Altering boot lid fit

[tinker]

Can any one give me some advice on the best way to alter the rear of the boot lid so that the shape matches / aligns with the body. I can remember reading that this has been done quite often during restorations, i just cant decide where to start cutting. would appreciate any input, especially if you have done this succesfully. Thanks. Tony

[RichC]

i noticed that mine wasn't fitting very well when i first got it .
what made a big difference was reinstating the steel reinforcement which runs along the rear panel - the pop rivets had come out and it wasnt attached at the ends. Attaching the steel angle alittle higher up behind the rear lights pulled up the whole back panel which had sagged . maybe that's the first ( and easiest) thing to try...
RichC

[gerrym]

Tinker, the rear closing panel often protrudes rearwards beyond the boot lid, especially in the centre of the panel.
cut and shut operation is often used to correct this. ie, cut the rear panel vertically, push back in to correct alignment and then glass to repair and make good.

Regards

Gerry

[Gordon Sauer]

On mine (+2S/130) I shaved down the lip that the seal fits on to keep it from pushing back so much. Then I elongated slightly all the holes including the ones in the body that carry the single larger stud of the hinge. Then noticing the passenger side of the boot was still a bit high relative to the body, I unscrewed the large stud on the rear part of the hinge and ground down the base so the boot could sit a bit lower. Looks great, can't tell that one part of hinge is shaved a bit and obviousness of boot being raised some on that one side eliminated. I'm not sure it boot never fit well and I didn't notice before all the body work and painting, or in working out stress cracks of the hinge area I maybe took off too much glass. I dry fitted every thing on the car before painting except boot! I also put a stainless steel plate under the rear section of the hinges bonded to the glass to hopefully forestall any cracks in new paint. Gordon Sauer

[richgilb]

Mine doesn't push back, it sags down in the middle....so is fixing this bar a recommendation for me with my saggy rear or is it for ones that have rear ends that stick out? Also, I looked inside my boot and cannot find the bar?

Rich

[RichC]

richgilb,
the sag will go if you have a bar. i presume you don't have boot boards then, 'cos they rest on it too..
RichC

[richgilb]

Right, nothing but the fibreglass floor....wish I had known about it before the respray. I worry it will crack the paint.

[Gordon Sauer]

A picture of the bar is posted on a recent thread regarding the boot catch--you can see it is riveted and I put mine in after painting with no problem, since apparently done that way at factory as rivets not supposed to be painted--on mine it just pulled the back panel in some (that license plate mounts to) lining up the line of that panel with the trailing boot edge. Gordon Sauer

[tinker]

Thanks for your replies, i have two bodies and two boot lids, on both of them the back panel of the body protrudes past the bottom of the boot lid approx 3/8 of an inch, maybe a little bit more [under the letter T on the boot] this is with the shut lines at the top and sides of the boot pretty good. Pushing the centre of the back panel in appears to stress both wheel arches, which i assume could cause problems after the car is painted. I have looked at many cars at shows and this appears to be the way they were made. My intention is/was to cut and shut the rear of the boot lid so it matched the shape of the body, as i seem to recall reading some where this was the way to go about it. Will let you know how it goes. Tony.

[alaric]

Hi. I took some photos of my boot at last. I've just been fitting the brackets trying to work out what goes where. I finally sussed out the boot catch too. It's all together now. Hoorah!

On the rear lip, I had a problem with trying to rivet it to the rear metal crossbar, as the fibreglass edge was too high at the edges near the wings, particularly on the lhs; the rear lip isn't sagging in the middle, rather the ends are too high. I did rivet it all in place then considered the stress cracks that might appear and changed my mind. I've now put washers underneath the end rivets. So, the vertical gap across the back may not be perfect - I can change that later if i don't like the end result. I suspect it'll crack the paint finish though.

The front to back position of the rear lip should be defined by the metal cross bar, which rivets behind each light cluster in my car.

I do have some adjustment on the position of the boot lid as the holes through the boot are oversize compared to the bolts from the hinges. So I could push it back and forwards slightly if needed. I've set it so that the gap at the front of the lid (towards the front of the car) is the same as those at either side.

It might be worth checking that gap to see whether you can live with it being slightly bigger.

Here are the pics - please excuse the collection of tools and fuel can etc etc. It's work in progress. I'm still considering a little re-inforcement bracket to go under the boot board support - one bolted to the exhaust heat shield boot may just take the stress off the fibreglass under the bumper.

I haven't put in the 4 little right angle boot board brackets yet.

So, is it just me or is the exhaust poking out too far? My plan is to trim the pipe as it goes into the manifold y piece, once the bumper's on.

All the best.

Sean.

Boot lip cross member in place

Centre of boot rear edge

Boot board bracket and mounting brackets

Boot from back

Front of boot cross member lhs

[gerrym]

Tinker, just to confirm, my S130 had this done by previous owner. It wouldn't be the first or last. A bit like the S4 door cut and shut really (must have been a mould problem)

Regards
Gerry

[gerrym]

Alaric, re your photo number 1 showing the rear bracket that supports the boot floor boards. It's basically cantilevered out from the rear panel which is thin fibreglass. With the concentrated loads it invariably cracks the fibreglass. Do you or anyone else have a neat fix which improves the support. (Eg foam core block down to the fibreglass true boot floor, glassed all over).

Regards

Gerry (whoops off topic, should have started a new post)

[alaric]

Hi. It's not a pretty looking lever on that rear bracket. I don't have a neat fix yet. The most appealing idea so far, as it's quick, is threaded bar bolted to the two little brakets that hold the board support going straight down to the floor of the boot. With those in place the current fixings through the fibreglass just locate, and the load is taken by the new feet and the floor of the boot. Maybe a little fibre glassing to locate the feet in. Just an idea though.

All the best.

Sean.

[alaric]

Hi. Just been out to my car again and took a look at the alignment of the lid. Mine seems to be lining up with the rear edge nicely, but, the catch doesn't line up between the boot and cross bar, suggesting I need to push the lid forwards a bit, leaving me with the protruding rear end as described by others. Sounds like it's the way they were made. I was planning to mod the catch to make it line up. Not sure yet.

All the best.

Sean.

[gerrym]

Sean, I've ordered some balsa- to use as a core for a fibreglass support down to the boot floor. It will be glassed in all sides so water ingress or rot should not be a problem. That cantilever design of the rear molding just doesn't seem right.

Regards

Gerry