This gadget is a 17mm ball mount ‘clip’ for a Satellite Navigation for a traditional Morgan’s rolled-rim dash top.
The plastic clip is slid over the rounded leather profile above the dashboard to provide a standard 17mm ball mount for a Sat. Nav.
The project finished prototype testing phase June 2023 and is now ready for selling to Morgan enthusiasts in the UK, initially. The design, featuring a quick release pin for the ball, is shown in the following images
Discussions about this can be viewed on Morgan Talk Website. Please check their forum guide before posting.
Design
The detachable design means that after its initial production run, some other sizes of ball might be produced for those wishing to use a size other than the 17mm standard (e.g. 1/4″, 25mm) if sufficient interest is registered on the Morgan Talk site. An optional 5×3 cm flat plate attachment using the same stem size has also been made should anyone wish to attach their smartphone to it though you’ll need to consider how to attach the phone to the flat plate. The plate is also inclined backward from the driver by about 10 degrees to aid screen viewing.
Please also note that because of the ‘hand built’ variable nature of Morgans, this is specifically designed for traditional Morgan models such as the ‘Plus 4’ only.
For the first version of this clip, a thin strip of material was included with each order to prevent the highly textured nylon from chafing the Morgan’s leather profile.
The second version (road tested for me on his Plus 4 by Nick in March 2024) is made using very smooth ABS for the clip and carbon reinforced nylon for the detachable ball and pin. No leather protection is therefore needed.
Morgan Gadget V2 in ABS with nylon ball attachment
It is also possible to carefully wipe the clip using acetone to give it a high gloss finish. Not too much, though, or you will have no clip left!
How To Order
Orders are printed on demand and sent in small cardboard boxes. Each box contains a Morgan Sat Nav Clip with ball, and, if printed in nylon, a strip of protective material will be included as described above. If printed in smooth ABS then no material strip is supplied.
Although I’ve had enquiries from other countries, I’m currently only selling to within the UK and to Classic +4 Morgan owners. All customer details and payments are handled by Stripe. I do not accept cash, BACS or cheques. There is no VAT.
Just email me using sales at morgan-gadgets.com to confirm you are a Classic +4 Morgan owner and ask me to make one. Once I’ve made one in a few days I will create a one-time payment link to send you similar to the example below. The link expires in a couple of days and is just for your single purchase.
Example Strip Check-out Page
Please note that this project has been done as a bit of a favour to the Morgan enthusiasts via Morgan owner and friend ‘Nick’ and the modest charge for the gadget barely covers the overhead costs of hours of 3D printing (hours of electricity, expensive filament, packaging and particularly my time). For my part, I do gain more 3D design and printing experience along the way.
Blog Update Notes
Please see all updates for this project in the following posts: