😆😆 There you go... I knew someone must do them....!!!!!!!😆
I like the Woolies design with the 2 fixing points, it seems like a stronger solution...... that in stainless would be a good upgrade....
The sequence............................ it's not really too difficult to remember...is it......................... and I'm a complete thickie with barely a CSE to my name.........😂🤷🏻♂️
The design probably isn't the best and a tight hood will definitely put strain on the screw thread, but, it being a Morgan, it is what it is........🤷🏻♂️
My PlusFour has Tenaxes, and I know that always applying the right sequence is not a guarantee they don't break. I don't think stainless steel will be such a threat for the hood! My 4/4 4-seater has no!!!!!! Tenaxes, lots of lift-the-dots, and never in the more than 30 years of ownership I ever experienced a stud to break, the strain could be fierce, especially for the tonneau, but it never caused real problems for me, as opposed to the Tenaxes! The Supersport doesn't have Tenaxes anymore...............!
Last edited by Ruut Bianchi; 11/03/2610:50 AM.
Ruut Bianchi Morgan PlusFour 2023 Bentley Midnight Emerald Morgan 4/4 4-seater 1990 Royal Ivory
Someone with a bit of engineering flair and a compass could surely design a mod so that the body tennax is mounted at the exact point of rotation - so it can stay connected when the hood is flipped ? It's because the hood pulls it away from this point that they snap
Mine snapped when the rear was released and lifted to put a bag onto the shelf. As the rear was raised it put strain on the hood that went into the Tenax and snapped it. It looks like the arc the rear moves in changes the distance to the Tenax causing the hood to pull against it .....UNLESS the Tenax is disconnected to allow that point to move with the rear. Always release the Tenax fittings before manipulating the hood!
I ended up doing the exact same thing, about two days after getting my plus four. I thought I had messed up and forgotten to undo it when I put the hood down, and then the next day I felt the other (driver) tenax fastener give when I lifted the back end. My dealer is putting in stronger screws, so it's a neat learning point to just always check 'em.
I ended up doing a 6-hour round trip last week to my nearest Morgan dealership to get it fixed. In the end it wasn’t too bad though: the weather was great, the mountain roads were beautiful, and it also gave me the chance to do the first post break-in checkup at the same time.
But yes… hopefully I won’t break another one anytime soon!
Firstly, I don't care how smart you are or how vigilant, sooner or later you'll have a tenax fastener snap as they just weaken with vibration imparted by the closed hood in the wind flow. My current car seems to have the type that fail at the thin stem leaving the shallow install hex still on the surface of the panel which is easily removed using a six point or hex socket. Having replaced them in older cars which seem to fail at the thread section flush with the panel leaving the fractured wood screw end just below the surface. Now I'm an engineer and have had very mixed results with trying to drill them out.. It seems they are distorted in the wood either at the time of installation or at the point of fracture. When anyone presents me with their car with this issue I make sure the old stud is at or below surface level, also you often have to use a body planishing hammer to flatten a lifted edge of the body alloy sheet, then like Sospan I fit the plate type two screw fitting. I first mark the position of the two holes required to be drilled. You have to make sure the fitted plate aligns the stud position with the old one beneath as hood fitting can be compromised. To do this I use masking tape over the old stud hole which extends at least half an inch beyond the plate. I then find the horizontal position I like best and pencil on a line and draw a further line at right angles vertically crossing the old stud hole. This enables you to align the new fitting correctly. Rotate the plate so that the screw holes line on the horizontal line and the stud is at the centre of both lines now mark them. Next I use an auto centre punch to prep for drilling and I use a suitable pilot drill. WARNING don't drill much longer than the screw length..... you might end up drilling through to the inside!
As as Sospan said, if you don't pilot drill the body the screw will shear, in fact don't use too small a pilot drill either. The ash will be fairly hard and that can have the same result! Two further tips here ......... find a hard steel screw and pre-run it in the hole first as this makes it far easier and wax candle the Tenax threads before screwing the screws in. helps lubricate and prevents corrosion. before screwing the plate on I wipe a smear of silicone sealant over the old sheared stud. There have been times when the silicon had gone hard in the tube and I have cut a piece of electrical tape to make a temporary seal then forgotten about it and on replacing again have found the seal to have been totally effective but you make your own choice there!
One last thing. They are cheap so buy half a dozen in order that at the next failure its a simple exchange and at the same time buy the installation key for the female part in the hood material as they too loosen and fall out...... I check mine for security every year!
By the way, I’ve just published the test drive video of my Plus Four. For those interested, it is in French by default, but you can select the automatically translated English version, where AI translates my voice into English (not perfect but I think good enough to understand if you're interested!).
The video was filmed in the French Alps where I live and can be viewed here:
