately from Amazon:

1, "MagSafe compatible" phone holder
so I can see maps (the audio guidance is just not enough on back roads)


It seems a great pity to stick things on the beautiful (and expensive) wood, but let's hope the adhesive (allegedly 3M VHB although it's a Chinese product so you never know) can be removed safely one day. It's partially obscured by the gearstick but I didn't want it too close to the vents and it can't adhere to the curved part of course.

2. Tunai phone control button
so I can control track pause/skip, and because the volume control in the Morgan is so far forward from my driving position that the seat belt often blocks me as I lean forward!


I've not worked out where to put this yet. Initially I've tried attaching it to one of the paddles with a rubber band but it's too easy to trigger the paddle by mistake. I might have to take it to the dash at the far right near the driver's window.

So far it works well with one bug: track skip (while phone is displaying route) sometimes stops the music altogether. I think this might be an IOS issue: anyone else had this?

I was quite taken by these mini-lite wheels advertised by Williams - I think I might prefer them to wires.

Wouldn’t go to the extent of replacing an existing set, but if I was speccing a new car, I would be doing a lot of hand wringing.

Only available on the Plus 4.

Those wheels look good on that particular Plus Four.
What a great looking car.
One huge advantage, is those wheels would be far easier to clean, than a set of wires.

Bud
4/4 - Stanley

Hi, Firstly thank you to Gonze for the helpful details and photos of modifications. As someone new to Morganeering, and the forum, since Oct last year I've found many of these sorts of posts very useful. In the spirit of sharing here are a couple of images of my solution to holding a mobile device. I had a flat strip of stainless steel which I bent at the ends so that it would 'clip' round the sides of the centre console without requiring permanent fixings/damage to the leather etc. It does obviously require the phone to be in a flip case, but I always have one of those on my phones anyway. The little wooden blocks are just to stop it sliding sideways and allows for different size phones. I hope others find it useful.

Spend this sort of money and it leaks????

Of course.. would be a bit worrying if it didn't.

Mine doesn't.

Sadly, mine does. Two leaks on both sides. At the rear of both doors, around the sidescreen to door joints and the door latch areas. Also the front edge of both doors, where the sidescreen and door meet the join between windscreen and A-post. Not awful. In a very wet 50 mile drive to my service at Krazy Horse last week, I had about a dozen water drops in each area. They create decent draughts too. KH adjusted the sidescreens and added a couple of pieces of foam, but it hasn't improved it.

I have some 'D' shaped seals and foam on order from Woolies and will do the same at the rear of both doors as the OP, thanks for the photos. I'll improvise for the front of the doors.

With regular experimentation with Woolies rubber seals, roof up, I'm at a stage where weather tightness, drafts and wind noise are now vastly improved.

I have found the windscreen to roof seal is quieter if I latch down the left side first!

It will never be conversation quiet at motorway speeds, the airflow over the roof seems to be nicely amplified by the single skin material. It seems quieter with the roof down.

Why the obsession? I want to do weekends away with my wife, who has zero interest in things four-wheeled; and I'm on the verge of a tinnitus issue (British sports cars and motorbikes), that I want to avoid!

If they existed, I would buy a supplementary, sound insulating, inner skin that fastens inside the roof. I could see how it could work, but beyond my DIY level. Also, a draft reducing screen for behind the seats, like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Foldable-W...=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A34IIPZUJ53OUU

It's not a cheap solution, but for motorway driving we have adopted this solution which some Caterham drivers use: a pair of ear defenders with boom microphones and wireless interconnection.

It deadens the sound (we drive with the roof off most of the time) and we can chat, answer phone calls, and listen to shared music. Not the most comfortable (especially if sunglasses press into your skull) but it is transformational for the noisiest parts of the journey. Other options are available including one designed by a Caterham specialist.
https://cardosystems.com/products/packtalk-edgephones-orv

I've noticed that the noise from larger tyres fitted to SUV's and EV's etc. are an increasing source of noise on the motorways. I'm looking at simple motorcycle ear defenders, which cut out the background wind and road noise whilst allowing conversations, radio etc to be heard. It's not an ideal situation but I'm finding the motorway background noise is growing and becoming more intrusive now, and from my motorcycling days ear defenders do exactly that.

The Morgan CX is a very capable car to travel vast distances at high speeds, which then exposes you to far more background noise. I've not experienced quite the same problem with the roof up as you seem to be experiencing, but certainly its quieter upto a certain point with the roof down, but I've always found that to be the case with even triple lined roofs.Lining a roof shouldn't present too much of a problem for a trimmer, the ARP Morgan had a lined roof...but bear in mind you still have a simple plastic rear window. I've found putting more sound deadening material in the cabin especially foot wells, engine bays and rear parcel shelves all helps.

I've always had soft top cars and always drive roof down, so I'm used to it over the years........but still looking to get ear defenders, as the noise levels of other cars has changed especially tyres for the worst...

Considering the cost of the CX cars and the potential customers MMC wants to attract I'm surprised they don't use an acoustic double or triple layer that other mainstream sportscar makers have adopted

Or even offer it as a cost option

When I got to Liverpool, I visited John Lewis and bought some Sony noise cancelling headphones! They have a built in 'commuter' setting, which allows some background in and they fit over my sunglasses. BUT, I can't hear the wonderful engine note! They were great for my motorway stretches though.

I have lined under the carpets with sound proofing. This had a good effect on the booming that was coming in whenever I drove using standard setting on the autobox, because it wants to go everywhere at 1200rpm! I didn't expect it to help with the wind noise.

I use Loop Ear Plugs for higher-speed top down driving in my convertibles. My son originally bought these for use at concerts, then tried them at an F1 race and loved using them. At Christmas 2024 he gave them to my wife and I, and we use them driving and at an F1 race as well. They are extremely comfortable, very discreet and enable having a conversation while still mitigating road noise. They come in a tiny plastic pouch so easily fit in the glove box on my Plus Four. Here's the link to their website: www.loopearplugs.com
They ship globally and the site will ask you to select your location.
Here's a photo to show the size and scale

Just in case some TM'ers aren't aware, the use of earphones & headphones is illegal whist driving in France

In the UK not strictly illegal - but if you're involved in an RTA...
Highway Code Rule 148:
Safe driving requires concentration, and drivers should avoid distractions like loud music that mask sounds.

If you’re driving roof down with ear plugs, it’s not much different from a motorcycle and helmet.

Saw a set of Shokz OpenAir Pro headphones in the local Currys. They have a good review for sound quality, 'AI enhancement of calls' and ' Open ear noise reduction'. I might get a set to try out. They won't help with conversation in the car (unless you and the passenger decide to have a phone call), but they would reduce external noise and make in-car entertainment more, erm, entertaining.

Saw a set of Shokz OpenAir Pro headphones in the local Currys. They have a good review for sound quality, 'AI enhancement of calls' and ' Open ear noise reduction'. I might get a set to try out. They won't help with conversation in the car (unless you and the passenger decide to have a phone call), but they would reduce external noise and make in-car entertainment more, erm, entertaining.

My wife likes to wear a hat which is incompatible with headphones.

We are experimenting with an intercom system and earplugs for when driving at motorway speeds, i.e. just getting to somewhere. We have Elgin Rumble earplugs which are easy to insert and have inbuilt speakers as well as noise attenuation. The earplugs are plugged into Cardo Spirit intercoms. I have purchased some cheap behind the ear headphones that I have taken the speakers out and have attached boom mics to. The Cardos are bluetooth connected to my phone and the phone is also connected to the Morgan sound system, for streaming music and GPS audio. This setup enables us to hear the stereo, GPS directions and talk to each other. I can change the volume so that I can still hear the engine noise.

I am also experimenting with a wind blocker behind the seats. Going to use a sheet of acrylic attached to the headrest stems. The acrylic will have holes in it to attenuate the wind and therefore mitigate turbulence, rather that act as a solid barrier. Once I have the configuration sorted I will make the final version out of polycarbonate if it works.

Yes, that sounds like a good solution to try. The Cardo Sprit is similar in concept to the Packtalk that I have been using although the Spirit uses Bluetooth which has a shorter range (only relevant if you want to communicate using your headset with another vehicle behind).

Being able to converse at speeds is transformational - although we always remove the headsets as soon as we get on nice country lanes so we can have the full birdsong-and-engine-roar Morgan experience.

If using earbuds rather than ear defenders you could also investigate custom-moulded earbuds which make an enormous difference to sound insulation.

One of the tips from the Caterham community was that headsets are very helpful when taking newbie guests for their first ride — I can check on how they are feeling before we ramp up the speed and cornering …. I have found this very helpful.


Actually I have the opposite situation: headphones are a partial solution to headgear being blown off :-)

For solo driving, ie without wanting to converse with passenger, this is an interesting hearing protection / music / satnav solution that works well.

These are custom moulded sleeves that slip over your AirPods. They isolate noise well - you can of course pop the AirPods in transparency mode if you want to converse with someone - and they hold your AirPods firmly (I use them with the side panels and roof off at 70 mph).

The supplier books you an appointment at a nearby audiologist to get the moulds made (same process that is used by professional musicians for their in-ear monitors).

https://ultimateear.com/product/custom-apple-airpods

have two Morgans
1. 2021 model loaded with speakers (amazing sound when stationary)
2. 1990 model with a speaker system, now removed! (I could hear it when stationary)
Both rubbish when on the move
If you really want quality sound (whilst driving) get a SHOKZ open run pro headset and run all sounds through it. NOTE this doesn’t fit in your ear, it’s technology at its best, the sound actually comes through your bones!
Buy two and your passenger can also listen. As it’s not in your ear you can simultaneously talk to each other as well
Too many positives to list. TRY some out before wasting money and destroying your lovey machines

I'm not quite sure what people are expecting from the sound system in an open topped car at speed. I've had quality sytems in my Mercedes and Porsche Cabriolets and found that wind and tyre roar will always overpower any sound system.

I find the standard system in the Morgan Plus Four whilst a tad basic lacking depth of bass, is more than capable of being heard at motorway speeds.It may not be brillant, but it can be heard and more than enough to be enjoyed.

I find the roar of other vehicle tyres especially EV's is very invasive these days...............but you pays your money and not always get that much more advancement in the quality of the sound reproduced when in an open top car roof down at speed.