Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) A couple of easy questions....

May I ask a couple of easy questions?!

Heated seats..... Morgan describe these as 'seat mats'. Could some kind person explain the difference?

Is the standard hood the 'easy up' hood?

Many thanks.

I think what they mean by “seat mats” is that the heated part of the seat is simply a mat inserted inside the seat which heats up.

The standard hood is Easy-Up. If you want a traditional hood you have to request it and pay a supplement of about £550.00. I prefer the traditional hood but the Easy-Up is certainly easier to use.

Thank you.

Could you describe the difference between an easy up and standard hood?

Thanks

The Easy-up hood is fixed to the frame. You pull it up & clamp the front end to the top of the windscreen.
The standard hood is fixed to the body & windscreen with lift-the-dot fixings, so you have to raise the frame, place the hood cover over the frame & fix it all way around.
Hope that made sense

The Easy Up Hood was introduced by Morgan in about 2003. It’s a conventional style “convertible” hood, similar to that you find on most modern soft top cars. When it’s down it rests on the body frame behind the drivers head, so it’s always visible, a bit like a pram hood when it’s folded down. To erect the hood the driver only has to lift it up and clip it in place, so it’s easy and quick. This is it’s main advantage, plus it is also quieter and keeps out the rain better than a Traditional Hood, particularly in the Mohair version (the standard is vinyl and mohair costs extra).

The Traditional Hood is the original Morgan hood, used since the first Morgan 4 wheelers in the 30’s. It’s also called a stud hood. To erect it you pull up the metal frame at the rear of the cabin and drape the hood over the frame, fastening the buttons on the roof into the studs on the wind screen and frame. It takes time to do, it’s fiddly and you can hurt your fingers. If you do it the wrong way you can damage or crack the windscreen. When its fitted the Traditional Hood looks lovely as you can see the studs around the screen and the sides. The hood is also slung a bit lower, giving the car more of a rakish look than an Easy Up. When the Traditional Hood comes of, it is removed entirely from the frame and left in the garage or stowed behind the seats, so it can’t be seen and the car has a nice, smooth line. The advantage is that the traditional Hood looks so much more attractive up and down and its the original Morgan hood (but there will be plenty that disagree). The disadvantage is that the hood is cumbersome and awkward to erect and the weather and sound proofing is not as good.

Phew

Made total sense..... Thanks.

Easy up sounds the way to go. I'm viewing the hood as an 'emergency get you home' device in any event.

It sounds, from my noodling in these parts, that the hoods shouldn't be left up when the car is garaged.... Strain on windscreen frame maybe?

Shiremog managed to say that in two succinct sentences whereas I took two paragraphs

It’s because I’m a lawyer - we can’t stop talking

We won't hold that against you

It depends on how you use the car & what type of hood covering ( neverflex or mohair). Fitting neverflex hoods when they are cold puts a lot of strain on the screen ( I cracked one of mine ) so it would make sense to leave the hood up in cold weather. The mohair doesn't suffer from the same problems.
I prefer the easy up hoods because they are so quick. You can have the hood up ( with practice ) in less than a minute without getting out of the car. Very handy if you're caught in a sudden shower!
Ian

I'm looking at mohair easy up.

I haven't quite figured how I will use a Morgan, I think high days and holidays only - dry ones. Apart from a 1959 Aston (which was terrifying), I've not owned a car quite like a Morgan before, so it will be interesting for me to see exactly how I might use it.

The hood cover for an easy up makes it look quite tidy I assume.

Ps,thanks for the lengthy description David.