Tim Pre-retirement, I regularly used to attend meetings smartly dressed. It is good to go to and from covered parking, but not essential. Then I had a four-seater with a Factory vinyl tonneau cover, which is taut. It needed an ice-cream box placed suitably under the rear of the (single) zip. (Overnight it could be 3/4 full, but the car was completely dry.) My view is that multiple zips are not good.
Vinyl does not look as good as mohair but it can be wiped and does not retain moisture. Keep a few dry towels on the front seat, accessible through the side, and a plastic bag to put in wet towels. Wipe the top of the windscreen and the tonneau cover. Open the tonneau cover, empty the ice-cream box, replace the headrest. Zip close up to the back of the seat. Get in. Bob's your uncle. Brian On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 2:59 PM, Tim Harris <t...@lambdapi.plus.com> wrote: > This is all very well, Brian, and I certainly don't mind driving in the > rain with just the tonneau cover, relying on coat, helmet and goggles for > protection. But there are times when this just doesn't cut it - when one > has to turn up looking presentable for a smart business meeting, for > example. > > The other issue I have with a tonneau cover is this: I turn up for work, > top down, tonneau cover on, and park in the office car park. I zip the > remaining quarter into place above the driver's seat - which, as you quite > correctly point out, is a very quick and easy manoeuvre to accomplish. I > then sit in the office for 8 or 9 hours whilst the heavens open and buckets > of rain fall on my car. No worry - my tonneau cover, having been made by > the estimable Steve Simmonds, is a fine device, and is entirely waterproof. > > It is, alas, not rigid. As a consequence, I emerge from my hours of labour > to find my car now has 2 puddles of rainwater sat on the tonneau cover, one > either side of the central zip. How do I remove this water? I can sweep a > deal of it from the tonneau cover with my hand, but inevitably some always > ends up going down the front of my suit, and there's always some left > which, upon undoing the zips, manages to deposit itself all over the > driver's seat, leading to a very soggy drive home. To avoid this, I must > indulge in all sorts of shenanigans with carefully-braced internal supports > which hold the cover with a convex upper surface, to shed the rain. > Do-able, but no longer quick and easy. Another alternative to to supplement > the tonneau cover with a storm cover - but then we have now doubled up the > effort to cover the car, and on estill has to drive home with a soaking > storm cover draining its load into the passenger footwell or wherever > > By contrast, when the weather is dodgy, I can rock up to work without the > tonneau cover, whip up the hood in a couple of moments (thanks again, > Steve!) and go into work knowing that when I come out at the end of the > day, my car will be nice and dry. If it's still raining, I can hop straight > in and drive home all nice and snug, or if it's stopped raining, I can drop > the hood in a trice without dumping water all over me or the interior of > the car. > > Tonneau covers are lovely things, I use mine a lot, but as a sensible > response to regular Morgan use in the kind of rain we've been having this > summer, they sadly, in my opinion, leave much to be desired. > > Tim > > On 14 September 2012 14:48, Brian Cowell <f.brian.cow...@gmail.com>wrote: > >> Tim >> >> If you have the three quarter tonneau cover on, it is very quick and easy >> to cover the driver's seat with the remaining quarter of the tonneau >> cover. Use one sidescreen at the driver's side if you feel it necessary. >> >> When the Morgan I had, had a removable hood; I usually left it over a >> pole in the garage so the hood was as new. >> >> It's good for the timber to drive in the rain occasionally. >> >> However, as you say, better with the hood up than a tin-top. >> >> Regards >> >> Brian of SpotMog >> >> On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 8:28 AM, Tim Harris <t...@lambdapi.plus.com>wrote: >> >>> Over the last few days I've been driving my Mog quite a lot with the >>> hood up, mainly because I've been carting stuff around that I don't really >>> want on open display when I leave the car parked, and with the weather >>> being changeable it's easier to put the hood up and down that wrestle with >>> the tonneau cover. On a couple of short trips I've left the hood up even >>> when it's not been raining, and do you know what? It's not bad at all! >>> >>> It's undoubtedly true that a Morgan with the top down is a vastly more >>> pleasant experience, but that doesn't mean that a Mog with the hood up is >>> an unpleasant experience, far from it. >>> >>> I know full well from many years Morgan ownership that the 'hood down at >>> all times' thing is usually meant in a light-hearted way, I participate in >>> the banter myself, but I'm left a little concerned that some people might >>> feel they can't or shouldn't take their Morgan out with the hood up. I was >>> particularly disappointed one autumn evening a few years ago, when I >>> attended a Noggin. The weather was a bit rubbish, rainy and not what you'd >>> call warm, so I put the hood up and set off. The Noggin was packed, loads >>> of people there, but sadly mine was the only Morgan in the car park. >>> Everyone else had come in other cars. >>> >>> If people are using their tin tops instead of their Mogs just because >>> the weather's poor, then that's a sad state of affairs in my eyes. >>> >>> Drive your Morgan. Enjoy it. Putting the hood up allows you to drive >>> your Morgan more and enjoy it more, then that IMO can only be a good thing. >>> >>> Tim >>> >> ------------------------------------------- View posts on The Mail Archive http://www.mail-archive.com/mogtalk2@listbox.com/ [http://www.mail-archive.com/mogtalk2@listbox.com/] Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=22459785&id_secret=22459785-4a39ddf8 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
