Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) CX Plus 4 Hybrid Hood

Hello Mogsters,

When I bought my 2022 Plus 4 I test drove it with the top down. It was not until some weeks later that I drove my wife to an appointment with the top up. And it was jolly noisy. And draughty. Nosier than any of the others Morgans that I have owned or driven before, including those before the easy-up type hood. There were two main problems – gaps at the sides where the Tenax fasteners attach the lower edges, and at the top where it sits on the side rails with no attachments. It was being sucked up away from the frame edges at speeds above about 40 mph, and which resulted in a horrible whistling. One could stop this noise by pressing on the top of the hood – and it was obvious this caued by the low pressure zone behind the windscreen.

So I talked to Williams about this, and after some discussion they picked the car up and took it back to fix it. They were very – very – supportive through this process, and not only tried different hods but also fixed the lower Teneax gap problem. But it was Henry Williams - the son of the founder – who came up with the best solution. After I asked if it was possible to fit the earlier design hood, he persuaded Morgan to make a special hybrid hood for my car, with the side flaps over the sidescreens. And so, about a week later, I headed to Malvern, where Morgan had inserted my car into their production schedule for Henry. I gave my car into the custody of the after-sales service team, specifically John Bower and Mark Evans. I have been talking to Mark since around 2004, when I was changing the wimpy 4.0 Rover engine in my US 2002 Plus 8 for a Stage 3 Rover 4.6 and I needed some parts, so it was a great delight to finally meet him. And I caught the train home. 5 hours by train, 3 hours in the Morgan to get there.

And a week later I repeated the journey in reverse. And the new hood is truly wonderful. Saville Row could not have done a better job with the tailoring. Mark Evans said that after the trim shop delivered the car to after sales they were walking away, and he called them back to offer his congratulations on such a superb job. The new hood is a hybrid – it does not have the two straps under the frame like the earlier Easy-ups, since it has the new windscreen pillars, hood frame and side screen design. It has external flaps, and stiffer fabric by the area behind the windscreen and by the Tenax fasteners. It does not whistle at all and is not draughty. On the way home I drove through and amazing thunderstorm and downpour, and it did not leak at all. It is quite beautiful. The flaps over the sidescreens stop making it look like a chap with a receding hairline. The original hood is at Williams and available for anyone who needs one for a post 2022 car that came with a hardtop.

I must give great credit to Williams for this excellent result. They are a wonderful dealership, with great technical knowledge and capability under Tony Davey, the engineering manager, who not only listened to my whingeing but drove the transporter down Weymouth to collect my car to fix the hood after the usual driver was sick. Henry, who managed to persuade Morgan to insert my car into their trim shop production schedule, has great knowledge of the cars and real influence at Morgan.

If I ever decide to buy a SuperSport I know where it is going to come from.

Regards,
David Poole

Nice story David.

I wonder whether any of these changes made it into the later cars, I've not seen any of the issues you mention with my hood up. I'll post some photos in due course and perhaps you can take a look and comment?

Cheers,

Steve

It would be great if you could post pictures of the changes to the soft top here 👍

Hello Clemens,

Apologies for the late reply - I have been busy. I have posted a the photo in Morgan Photo forum, but I have not yet succeeded in “right clicking and copying image link” on my iPad. I will do so on my desktop and posting it here when I get a chance.

Best wishes,
David.

Nice story! I think that Williams really does a wonderful job in helping and thinking. Maybe it seems a trivial question, but did you ever experience problems with your Tenax studs? That would my big concern. I already have 3 Tenax's broken and at the moment I am waiting to bring the Morgan again for a more definite solution. I do everything correct with the procedures. One of my theories is that some hoods put too much strain on the studs. Tight cut? I don't know, but. if the Tenax problem should be definitely solved I could live with the rest of the hood! At the moment I am Tenax-less, fortunately it's dry weather at the moment!


3 weeks ago everything fine!


3 weeks and 3500 km later.......

Thanks Dave … looking forward to your photos 👍

My tenax studs snapped. I replaced them with a different version. A twin screw version with stainless screws. Raising/lowering the hood now strictly follows a routine! Tenax loosened to start and then the last to fix whether raising or lowering the hood. I've posted a photo of these new tenax studs in an earlier topic.

They are horizontal but look odd due to the phone camera angle. There is a gasket separating them from the paintwork, made from clear plastic film.

Hello,

My Tenax fasteners have not failed, but there is little lateral force on them (up to 85 or so). The hood fasteners are very close to the stud positions on the body when you raise the hood, and the hood material is a lot stiffer in this are than the original. If they ever fail I will use the two-screw solution. The new hood actually fits the car, while the original most not so impressive... can you tell if your fasteners have failed in shear or tension?

All the best,
David

I think it is tension!