The reason the Simmonds hood was designed is because some owners and former owners found the original factory hood difficult to erect and found the weather-proofing insufficient. The two seater version of our system was released in 1997, which was suitable for all 2 seaters produced from 1960. The four seater version quickly followed due to customer demand, and proved as popular as the 2 seater. The factory ceased production of the 4 seater in 1997 a redesigned version was introduced in 1999. Therefore, the Simmonds hood was also redesigned to cater for this market. Version 2 of our 2 seater hood was designed in 2002 to convert the factory 'easy-up' hood, again due to customer requests.

The hood conversion was released at the annual Morgan event in Bath 1997. It instantly drew crowds, who were amazed at the ease of operation, and the improved looks of the car with the hood up. Orders swiftly followed!

As you haven’t bought your Morgan yet, and depending on the year, if it's younger than 2003 it will have a factory 'easy-up' roof which we can convert to a Simmonds easy-fit, of which we've done many. The main benefits of having this done are our header rail system, which makes the erecting and sealing of the hood vastly improved and speeded up. Furthermore, the rear rail which tensions and seals against the body is very easy to operate via the use over-centre catches. The rest of the description is as follows...

I can give you a description which will cover both 2 seater and 4 seater hood conversions. On the factory standard hoods you’ve got over 20 press stud type fixings, and the hood is not attached to the frame. The Simmonds hood has only two press studs, and four over-centre catches, therefore much easier and quicker to erect. Hence the name, easy-fit.

Our Hood has a stainless steel header rail which clamps using chrome over-centre catches and seals the hood to the top of the windscreen, but does not tension the hood. The rear rail which again, is made from stainless steel is where the tensioning of the hood takes place, as the rear section of the hood is fixed to the rail which has a weather seal and a pair of double hooks onto which our over-centre catches latch onto for easy, even tensioning of the hood. This rail also when released, gives a hatch facility to the luggage area behind the seats, giving quick easy access, especially for luggage / shopping loading and unloading.

The hood is always manufactured from mohair type material, as this gives better service than PVC / Everflex. It is bespoke tailored to your car, as no two Morgans are the same (fact!) The windscreen is always removed from the car during the conversion and checked before stripping to change the frame to a smooth frame. The windscreen frame is then fitted with the hooks (these are visible when the hood is stored away) for the header rail over centre catches to locate.

If you wish to have sun-visors fitted, please let us know before we start the conversion, as the new (smooth) windscreen frame has to be drilled and tapped for the fitting of the brackets. Sun visors are available in green, smoke grey and blue.

In fact, with our easy-fit hood conversion, you can be in the dry within ten seconds of deciding to erect the hood! – see video. Obviously to clamp and seal the hood fully takes roughly 30 seconds and no broken fingernails and blaspheming or arguments with the wife (co-driver!). A vast improvement don’t you think. Once erect, the new hood gives vastly improved weather protection and draft prevention qualities. Furthermore, the wind noise is significantly reduced.

Click here for our current price list including accessories you may wish to add along with the hood conversion. If you are interested, please scroll bown to the bottom, and click the 'I'm interesed' tab.