Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) My New Plus Four 75th: thoughts after 1,000 km

Stick a washer over the hole using double sided tape. Chose the size to constrain the drill. I wasn't brave enough to use an electric drill, so I used a hand pin chuck over a couple of evenings. The metal isn't hard and after a hole is drilled, the residue should wind out. I used a triangle needle file for that. The wood is hard so it's usually OK.

Axool. Take care when buying the replacement part. There is a German "tenax" system that is very similar. The brand name is Loxx. The shape of the Loxx pin is not the same as Tenax and the two systems are not compatible. If you do not have a convenient local source, there are many online suppliers of genuine Tenax parts.

Don't worry, I also snapped off both mine. The other gotcha is if you pop the rear springs and lift the back end of the hood far enough it will also apply enough pressure to shear those off. The first broken one was a surprise, the second I felt give.

One easy way to replace these fasteners and make future breakages much more straightforward to deal with is to use 2-screw fixings. Very cheap and easily available from Woolies:

https://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/p-1618-tenax-fastener

or

https://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/p-1622-tenax-fastener if you need the platform type.

It's a common problem. It happened 3 times on my PlusFour, I wasn't brave at all and my dealer drilled them out and replaced them. You have to develop a Tenax neurosis" begin with the Tenax and end with the Tenax and let nobody touch it without your authorization. But nevertheless, sometimes it just happens! Some (I) suspect that the pre-assembled hoods could be too tight at some Morgans. Since 2025 they are fitted again directly on the cars, so I did hope that that could mean less strain on the Tenaxes on the recently build Morgan!🙏🏻

I've just lost the driver's side one. I lifted the Tenax button and as I started to pull, it suddenly went. It had sheared across the screw thread. Heart sank. The break is a mm deep into the wood and not a flat face for drilling into. I guess it's possible it could already have been weakened by inappropriate use prior to my ownership. However, when I look at the section that was still in the tenax, it doesn't look to be a solid screw where it has sheared. There appears to be a type of pink filler inside it. That seems dodgy.

I spoke to Krazy Horse about it when I rang this week to book a service. They seem used to it and said it's usually a quick job. Have asked Krazy Horse to fit a replacement, during the service later this month. Under 1 year old car, will this be a warranty fix? I've taped the area over, in case the tenax on the hood flaps against the bodywork.

I've owned a few soft-tops with tenax fasteners over the years. This is the first time I've ever had a tennax fail.
Either a poor quality fastener is being used; or
The way they screw into wood, through an oversize hole the aluminium panel, doesn't support the base of the male part of the tenax sufficiently, adding leverage to lateral forces, and maybe promoting fatigue; or
The hood tensions are much greater on these and the standard tenax may not be strong enough?

I'll try another standard tenax. If that fails, the two screw Woolies option linked above, looks a better solution. Especially if aligned with the force applied by the hood. I guess the risk then is the tenax holding firm, but damaging the body panel. Hopefully the amount of force required for that, would be greater than that needed to remind me I've forgotten to release the fastener.

Hello Ruut,

I have a 2025 PlusFour (built in November) and thus one where the hood fitting was directly on the car. This might explain why the Tenax positions on both sides of the body (or the position of the Tenax female component in the hood flap) lead to insufficient tension in the hood section where it faces onto the rear of the sidescreen, leading to large gaps. Large enough that the dealer noted it on handover and has been in contact with MMC (no reply yet). I am concerned that in windy conditions, rain will directly enter the cabin through these and trying interim fixes.

In all other aspects the car has been superb so far. Royal Ivory, Stainless Wire Wheels, Sports Pack, Touring Pack.

Regards, Guy

Think some of this problem is the luck of the draw, where Morgan cut the hood & position of the tenax. On mine even pulling up the rear of the hood does not apply very much tension as the tenax is "almost" in the right position to act as a rotation point. My car is over 14 years old and was on its original tenax posts. A couple of months ago I had to change the drivers side one as the male tenax had worn so much that it no longer held the hood flap securely. I was looking in a decent yacht chandlery & found a tenax kit male & female, that was essentially the same except that the male part is much more robust, in that the shoulder part has a larger diameter. I had to very slightly enlarge the screw hole, mainly so the aluminium skin would not distort, when screwing in the new one.

Also the mohair hoods in my experience do stretch when wet and shrink when dry, so the tension on the hood frame and tenax can vary.with the state of the hood.

Thanks a lot for all your advice and replies!

I got in touch with my dealer, and they recommended having it done by their workshop or another Morgan dealer, as it seems to be a fairly common issue, so they’re used to dealing with it! They mentioned it can be tricky to extract the remaining screw from the body if I'm not used to it.

Since we’re talking about the hood, I haven’t had the chance to drive in the rain yet, but we are planning a big road trip this spring and summer, several thousand kilometers. I’ve noticed that, on the passenger side especially, the hood doesn’t sit very tightly against the top of the door, so I’m a bit worried that quite a lot of water might get into the cabin. If I pull on the hood a little, I can make it seal quite properly, but it doesn’t feel ideal.

Is this a known issue? Does less water get in than one might expect?

For comparison, I went to Norway in a Caterham, and it rained a lot! When we left the car outside overnight, some water would always find its way in... but that’s a Caterham and it’s kind of expected. The Morgan feels much more refined and precious, so I’m a bit hesitant at the idea that water could really get inside and damage the leather, etc.