Talk Morgan Forums Thread Like Summary - My Top Twenty CX Tweaks

Having completed well over 10k miles in our MY22 PlusFour, I thought some members might find some interest in the top 20 modifications, gadgets and other tweaks that we’ve found most helpful on our various travels around Europe, to make the car slightly more practical. These are obviously a personal view and I’m sure some purists won’t like them all, also worth saying several I picked up through other posts on this forum - so thanks to other members who post these useful tips!

I’ve tried to loosely group these into similar categories below; some are dirt cheap, some simple DIY modifications, some technically a bit more complicated.

#1 Windbreaker

We DIY’ed a simple removable windbreaker out of some flyscreen mesh and elastic; it stretches over the headrests and makes a major difference to the wind turbulence.



#2 Door Foam and D-seal strip

The amount of water that splashes in through the doors on the autobahn is quite phenominal - after various trips shoving socks and other things into the gaps, we eventually velcro-ed some foam and D-profile strips along each door - these are working a treat; no more water coming in and less wind noise with the hood up.



#3 Floor Mat

The box-weaver carpet under the driver pedals quickly gets destroyed by heal scuffing - Halfords sell a cheap rubber mat - about 30x40cm - we trimmed that to size and glued some wide velcro on the back of it. Has worked very well and can be replaced very cheaply and easily in the future.



#4 Drinks holders

I posted about this before <see link> but these two simple holders have been very practical for water bottles and coffee cups.

https://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/715273/plusfour-cup-holders#Post715273

#5 Phone Holder

I also posted previously about this https://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/731641/re-phone-holder#Post731641 but I’ve found this simple suction cup based approach works well. I had to tweak it a bit to get the stem the right length, but now seems pretty solid and phone can charge with a short usb lead.



#6 Tunai Button

These simple Bluetooth remote controls work really well - the holder has a rubber band to temporarily attach it to the wheel. It allows you to control volume and skip music tracks easily if you are playing through your phone to the car speakers.



#7 Fader Balance

The front to rear speaker balance in the car is very poor and the audio attenuates when you have stuff on the rear shelf - hence I inserted a fader control into the sound system. It is quite a complicated fix but I tried to post instructions previously:

https://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/731648/re-front-speaker-sound-output#Post731648

The other thing this revealed to me was the space behind the speakers, which I used below for a storage compartment (#14).

The following four things are security related - in general I’m not over concerned on security for the car, but some of our travels have been very distant from countries that have dealers or suppliers of spare wheels - hence we’ve done these things:

#8 Lockable Fuel Cap

I posted previously about this https://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthrea...fuel-filler-cap-for-plusfour#Post769648. It does seem a bit strange that the car is supplied without a lockable cap.

#9 Wheel Lock

The spare wheel is standardly secured with a very simple handle that can be removed by anyone when the car is parked - as in the photo above, I replaced this with some threaded studding and a wheel lock.



#10 Monimoto tracker

I’ve gone for a very simple tracker produced by Monimoto - it’s really designed for a motorcycle but works well for a Morgan. The device is battery powered - which lasts about a year, and just needs hiding behind a panel in the car. There is a dongle you attach to the car key holder and when the car moves, the Monimoto checks that the dongle is present, if it isn’t present it calls your mobile and then starts broadcasting it’s location to your phone. Very simple and (for a tracker) very cheap (from memory about £120 for the device and about £3 per month mobile subscription), also I like the way it can’t drain the car battery as it is not connected to the car electrics.

#11 Hawk Alarm

Probably the most involved thing I’ve done - but I’ve wired in a simple alarm into the vehicle. I went for a Hawk HA-240, but using only 3 sensors - two ultra-sonic sensors that are in the two footwells (see pic on #12 below), plus a bonnet release sensor protecting the alarm siren itself (see pic). There is also the blinking blue LED when the system is alarmed, which I’ve fed into the corner of the glove compartment.



#12 Battery Charger plug

Whilst doing the alarm I also installed a connector cable under the glove compartment, as a connection for the trickle charger - simpler than having to open the bonnet each time I garage the car. The cable is visible at the top of this photo secured on a retaining clip, along with one of the alarm ultrasonic sensors (to the left).


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#13 Diving Bags & Kanulocks

Everyone will have their own views on luggage for the Plus Four - personally I find these 60L Gill Diving bags work well and most importantly keep clothes dry! We also found these lockable Kanulock straps which have wire in them to avoid anyone slashing the strap and removing the bags (think they are designed for surfboards, etc..).

[img]https://i.ibb.co/dLY2jMm/IMG-8309.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/q1FRt3b/IMG-8315.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/nnKMWCL/IMG-8316.jpg[/img]

#14 Storage Compartment

This might be my most controversial modification; but if you access the space where the rear speakers are, there is quite a lot of space there. Extending the speaker cables a bit, replacing the lower screws in to the rear shelf with some smaller gauge (removable) bolts and applying Velcro across the top edge means that panel becomes removable, or at least can be pulled forward to provide access. I’ve stored various tools in that space (warning triangle, wheel spinner remover, tyre inflator, etc..) all secured in neoprene pockets and themselves held down by Velcro to prevent rattles. It’s not super accessible, but for those occasional emergency situations it works well. (You just need to make absolutely sure the seat belts run properly through that space and aren’t impacted).

[img]https://i.ibb.co/Sx3GZ24/IMG-4882.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/xXg4w7Y/IMG-4881.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/2g8v24W/IMG-4880.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/7GwQjz6/IMG-4879.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/gZrKnbh/IMG-4878.jpg[/img]

#15 Mini Car Jack

Allied to the above storage compartment, I bought a smaller, lightweight jack (alca compact scissor jack) which stores more easily.

#16 MotoLita wheel

Bit of an indulgence but I went for a MotoLita wheel - dished such that the boss to hold it was smaller than the boss for the flat wheels. My dealer sourced and installed it. I think it looks much better than the standard “Toyota” one .. but that’s a personal view (you can see it on the #6 Tunai Button photo above. (BTW I discovered that in the cold some leather driving gloves really help grip a wooden wheel).

#17 Rear shelf cover

Super simple, but we tried all sorts of bags and arrangements for storing things on the rear shelf behind the seats .. we’ve ultimately concluded that a piece of black fabric (with a bit of velcro to hold it at the bottom back edge) is frankly the most simple and practical; when the vehicle is parked it covers up anything we have stored, and when we are driving you can easily grab coats, hats or other stuff you’ve stashed behind the seats.

#18 Added some Windscreen Wipers

I opted to upgrade the comedy ‘windscreen wipers’ which came with the vehicle - they obviously didn’t really do anything to divert water from the windscreen, but at least caused some amusement as two of them ended up falling off mid rainstorm (despite the dealer retightening them!), the first time the wiper fell onto the bonnet, the second time I lost the wiper completely. The new versions are much more robust, actually do the job of a windscreen wiper and haven’t fallen off (partly thanks to some loctite I applied).

[img]https://i.ibb.co/zN1R7c3/IMG-8306.jpg[/img]

#19 Roadworthy Wing Mirrors

The supplied wing mirrors I found extremely dangerous - maybe it was my height but with the hood up the blind spot to the side of the vehicle was huge. I went for the convex ones that were discussed in this post <post> they’ve been absolutely transformative and much much safer.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/dJYwQYD/IMG-8304.jpg[/img]

#20 Silicon for Windscreen

Much as we enjoyed the ‘charm’ of the rain coming around the edge of the wind screen and into the cabin (see photo, which also shows an original ‘windscreen wiper’ blade).. we finally opted to upgrade the car by applying a bit of silicon to the gaps that had been expertly left by the factory windscreen fitters.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/d6nSKfX/IMG-4186.jpg[/img]

That's a brilliant list - thank you for taking the time to collate and share them all.

Please could you provide some more detail on the door foam and d-seal strip ? Exactly how did you affix them - did you glue the velcro to the frame etc?

I've experienced the same in bad weather and even worse when a large vehicle passes in the opposite direction - I was actually getting water on my glasses

Thanks!

It's not a cheap solution, but for motorway driving we have adopted this solution which some Caterham drivers use: a pair of ear defenders with boom microphones and wireless interconnection.

It deadens the sound (we drive with the roof off most of the time) and we can chat, answer phone calls, and listen to shared music. Not the most comfortable (especially if sunglasses press into your skull) but it is transformational for the noisiest parts of the journey. Other options are available including one designed by a Caterham specialist.
https://cardosystems.com/products/packtalk-edgephones-orv

I've noticed that the noise from larger tyres fitted to SUV's and EV's etc. are an increasing source of noise on the motorways. I'm looking at simple motorcycle ear defenders, which cut out the background wind and road noise whilst allowing conversations, radio etc to be heard. It's not an ideal situation but I'm finding the motorway background noise is growing and becoming more intrusive now, and from my motorcycling days ear defenders do exactly that.

The Morgan CX is a very capable car to travel vast distances at high speeds, which then exposes you to far more background noise. I've not experienced quite the same problem with the roof up as you seem to be experiencing, but certainly its quieter upto a certain point with the roof down, but I've always found that to be the case with even triple lined roofs.Lining a roof shouldn't present too much of a problem for a trimmer, the ARP Morgan had a lined roof...but bear in mind you still have a simple plastic rear window. I've found putting more sound deadening material in the cabin especially foot wells, engine bays and rear parcel shelves all helps.

I've always had soft top cars and always drive roof down, so I'm used to it over the years........but still looking to get ear defenders, as the noise levels of other cars has changed especially tyres for the worst...

I use Loop Ear Plugs for higher-speed top down driving in my convertibles. My son originally bought these for use at concerts, then tried them at an F1 race and loved using them. At Christmas 2024 he gave them to my wife and I, and we use them driving and at an F1 race as well. They are extremely comfortable, very discreet and enable having a conversation while still mitigating road noise. They come in a tiny plastic pouch so easily fit in the glove box on my Plus Four. Here's the link to their website: www.loopearplugs.com
They ship globally and the site will ask you to select your location.
Here's a photo to show the size and scale

Just in case some TM'ers aren't aware, the use of earphones & headphones is illegal whist driving in France

In the UK not strictly illegal - but if you're involved in an RTA...
Highway Code Rule 148:
Safe driving requires concentration, and drivers should avoid distractions like loud music that mask sounds.