Aero 8 Hood

[mph]

The hood on the earlier car seems to attract a lot of criticism. From what I can gather the design has been changed once or twice.

There is a very nice S1 for sale (2002 model) how can I differentiate between the hood types, can later (better) hoods be retrofitted and what are the noise levels like with the hood raised.

Thanks

[AeroMan]

This is a very good starting place for anyone considering buying a Series I - Aero 8: http://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showf...

If you can post a photo of the car that you are considering, then it should be possible to give further specific advice.

Good luck mph

[rodschwarz]

mph said:

The hood on the earlier car seems to attract a lot of criticism. From what I can gather the design has been changed once or twice.

There is a very nice S1 for sale (2002 model) how can I differentiate between the hood types, can later (better) hoods be retrofitted and what are the noise levels like with the hood raised.

Thanks

The open hoods of the early cars disappear inside the car (nearly).
You can find some pictures here:
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C61338

The newer hoods and the frames don't rest in the car, more on the car.
One of the pictures of this advert shows it quite good even if this is not a S 1.
http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/showDetails.html...

Last year I bought an Aero 8 for a friend. The car was produced in November 2002 with the "flat" hood. Later the Morgan factory fitted a newer hood type. No problem.

I can't compare the different noise levels. Aeroman can do that much better as he had an S 1 with the first hood type iirc and Aeros with newer hood types.

Rod

[rodschwarz]

mph said:

There is a very nice S1 for sale (2002 model) how can I differentiate between the hood types,

Both 2002 cars I know that are for sale (Bournemouth and Scotland) look like cars with the first type of hoods.

[mph]

rodschwarz said:

Both 2002 cars I know that are for sale (Bournemouth and Scotland) look like cars with the first type of hoods.

Yes it was the car in Bornemouth I liked the look of.

There seems to be a big jump in price to the S2 model, unless it's just the ones for sale at the moment.

[cerealsurfer]

mph said:

rodschwarz said:

Both 2002 cars I know that are for sale (Bournemouth and Scotland) look like cars with the first type of hoods.

Yes it was the car in Bornemouth I liked the look of.

There seems to be a big jump in price to the S2 model, unless it's just the ones for sale at the moment.

There are several reasons for that.

1) the S2 is very rare.. it was manufactured in a very small volume circa 30.

2) As each of the series has been launched the price has increased. From the S1 circa 45k at S1 launch until more like 75k for a current S4.

So second hand prices will be stepped in accordance.

The S2 is seen as a cross-over model with a foot in the S1 camp (front end design) but also in the S2 (tub size, wheels, roof etc.).

[AeroMan]

mph said:

Yes it was the car in Bornemouth I liked the look of.

There seems to be a big jump in price to the S2 model, unless it's just the ones for sale at the moment.

I don't know if you read Cerealsurfer's Series I Buying Guide from the link I posted, but in case you didn't I'll quote the relevant part of the section on the hood that the Bournemouth car has:

"Early Wooden Plinth style - Gives a lower gangster roof line but takes longer to put up and stow when down. Ideally needs upgrade tabs to hold securely rolled up when lowered. It does give the cleanest roof both up and down position. Can leak depending on the car.

Mid-issue-wooden Plinth style - This is same as the one above but has window channels to secure the window to the roof.. this is better than above as the roof becomes water-tight against the door top."

I can't really see on the photos, but your prospective car looks as though it has had the conversion to the Mid-issue style, most of them were done under warranty at the time, and as such is quite acceptable (though you may have some small leaks) if noisier than later iterations from S2 onwards.

Current prices of all Aero models in many Dealers are not realistic imho and do not reflect market conditions as most are on SOR, thus Dealers are not under the normal stock pressure to sell. For instance, there is a Series II that was on the market until recently at £56k though looking this morning I see it has dropped below the £50k barrier.

Do your research well mph and you should be able to buy a very nice car.

[Veg]

And to add to the above most have been on the market for a number of months. If you can get to the owner there is a very good deal awaiting. Hopeful maybe, but I need it as I'm looking too!

[rodschwarz]

mph said:

rodschwarz said:

Both 2002 cars I know that are for sale (Bournemouth and Scotland) look like cars with the first type of hoods.

Yes it was the car in Bornemouth I liked the look of.

There seems to be a big jump in price to the S2 model, unless it's just the ones for sale at the moment.

A German car dealer offers the car now. He asks 50,000 GBP (actually 56,000 Euro)...
Another German dealer offers a similar car for 39,000 GBP. Presumably the second one (mint green) is AeroMan's first Aero.

Btw, AeroMan's third Aero (S 3) 'arrived' in Germany too this afternoon. 66,000 Euro (rhd) or
78,000 Euro (lhd). Only # 2 is missing.

Edited by rodschwarz on Monday 2nd March 19:10

[Boshly]

mph said:

rodschwarz said:

Both 2002 cars I know that are for sale (Bournemouth and Scotland) look like cars with the first type of hoods.

Yes it was the car in Bornemouth I liked the look of.

There seems to be a big jump in price to the S2 model, unless it's just the ones for sale at the moment.

The S2 is an S3 in almost all aspects but still retained the original 'squint' look headlamps.

Changes included:
Uprated 326Bhp 4.4l engine
ABS EBD & DTC
Airbags
New 6 pot AP Racing brakes
Raised ride height
Electric power steering pump
New style hood
Wider tub
Full dashboard
Bigger boot
New wheels
along with some aesthetic changes.

Of course it lost the slightly more extreme 'gangsta' look of the S1 in doing so.

Briefly summarised by most thus:

S1 - Orginal, more extreme, 'harder', better looking and more striking.
S2/S3 - slightly softer, more user friendly, more developed.

Both fantastic cars

You pays your money, you takes your choice

[m8tt c]

Boshly said:

S1 - Orginal, more extreme, 'harder', better looking and more striking.
S2/S3 - slightly softer, more user friendly, more developed.

What a perfect summery!

[asbojohn]

rodschwarz said:

Btw, AeroMan's third Aero (S 3) 'arrived' in Germany too this afternoon. 66,000 Euro (rhd) or
78,000 Euro (lhd). Only # 2 is missing.

You had me worried I checked this morning and #2 is still in my garage and not for sale. When I purchased the car I was told I wouldn't find a series 2. Managed to find one but if Cerealsurfers numbers are correct probably have less than 12 RHD series 2 in the country so it might take a bit of hunting to find one, but it will be worth the wait.

Good hunting

[gomog]

mph said:

The hood on the earlier car seems to attract a lot of criticism. From what I can gather the design has been changed once or twice.
There is a very nice S1 for sale (2002 model) how can I differentiate between the hood types, can later (better) hoods be retrofitted and what are the noise levels like with the hood raised.

The criticism is not universal. Some Series I hoods have had no problems...others had severe ones, and repeatedly. There is no rule to it. The details were tracked as they happened on eMog many years ago.

The first hoods on the Aero mules (owned by Knut Hallam and Adrian van der Kroft) were made by the Factory in the trad motif. These had issues and at one point Mr. Morgan called Steve Simmonds to retro-fit them both. They do not leak and are very quiet (for a Morgan!) at any speed.

The 2000 Geneva Aero had a different Factory-fashioned hood. This was also used in the first production Aero Is. Some of them turned out fine..or required only a little tweaking to make them so. Others required much more, often without successfully resolving the problem or leaking, noise or cracking windscreens. These started the Aero top reputation. At a point, the Factory modified the hood and system..but the same mixed results occurred. Two official versions by then.

At this point, the Factory went to BAS, a prominent UK hood maker http://www.car-hood.co.uk/ and commissioned them to remake the whole system. After a lengthy delay, their hood version was used, but there were some problems still. Their version was modified by the Factory a few times.

In a nutshell, though an expert like Simmonds can tell you which of the many Series I versions or tweaks you have, any could be good and any good be bad depending on the auto gods present on the day it was made. The solution is to TRY EACH SPECIFIC BUYING HOPE FIRST!

BTW, at one point, there was a movement to retro-fix the non-perfect ones. A meeting was set up with the Aero owners at Brands Hatch Morgan with Alan Garnett (then the MMC Chairman) and Simmonds there (at Garnett's invitation) in hope of arranging a joint solution for everyone with funding from the Factory and the owners and a solution by Simmonds. Sadly, it never happened.

Roderich is right, with all the doubts on the Series I hood, it expressed the lines of the car the best as it folded well down. The latter Aeros, like the post 2002 trads, leave the hood lying atop the car rather than being contained within it.

Thus far, the Aero Series that has exhibited the least problems hood-wise from new to over time, is the Series II.

Lorne

[AeroMan]

rodschwarz said:

Another German dealer offers a similar car for 39,000 GBP. Presumably the second one (mint green) is AeroMan's first Aero.

Btw, AeroMan's third Aero (S 3) 'arrived' in Germany too this afternoon. 66,000 Euro (rhd) or
78,000 Euro (lhd). Only # 2 is missing.

I would doubt if this is my Series I Rod, though I don't know which dealer the doppelgänger is at in Germany. The second owner of this car was trying to do a part-exchange deal against my third Aero until very recently; which was indeed bought by a (non-Morgan) German dealer.

Second Aero 8 safely in Asbo's hands and Series IV in build this month.

[rodschwarz]

I would doubt if this is my Series I

[/quote]

http://tinyurl.com/aqvpkz

Imo the pictures were taken at SGT and the stickers look very familiar. I might be totally wrong.

Edited by rodschwarz on Wednesday 4th March 05:43

[AeroMan]

Yes Rod you are correct, it is my former Series I and the photos were taken at SGT. Apart from the colour, which is fairly distinctive - Audi Mint Green, the car has black lenses on the front indicators. These were fitted by Steve Simmonds, who did quite a lot of work on the car and it appeared on his website.

However, it seems that this car dealer is more than a bit previous as the current owner still has the car in his garage (better check yours Asbo!) and he was NOT aware his car was up on a German website!

Regarding hoods, I quoted above from Cereal's excellent Series I buying guide regarding the first two basic types of Series I hood's, but the final run of Series I's rather preceded the Series II pram-type hood in that it had a hood that folded down outside the body.

Whilst the basic hood mechanism has not changed much between the Series II and III's, there have been many detail changes and especially the rubber mouldings that make the seal to the top of the windscreen have become much more sophisticated and consequently, form a much better and more waterproof seal. As so few Series II's were sold in the UK, it is not surprising that there have not been many approaches to outside vendors for alterations to their hoods!

Most of the owners in the Aero community here agree that the later or latest hood design is the most water-proof, though from the Series II onwards most of the hoods produced are more than acceptable for the use they are given in the car..

Lastly, I would like to congratulate mph (who started this thread) on his recent Aero acquisition and look forward to seeing photos posted here and on TM.

[cerealsurfer]

Fantastic news.. MPH.. we need pics!!

[mph]

cerealsurfer said:

Fantastic news.. MPH.. we need pics!!

I don't have the car yet, waiting for the payment to be finalised and then I'll have to arrange insurance, collection etc.

The car is the Berrybrook demonstrator in Balloon white with anthracite interior. I called in to have a look at it on my way down to visit my sister Cornwall. I wasn't sure I would like the colour but it's much better in the flesh as it's a very difficult colour to photograph.

IMHO the car is stunning and I can't wait to take delivery, will post some pictures next week.

Thanks for all the help and advice I had here.

[asbojohn]

MPH,

Nice choice and hope to see it about at a Morgan meet. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Looked at your car collection and Aeroman may have some competition, nice taste in classics so why the aero?

[mph]

asbojohn said:

MPH,

Nice choice and hope to see it about at a Morgan meet. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Looked at your car collection and Aeroman may have some competition, nice taste in classics so why the aero?

I've been lusting after an Aero on and off for the last few years but had too much money tied up in classics. I'm in the process of selling off some of these now, in fact the XK120 fhc has just been sold. The Maserati went a few weeks ago and this is the money I've used to fund the Aero.

I've got the insurance through now so hopefully will be able to collect on monday.