Just an Idea? How to use your Morgan Tonneau!

Due to the difficulty I have in Fitting our Tonneau Cover I very rarely use it!

One thought that is uppermost: 

What do I do if it suddenly rains and I need to raise the Hood?

A Second thought is: 

Where do I put the Tonneau when the Hood is up? 

Parking Up, Overnight, involves taking it off and putting up the Hood and then putting my Rain Cover on.  

During our recent visit to MOG 2014 at Harrogate, while 'People Watching' from the Bedroom Window, I spotted , In Action, what may be a Very Clever and Useful Idea.

I will use a series of photos I took today while trying out what I saw. 

Both Morgan Models have 'Easy Up Hoods' and Tonneau. 

The Harrogate Morgan I watched did have a hood made from the softer Everflex material, which may have made the process easier to manage.

 Here is my 'John Taylor Rain Cover' which I always fit if staying away overnight. 

(on a side note - I have noticed that the Front Edge of this cover is rubbing the paint surface where the elastic fits as it moves in the wind. 
I must fit some soft padding material under there)

Step 1. My Hood in its Raised Position with the Back Locks popped open.

Step 2. Here I have placed my Tonneau onto the Back Lock Pegs and laid it over the  Raised hood.

This is how our Harrogate colleagues positioned their Tonneau, after raising their Hood, before putting on their own 'John Taylor Rain Cover'.

Here is a Side View of the Tonneau before adding the Rain Cover.

Step 3. In the Morning, the Tonneau is laid back over the Spare Wheel ready to lower the Hood again.

My 'Towel Roll' is in position ready to lower the Hood, without moving the Tonneau. 

( I will explain later why the Tonneau happens to be folded as it is in this photo ).

Step 4. The Hodd is now Down with the  Loose Ends of the Roof 'Strapped In' by my simple Velcro Straps.

Step 5. The Headrests are removed and stowed.

Step 6. In The Photo the Tonneau is fitted and Attached with the Back edge catches locked down.

When fitting it, I found that the best way to attach the Tonneau to its front studs is to first undo the zip slightly.

Then, Lift the back of the Hood up and easily attach the three front 'Lift the Dot' poppers.

Lower the back down and pull out the two sides to attach the Poppers / Tenax Fasteners.

 My Tonneau was so difficult to fit width wise, so I have changed my Two Rear Poppers for Tenax Fasteners as it enabled me to gain an extra 1 cm of Tonneau width to allow it go over the width of the hood.

I also find it easier to fasten the 4 Tenax than the old Poppers and they stay done up 

The last action is to Lock the Two Rear 'Bonnet Type' catches.

When driving alone with the Half Tonneau, I don't lock down the back catches as the Tenax Fasteners hold it securely. 

Step 7. Reversing the Process to put the Hood up, for either Night Time or if it is raining.

Release the Back Catches, the Side Tenax/Poppers followed by the Front 'Lift the Dot' fasteners.

Both Sides are now unfastened and the Rear Catch is released. 

Step 8. The Hood is Raised and the Towel is to be Removed.

( I apologise for the direction of the photo but Photobucket  will not rotate it here for some reason? )

Step 9. Once again the Tonneau is flipped onto the roof ready to take the Rain Cover.

If the hood is being raised because it is Raining, it would be the normal practise to have to take off the Tonneau and find somewhere to stow it so that the journey may be continued.

An Extra Idea?

How about taking this one stage further than just a Night Time feature.

Folding & Rolling The Tonneau

Fold in the Edges of the Tonneau and begin to roll up the Tonneau.

The Rolled Up Tonneau with its ends turned in.

Just as an idea, a form of Strap or Velcro Fastener could be used to secure the loose ends and prevent it from unrolling. 

These straps could also be secured permanently to the Hood Locking Pins , which in themselves may need some permanent adjustment to provide a little more length for the extra thickness of the straps.

This way, the Tonneau could be in constant use if you like travelling, say, with a Half Tonneau covering the passenger seat .  

Using the same Folding and Rolling action with the zip done up, produces the same neat cover for the rear well void when both seats are in use.  In this case, as you can see in the photo above, only the Rear Popper/Tenax is fastened. 

Frank