It’s being a while that we consider getting a couple of headrests pads. While we do long drives, using the helmets, AM always says it would be nice to have a soft pad behind our heads. So, she can rest laying the head a little backwards, with a soft contact between the helmet and the roll hoop.
Morgan Motor Company offers a set of headrests integrated in the roll hoops, but those come only with the tall roll hoops. And we don’t plan to change our standard roll hoops for taller ones. They may be safer, for sure, but we don’t like their aesthetics.
They are screwed on four metallic plates welded to the roll hoops. Nice fixation method. But they are small as the inside of the roll hoop, letting the stainless steel visible all around them.
Although they look too small for our liking, these headrests have a positive point and that is that they do not protrude much. This is an important point for us, as we use helmets for the long drives.
A too thick headrest pad may be uncomfortable if it forces our heads forward because it’s in permanent contact with the back of the helmet.
The other “standard” option are the Allon White headrest pads.
They look neat, and they would have been an excellent choice if we weren’t so perfectionists.
Their first inconvenient is that they protrude much more than we desire. 5,5 cm – or over 2 inches – is a little too much and the helmets would be rubbing almost permanently against them.
And they have a nice fixation system, consisting of three straps with a “lift-the-dot” clip. Not a bad system, but it can be improved, in our honest opinion.
A big thanks to Chas and Steve, from M3W Services, for the pictures they provided! Check their web page! www.m3wservices.com
And on the top of that, we have a physical obstacle in our roll hoops: the new luggage rack fixation system. You may have noticed it in the very first picture.
Those two pieces are quite big, and they are obviously incompatible with the above-mentioned headrests.
Allon White makes special headrests for roll hoops with the new luggage rack fixations. But I haven’t seen them yet. And they may still be too thick for us.
Then, we decided to take the 3-Wheeler to the same upholsterer that made our luggage set. We trust him as he has done fantastic jobs for us before. First with the stunning brand-new upholstery of our 1988 Range Rover, and later with all the amazing luggage pieces, back cushion for AM and other details for our Morgan 3-Wheeler.
As soon as he got the car in the workshop, with the luggage rack installed, he got the first brilliant idea for the headrests: they shall be made as a champagne cork. What does this mean? That the headrest body will enter inside the roll hoop, like the Morgan Motor Company ones. And shaped around the luggage rack support. But the head, so the front part where we will rest our heads, will be larger covering all the width of the roll hoop, as the Allon White ones. In the pictures below you can see the original piece made to check if the idea was feasible in an elegant way.
And yes! It could be done that way! This shape has serious advantages. The first one is that the headrest pops inside the roll hoop, as a champagne cork – as we said – so it keeps in place and can not move or rotate in any way. Then a very simple strap with a basic buckle can secure it to the roll hoop, making it so simple to put and remove!
The job was finished, using the same leather color and type as the main car’s upholstery, with the quilted stitching. Again, the leather craft work is impressive…
We can’t be happier with the result! Look how they fit perfect in the roll hoops!
They’re so easy to put and remove! And they protrude just 3 cm over the roll hoop, being comfortable to drive with our helmets.
They are perfectly shaped to the roll hoop with the luggage rack fixation piece. Fantastic job!
I hope you like the result as much as we do!