Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing 2004 Plus 8 hood rear catches

Hi all, recently when driving with the hood up and no sidescreens on, and at higher speeds, the catches that hold the rear of the hood down have given up holding the rear of the hood down (it was definitely 'slammed' down and held properly when we set off!). I think because of the air pressure being blown in with no sidecreens.
Is there adjustment on these does anyone know?
And where's best to access it - spare wheel out and from in there, or from behind the seats?
Thanks
John

I grease mine regularly from above and with spare wheel out have tried to work in oil to what bit of cable shows from underneath, working release lever to ensure smooth action. You should be able to hear a positive click each side when hood is pressed down at rear with hood errected or not.

Access is via the spare wheel hole.
There are several possibilities: the catches may have come loose or even fallen off from the wooden frame. I know of several where the fixing bolts have dropped out.
Alternatively it could be a broken or maladjusted bowden cable; again adjustment is done from the spare wheel hole.
Finally, if the bonnet type catches have gone out of line with the entry holes, it could be that the hood itself has moved
laterally. Look at all the joints on the hood frame and you will see that there is a slotted linkage each side which will allow the base of the hood to slide back and forth by a couple of cm.. The allen screws that hold it can come loose.

When I had a similar problem on my 4/4 with an Easy-up hood, the catches had come loose.
Bud
4/4 - Stanley

I have posted these pics before on another thread, but I hope this shows how the release cable operates.

Just picking up on this thread again.
Today, I went to help a friend whose Roadster hood was difficult to release. The earlier photo shows the obvious means of adjustment which is located on the passenger side via the spare wheel hole. It's a fiddle to get to of course and having taken up the slack, the catch-hole on that side gave a clear path. However, the driver side catch-hole was still only partially clear. So, I tightened a bit more on the passenger side but it was making little difference! Yet if I poked a rod down the hole, it was possible to move it open wider.
Head scratching and following the cable route and the solution was found.
On the driver side, where the seat belt slot is, there is another hidden adjuster! Best to peel the carpet back down an inch or so above the seat belt slot as it’s only held by tacks and then it is relatively easy to take up more slack.
BUT, despite that, the catch hole still would not open fully. Realisation then dawned that I had done up the passenger side too much, which was now bringing the whole thing to an early stop. Slackening off the passenger side such that its catch hole was still just fully opening, allowed enough movement for the driver side to clear also.
So in conclusion, if you have this problem, adjust the driver side first using the hidden adjuster, followed by the passenger side.

When I adjusted mine, I found it helped to drop an appropriate size dowel into both sides to hold the catches back. This gave a bit of slack to make adjusting the cable through the seat belt slot easier. Well done Doug as it is fiddly.