LUGUAGE fot S4

[mar083]

Hello
I want buy fo my Ela S4 a luguage-rack put on rear trunk. Which model do you recommend? A : Secured to the trunk lid with bolts. B: The model with suction cups and turnbuckles on the sides of the rear cover. Thank you for your help
Christian

[Andy8421]

Christian,

I can't find any luggage racks specific for the Elan, but there are plenty of different styles for the MG Midget or MGB which may fit.

I would however be very hesitant about fitting a rack - either bolted or turnbuckle. The boot lid itself is double skinned and not very substantial, so is likely to be a pain to bolt to and to craze and star at the fixing points. The boot hinges are also a favourite place for the gel coat to craze, particularly where they attach to the body - so any additional load on the boot lid may be asking for trouble.

There are solutions which comprise a soft bag held in place with straps that wrap around the boot lid which would spread the load, but even that may lead to crazing.

Andy.

[StressCraxx]

I have done what Andy suggests with a soft duffel bag, starting with a clean bootlid, a soft cotton towel and straps holding the bag with some light but bulky items inside. I think it weighed about 10 lbs total.

I did the same for a pair of sleeping bags for a camping trip. No damage at all.

[smo17003]

If you are determined to fit a luggage rack to your car then perhaps consider buying a spare boot lid that you can use just for that purpose. You will also need a pair of lamps and a latch. Also check that the strengthening brace that goes across the hinge panel is actually there (I've seen cars with it missing).

[h20hamelan]

should look at 1owener69's
wow

[h20hamelan]

from

viewtopic.php?t=48640&p=352626

[stugilmour]

I have done what Andy suggests with a soft duffel bag, starting with a clean bootlid, a soft cotton towel and straps holding the bag with some light but bulky items inside. I think it weighed about 10 lbs total.

I did the same for a pair of sleeping bags for a camping trip. No damage at all.

Great to hear this works. I have been considering a similar approach, but have not tried it yet. I already have a Rev-Pack brand seat mounted duffle (water resistant with integrated D rings for the straps) from my motorcycle touring days that would probably work fine with suitable paint protection. Couldn’t find a good link to Rev-Pack, but there appear to be similar motorcycle designs still available. Use a search term like “motorcycle tail bag” or “motorcycle seat bag” to see some options.

When I was looking online for something more specific to a sports car, I thought the offerings from this company looked very good.

https://trunkluggagerack.com/

Their suction cup style rack does not use straps/turnbuckles, which I thought was pretty cool as I would worry about damage with any kind of hold down clip that attaches to the boot lid edge. Good point though on potentially damaging the fibreglass at the rack attachment points (suction cups or bolt-on).

Their Boot-Bag solution looks like an easy way to attach just a duffel bag as StressCraxx & Andy suggested.

The link below shows these two approaches on a Mazda MX-5 PRHD, which is Miata Speak for the power retractable hardtop model.

https://trunkluggagerack.com/mazda-miat ... gage-rack/

If I go for a Boot-Bag I would actually be more likely to use it on our Miata. Although boot space is reasonable wIth the PRHT design (the retracted top does not reduce the boot space), interior space is very limited as behind the seats has to be left empty for the top to be lowered. For the Plus 2 there is enough interior space we would really only need the Boot-Bag if we decided to try some car camping.

Last thought. Was thinking of getting some clear vinyl wrap material to protect the boot lid paint. Although I haven’t tried this removable material, it looked promising, easy to get, and large enough to protect the paint….

https://canada.michaels.com/en/cricut-p ... 32334.html

HTH

Stu