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MG MGA - Boot/trunk lid operation

I am interested to understand better the mechanics of the boot opening.

Mine used to pop up nicely when I pulled the handle. However, since carrying a heavy suitcase on the rack, I have to lift the boot now at the same time as pulling the handle, to pass the catch.

Does the closing resistance (spring) come from the aperture seal? If there is no rack does the lid pop up enough to get your fingers underneath?

Are there any diagrams showing the mechanism operation?

Neil
Neil McGurk

Hi Neil there is a bit on the boot etc on barney's site


gordon
g c pugh

Gordon,
I checked there but didn't find anything, have I missed something?

Neil
Neil McGurk

Hi Neil

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/body/bd101.htm


gordon
g c pugh

I saw that one, but it's not really my question. My boot is not stuck, it just doesn't spring up.
Neil McGurk

Hi Neil I thought it might have given you a clue


gordon
g c pugh

Neil, from what I've read the only "spring" in the boot lid comes from the seal and those get compressed over the years to the point where the lid doesn't push up very far, makes opening the boot a pain. Sometimes a two person job considering the location of the release pull. The down side is that if you replace the seal the lid may then stand proud of the body, it's a no win deal.
Bill Young

Neil, There is a fixed catch on the boot lid which engages with a similar looking, but spring loaded, catch attached to a plate which, in turn, is screwed to the body. If you can open the boot somehow with the pull rod then clearly the spring loaded catch is being withdrawn enough so it looks like, as you say, the seal is too far down and not doing it's job: there is no other force pushing up on the lid when closed . If this be the case you are liable to get your boot flooded in a downpour. Judging from the vast number of cars you see for sale which have boots with floors rusted through the boot seal has never been very efficient on this car. Mike
m.j. moore

Thanks Bill, Mike,

It's as I thought, but does seem an odd engineering solution to me, so I really needed to confirm.

It is not difficult to pull the handle and open the boot with the rack in place, but a bit of a stretch without!

Time to change the seal, although it doesn't seem to be compressed.
Neil McGurk

Hi Neil

I tried a couple of boot seals which either didn't fit the aperture very well or were to stiff to allow the boot to close or spring open.

I ended up ordering one from Bob West which fitted well and had the correct density to allow the boot to spring open.

Regards...John Bray
J Bray

More notes on dimensions of the rubber seal: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/faulty/ft016.htm
Barney Gaylord

Neil,

I replaced my trunk seal this past summer and had the extra length of seal material lying on my work bench. Every time I went to throw it away I hesitated thinking that I would find a use for it someday.... It is Moss part 280-714. The dimensions are 3/8” by 9/16” at the widest cross section. Moss package says 11 feet in length, I had about 18" left over. Interestingly the seal is not a perfect rectangle; the sides have a noticeable bulge. See the attached picture.

The fit on my car is fine and the boot lid does pop up when I pull the release, although I don’t have the extra weight of a luggage rack. The hardest part regarding the installation was removing the old seal. It was the original and had literally melted into the seal channel. I would be happy to send you a piece of the seal (new not old) if you want to check out the fit.

John



jjb Backman

For what it's worth - I have a length of soft rope tied to the end of boot release rod so I only have to tilt the seat back and give the rope a yank to open the boot latch - a quick yank does it and the boot lifts a bit - I have a fairly new boot rubber - it helps a bit if you press down on one of the corners to compress the rubber and let it spring up (if you do it near the latch it locks again).
Maybe having a small twist in the boot lid would help - not too much or it would effect the panel fit - Barney might like to comment/experiment!
Regards
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Neil
Have you tried adjusting the catch which is on slots. You might be able to tighten the lid slightly more when closed to give back a bit of spring???
Pete
Pete Tipping

John,

I have a similar problem as you had; the seal doesn't have enough spring. The strange thing is that it is spongy with the right dimensions and worked OK before I carried the suitcase. I removed it and rotated around the aperture 180 deg (moving the join from bottom to top, or back to front).

Pete, I adjusted the plate so it will just close and just open with the seal padded out a little at the bottom.

It is still a bit marginal so maybe a Bob West seal is the answer.
Neil McGurk

Neil

I have a boot lock system on my operating rod. The positioning of the rod pull restrictor also allows me to lock the rod in an open position if needs be. This would allow you to get round your problem if you are single handed.

See here for the lock system I installed: http://www.mgcars.org.uk/mgccmga/technic/boot_lock/boot.shtml

Steve
Steve Gyles

Thanks Steve,

I have got it working ok now it's just a bit harder to close than it was and doesn't seem to pop up as far. I can do it single handed if the need arises, because of the rack.

Now I just feel like I need a bit of extra (soft) spring so the boot closes easily and pops up nicely like it should!?

I quite like the locking solution, but it's pretty difficult for the uninitiated to work out how to open the door, let alone the boot. If those in the know are determined, they could take the whole car easily enough!

Neil
Neil McGurk

This thread was discussed between 05/12/2007 and 08/12/2007

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.