Replacing Sidescreen Panels
by Cuthbert J. Twillie and Lorne Goldman (updated November 2012 and again January 2023)

The side curtains on most Morgans look like they're still in London. Sitting inside you'd think you were in the dreaded fog. Yet, it is easy to cure the scratched and blurry plastic pieces that only the completely incapable of us would hesitate to replace them.

The plastic pieces just slip out if they are bent enough and they are made to bend. Make sure they have been in a warm room or heat them mildly with a hair dryer. Then bend carefully until the top edge comes out of the channel.The old ones can be used make a perfect pattern for the new ones.  Front and rear are the same dimensions and have the same angles.

Buy some Perspex (original material) or Lexan (a product that is a bit more brittle than perspex but scratches much less easily) at a hardware store or glass supplier. It will be about $20US for a sheet of 24in x 48in x 1/8in thick. The same thickness is important to prevent screens from rattling in the channel. The side curtains are 10" high so cut two 10" strips from the short side giving two pieces of 10in x 24in inches. (Often, the acrylic sheet comes with a protective layer of film which should be left on until all the cutting and sanding are finished. Now, the old pieces laid on the new acrylic will result in perfect copies without the ruler work.

For many,  the project gets no further than the frustration encountered when little cracks emanate from the edge of the cut using our finest blade saber saw. I know, slow down, use tape, etc. but it still isn't that easy. One solution, offered by Dennis Sayers, is to buy a router attachment for your Dremel- and then use the cutting blade with a straight edge. This makes the job so easy you could make sidescreen windows in any shape you so desire. A jigsaw will also work if you have BOTH sides taped and go very slowly. Finish the edges like a fine paint job. Start with coarse and go to finer sandpaper/emory cloth.

The pro trick is in the final finishing. Use a product called M.E.K. ( Methyl Ethyl Ketone). Put some on a cotton ball and, run the cottonball gently on the edges of the lexan. Hold the lexan piece "up" so if you have any drips it will run to the floor or over your hand.  This will make the edge as smooth as a baby's bottom.  This stuff melts Perspex/Lexan, so don't get any drips on your finished product or you'll be sorely sorry.  It does, though, give you a professional edge.  Even though it is simple, I suggest practice on a spare piece before you go to the final finishing.

Once the two pieces are four, smooth the edges and making doubly sure the new pieces are not bigger than the old. These do have to slide, but not too freely because then they won't stay closed. Looking through the new side curtains you will think you are in a sparkling new Morgan. However, I am not adverse to shaping the screens a bit to making this fit more easily. See Below as well.  After the cutting and edge finishing has been done, choose a appropriate bit to make the indentations for the screws as you see in the old deflectors. Installation is simple. Bend the warm panels to fit into theire channels. For the little pieces of plastic used to slide the panels open and closed, I find the orginals cheap looking and unattractive. I use a threaded post and two polished acorn nuts on each side. See the image.

The windscreens should require no bending to fit properly (rubber molding solidly on the inside corner of the draught extruder) assuming the sidescreens are properly installed and tightened. However, I am not adverse to shaping the screens a bit to help the fitting process turn out right. But this should only be tried by the intrepid. Only a little is necessary and the possiblity of going too far, breaking one of the corner welds or cracking the perspex is possible.

Replacing Sidescreens Frames and/or Panels (ideas)
by Lorne Goldman on the Morgan Experience in June 2018

Good news and bad news.

The Bad of it.

1. Sidescreens used to be made first, before the top that fit with it. So none made after can be a sure fit unless the car and top is at hand.

2. 1962 was a transition year for Morgan sidescreens. Earlier sidescreens were completely different to the later ones. They had a flat steel frame with no sliding window but a lower flap which pushed out so the driver and passenger could make for hand signals! The earlier frames are easy to make if there is an original pattern

3. The MMC or any supplier cannot longer be relied upon to get them right for YOUR car. Not only have sidescreens been changed often from the mid-1990s on, but each car is a little different.I guess that most dealers might be buying from the MMC.

4. I most strongly suggest that you have new screens made under your own supervision using the old screens as a template to follow. If you do not make them yourself, have them made from the old panels used as a template at a glass cutters. Takes them minutes to cut and smooth the plastic edges.

5. I also recommend that the screen knobs NOT BE MADE of little waste pieces of the clear plastic you are using. They look junky and can be replaced by any little knob you choose at the local hardware store. See the image.

The Good;

A. If you are practically minded and not a originality person, go for the later type with the sliding panels as can be found pictured on this page..

B. They are easy to make..assuming we can find you the channeled frames. If you make them, they will be seriously cheap.

C. I have an extra set of the set of the posts that holds them to the doors...or I can send you a template to follow.

D. They are easy to repair. You can be patient and find some frames or a knackered set on ebay.co.uk 

Sidescreen Panels TIPS and Materials
by Lorne (November 5, 2007) (updated November 2012)

Each channel holding the perspex/lexan is lined in a thin cloth to allow the the panels to slide and yet not rattle. It is quite common for the cloth's glue to crack and then the cloth dislodges, pleats or crushes and blocks the easy movement of the rear panel. (The forward panel is not supposed to move.) It can be can be cured by sorting the cloth liner with new glue and a straight edge.

Alternatively, there is a possibility that the perspex panels were replaced by someone unsure of how to install them. There are panels being sold on ebay.uk at price considerably less than the Morgan trade (15 vs 50). They are ok but come with unfinished edges which require the standard bit of sanding and fitting. I have been contacted by many that did not sand or fit and were JUST able to get the square unsmoothed edged panels in. Of course, they then won't move.

The rubber molding around the side screens is one piece. If the corners have split, you will need a very special glue to get it to hold. These moldings are easy to refit with new and come with an excess that you can trim. The rubber is absolutely vital to prevent wind and rain egress. If the sidescreens are put on correctly, they will not leak up to very high speeds. Since the Factory removed these rubbers in 2002, the complaints of leaking Morgans have become legion.

You do not want to buy new side screens unless you have a newer car and want to try the older type screens. Sudescreens are up to 700 pounds for a 4-seater set and 400 for a 2 seater. Sadly, the Factory does not always stock sidescreens for the pre-2002 or pre-long door (1998) cars.

If you do replace your screens. See HERE  

Putting on Your Sidescreens (so they don't leak!) November 2012
by Lorne Goldman

Considering the amount we mog, my wife Audrey is often asked by other wives how she puts up with the discomfort, especially when driving in the rain. (The men simply assume I married wisely.)  The questions don't immediately register with either of us. Our Morgans are comfortable and leakless. Truth is neither of us has patience with hardship. We are definitely not of the brigade that enjoys braving a Tsunami with the top down.

Where we live, there are only 2/3 Morgans in an area the size of Western Europe. We had no contact with other Morgans for the first years of ownership. We thought something was wrong with the leaking cockpit, top and the unacceptable suspension so we fixed it. It was years before we discovered that most owners assume that these drawbacks are necessary to Morgan  ownership and tolerate them.

One thing we noticed people get wrong is the sidescreens. They put them on poorly and the top front gapes open with any speed, letting wind and rain in. We now see elaborate attempts at closing that gap with all manner of items..most of which seal you in the car by attaching the sidescreens to the windscreen. (ugh!). That is too invasive for my taste even if it was the only solution. We have had to get out of a burning Morgan once.

Of course, Morgans made after 2002 are much harder to waterproof. The cars have had more changes in the last 10 years than in the 40 years before. Most of these have been attempts to copy fine aftermarket improvements without the guidance of their designer. The results have been not been stellar. In this case, in trying to replicate Steve Simmonds' brilliantly made Hoods, the Factory removed the important rubber sidescreen moldings they had used. Amongst other things, this has made a leakless Morgan far more problematic since then.

However, this simple method works well, for classics made before the present era began. The older moggers must forgive me for this. It may seem ABC.

A bit of understanding first. The sidescreens are attached at only two points. That means one is not, per se, able to solidly secure them with ease as two points form a rotational axis. If the knobs are not tightened well or the screens ill-placed, the screen will cant. As the daught extruider acts as a stop for the amount of inboard rotation, but the screens most often gape outboard if anything is done wrong. That allows wind and rain to enter and the gap to get wider as speed increases. The draught extruder is vital. The sidescreen's molding is can be shaped inward to meet it. But as the sidescreen is on an axis, there is a wide choice of tightened positions that can result. Only one will do and you must help the screens find it.

Secondly, I find that one cannot possibly hand-turn the knobs enough to hold the screens securely enough. So the other vital component to proper sidescreen is the tommy-bar. After the screens are on, this cute tool (which is slip on your key ring) allows you to tighten/torque the screen sufficently. Without tommy-bar tightening, the screens waggle far more and will gape open. The smaller end of the tommy bar is made to fit into the holes made for it on the knobs. Slip it in and use it at the end of the fitting to tighten the knobs properly.

I find this method keeps my sidescreen solid and postioned to protect me up to speeds over 85 mph.

I am not as familiar with the many variations Morgan has tried in this area since 2002. There are many sad complaints on all of them, which is likely the reason for the many changes. Hoods, pillars, draught extruders, fasteners, hoods, hood stays, the windscreens and moldings have been changed multiple times without a happy solution as yet. Since 2009, we are told that scores of newer owners were even advised by the Factory and dealers to claim for cracking new screens from their personal insurers, often multiple claims for the same car.

The current sidescreens, have no molding to seal area between the sidescreen and the windscreen. They now use a crushable padding in an attempt to seal the gap. However, without having the sufficent build quality expertise, this area has become especially problematic. This, in turn, has resulted ng in wider and wider daught extruders and  padding in hope of stopping wind and rain. They are no longer made in polished stainless and the results aree unsightly and create a blind spot (for me). The padding doesn't seem to work on an ongoing basis it is the sidescreens that are gaping away from the draught extruder and not vice versa. As well, ar best, the padding soon gets too flattened and requires regular replacement. The newest pillars combine the tasks of draught extruder and pillar in a single piece of unpolished cast metal..for cost and labour saving.

In any event, hopefully using the described  method of sidescreen fitting will help the current cars as well.

Wind by Lorne Goldman I must admit to not being a fan of wind deflectors. There are plastic pieces, of many shapes, that people hang on swivels attached to the windscreen pillars in hope of stopping the wind flow. I used them for a while many years ago until someone pointed out that they do not stop the wind. I removed them and instantly found that to be true. They change the sound more than the wind. They also prevent easy entry and exit when the side screens are on. They are also unsightly, altering the legendary sublime lines of the classic Morgan. They ressemble nothing so much as two pieces of scratched plastic hung on a windscreen. The only classy ones I have seen are those from Steve Simmonds. If wind is problem for you, you will have more of an effect with; 1. the sidescreens on (top off)  2. the top on (sidescreens off) 3. a wind spoiler placed behind the headrests. These come in various configurations and do the job, but it is rather invasive and aesthetically displeasing as well. There are much better ways to handle wind. Making Wind Deflectors Replacement wind deflectors can be made using the same materiels and methods described above in making replacement sidescreen panels.