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MG MGA - Boot release
| Hi all
Can someone offer a suggestion I have recently purchased a fully restored MGA The rubber seals on the boot have been renewed, making the closure tight In trying to release the boot the bar/wire has gone slack, making be believe that it has become detached. Has anyone else had the same issue? If so how did you resolve the problem One suggestion through MGAguru in USA was to drill a hole underneath the body to gain access to the boot release. Seems a bit drastic, but I can understand as a solution Another idea was to gain access via the spare wheel cover that protrudes into the seat area, but I didn’t know if the spare wheel could be moved Any advice would be welcome Thanks Paul Cooper |
| P A Cooper |
| Post a photo from behind seats so we can see whether you have a spare wheel. A borescope will let you see what your problem is but will require a small hole either in floor or back panel. MGAguru is possibly best solution. Mike |
| Mike Ellsmore |
| Paul Have you tried pulling the release out as far as it can go. I'm just wondering whether it may have come loose from the pivot in the nearside corner but might still be attached to the latch. If its attached to the latch it might just unlatch even if the angles are all wrong. John |
| John Francis |
| Hi If you are going to try pulling on the slack cable as above get someone to apply pressure to the lid to ease the load on the latch. Barry |
| B Bridgens |
| As Barry says, a bit of downward pressure on the lid before resorting to attacking the metal. By the way, it's all bar with very substantial split pin secured pivots, plus one that is secured by a nut; no cables to snap. Steve |
| Steve Gyles |
| Welcome to the Bulletin Board Paul,
hope you enjoy your MGA as much as we all do. I have seen someone open a jammed-up MGA boot lid by getting hold of the boot rack and giving it a very hard shove to one side. The boot lid was pushed to one side far enough to free the latch and so the boot opened. The downside to this method is that it may distort the boot hinges a little and so they may have to straighten them out afterwards before the boot lid will latch again. Not so good if you are away from home on a trip for example, but not so bad if the car is in your garage. So maybe worth trying as a last resort. Cheers Colyn |
| Colyn Firth |
| Paul, My picture shows the boot lid catch from inside the boot. Push a flat blade (kitchen knife) under the rubber seal, up and forward, to force the catch down until it disengages from its counterpart on underside of the lid. At the same time have someone pull hard on the internal release rod to assist. Please report progress. Good luck, Barry. 
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| Barry Gannon |
| Barry I have just had a look at my lock. I see where you are coming from but the latch pivot makes it geometrically very hard to push the latch in. I am guessing that you might crack it with 3 people; one pulling the release handle to rotate the pivot; one wielding the kitchen knife; and one pushing down? Steve |
| Steve Gyles |
| I have geen giving this some thought and I don't think that pushing a thin blade into the latch is likely to release it.
The latch needs to be pulled back to release and so I wondered if it would be possible to make a very thin flexible spring like blade which has a small 90° section at the very end. The idea being that the small 90° edge will engage onto the sharp end of the latch so that when you push it fully into the latch, you can then pull the latch back to release it. I have attached a very poor sketch to try to illustrate what I am thinking about. (The picture has uploaded rotated by 90°, so you need to look at it turned sideways to see what I really had in mind) Does anyone think that this would work? Cheers Colyn 
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| Colyn Firth |
| Thank you all for your input into this problem
To answer some of the questions above The release cord/bar behind the passenger seat is slack with a lot of play. Their is a spare wheel/tyre in the boot with a cover the is riveting in place. One of the thoughts is to cut the rivets out to gain access by pushing the spare wheel back, from others experience, how muc( room is their to push the wheel back to access the boot release? If anyone else has suggestions, they would be most welcome Thank You Paul |
| Paul Cooper |
| Paul the spare wheel is most likely held in position by its holding clamp! Reaching that from inside the cabin would likely be difficult. If you did release it, the wheel could be moved upward and back. It would then be directly in front of, and blocking access to, the catch. Barry. |
| Barry Gannon |
| Paul
There is no cord nor cable. It is all metal rod with split pin retained linkages . I have just played with my mechanism to try and simulate your situation. There is a lot of play in the rods and linkages when the latch is almost fully withdrawn but stuck for the final fractions of an inch. When I pushed the handle back and forth I could hear the linkages rattle all the way back to the latch indicating that everything was still attached. I then gave the handle one more sharp tug and the latch fully retracted. Try the same on yours and if the rods rattle all the way back to the latch give it that sharp strong tug while someone is applying downward pressure on the lid. Steve |
| Steve Gyles |
| Answer 1
If other other ideas fail I would cut a hole in the side of the boot under the left hand rear wing. Small to start with as you could get hold of rod at swivel point but if that doesn’t work a larger hole to get at catch. I think this would best point to get in and no one will see from the outside. Perhaps do repair with screwed panel, rather than weld, in case it happens again. To find exact location for hole you would need access to another A with an open boot. Answer 2 After writing the answer above I went out to take the attached photos of my 1500 boot. What it shows is there are 3 points where a split pin could have failed allowing the rod to pop out and 2 of these are in the left hand corner of the boot. BUT their is already a 10mm hole through the inner wing for the rear light wires very close to where the corner piece for the rods is which means if you can get your hand on an endoscope you could have a look around and see what has failed. Please don’t comment on scurvy nature of these never seen corners of my boot! Paul 
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| Paul Dean |
| I imagine that everyone is inside their boot making sure that where possible the pull rods are inserted so that they can not fall out under gravity. Makes it more difficult to insert the split pins but well worth the effort. |
| Bolney Coupe |
|
I am coming in a little late, with a contribution toward the awfull bonnet and boot release fittings on our MG A's. At best, their designs are agricultural. I purchased a strong solonoid for an electric boot release--but for many reasons it would not work. In the end, the release effort was greatly reduced by adding 1 1/14' to the length of the release arm that moves the tongue on the lock. It all fits down-under and out of sight. SOO much easier now to open the boot. I have moved the bonnet's release to the driver's side too--fitted up a decient "T" handle purchased from the wreckers. Lengthened the release arm too---works beautifully, now. While thinking of annoying features of our cars---My car is an imported LHD bodel from California. The key external key lock is on the car's left side door. Unlocking the car involves stretching through the car, to release the driver's inside door handle. What a bother. There are great little after-market electronic remote door lock release kits available---not expensive-- when the first wet weekend shows up, I plan to take the door trims off and to tinker. Convenience. Cheers from Down Under. |
| I.W. Cowen. |
| Have you taken any pictures of your boot-release mechanism modification Ian? It sounds like it may be a worthwhile Winter project. Cheers Colyn |
| Colyn Firth |
| Ian & Colyn Sounds an interesting idea increasing the fulcrum length although it doesn't help the already stuck lid as in Paul's situation. As you say, food for thought as a preventative measure. At the other end of the car I have converted the grill to external release but it's not so easy down the back. Steve |
| Steve Gyles |
| Paul,
Not sure how recently you purchased the car, but as its fully restored I would be inclined to get who ever sold the car to sort the problem out. Is this the first time you have tried to open the boot? Some boot seals are too hard and don't have the right amount of compression in them, this compression is required to make the boot lid spring open when the catch is released. In the past I have had to return a boot seal because it failed to spring the boot open and replace it with a more compliant seal. As Steve has stated the operating mechanism comprises rods held in place with split pinned secured clevis pins, if any of these have become dislodged the pull mechanism would become completely detached when you pull the handle and you would end up with most of the rod pulled through. If you are unable to return the car to have the fault rectified then before drilling holes or trying to remove the spare wheel cover, it would be worth getting someone to pull the release handle while you try and pull the boot lid up using one of the L shaped trim removal tools. Can I ask where in Essex you are located? |
| John Bray |
| Continued thanks for all your comments from around the world
Certainly some great ideas being put forward To answer the last one from John The restorers are being very helpful, the car car restored up in Lincolnshire, they are actually coming down later this week to take a look and hopefully between us we can resolve the problem. Comments from you all and other MG Owners forums have been gratefully received I will update later with photos and let you know the cause John - I live about 7 miles south of Chelmsford Regards Paul |
| Paul Cooper |
| What did the restorer say when he visited you? |
| Bolney Coupe |
| I had to put him off from coming down this week. Yet to arrange when he is coming down I will post an update Paul |
| Paul Cooper |
| For Steve Gyles - Can you point me to your grill external release posts. I have searched the archives with no luck. Thanks, George Goeppner Orland Pk IL |
| George G. |
| Steve, is your website still up and running? I couldn't get a response from it when I tried to look at it earlier today. Cheers Colyn |
| Colyn Firth |
| I have binned that website. Cost cutting. The jack website though pays for itself. I will look at loading it on that website with a hidden link for you guys. Steve |
| Steve Gyles |
| Colyn I have added the Grill External Release to my car jack website with a hidden link. It can only be accessed by this external URL: http://www.classic-british-car-jacks.uk/Radiator_Grill_External_Release.htm Steve |
| Steve Gyles |
| Steve’s solution to the grille release potential problem is elegant but I still prefer the simple solution of cutting by hacksaw screwdriver slots in the threaded ends of the top bolts, grease them well and reinstate everything as normal. In the event of a stuck bonnet release, just use a screwdriver upwards to the top bolts to release. The bottom ones are accessible as is. I prefer this solution as the grille fitting remains firm and standard as designed.
Just to keep this thread on track (re the boot stuck latch problem) I would strongly advise Mr Paul Cooper to just bite the bullet and cut a decent sized hole under the locking mechanism (see Barney’s site for location/dimensions) then no more worries. The hole is easily and cosmetically sealed with various approaches, from gaffer tape to metal, and over painted to be invisible. Then it’s easy to solve a sticking lock in future. Bruce |
| Bruce Mayo |
| I haven't read all of the posts so if this has already been suggested, sorry for the duplication. Maybe it's possible to remove one of the bolts that holds the fender to the body that is almost in line with where the rod would be. After removing the bolt, try sticking a stiff wire with a hook formed on the end into the hole and see if you can hook the latch with the hook and pull it to the open position. Jim |
| JL Cheatham |
| Finally sorted !!
An update for you on the boot release on my MGA We cut out the spare wheel cover and moved the wheel enough to get a long metal bar into the boot spat to activate the catch. We discovered that the metal bracket had been been poorly welded in place and meant that when I pull the rod it broke free We will now fabricate a new bracket and weld it in place I would certainly recommend that all MGA owners check the security of this mounting bracket to avoid this happening to your car Than you to all that have contributed to this posting Happy Motoring in you MGA Regards Paul Cooper Chelmsford England 
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| Paul Cooper |
| Well done. Just had a look at mine. It's a strong bracketing arrangement. Must have taken some force over the years to break it. Worth checking the freedom of movement of the latch and give it a good grease. Steve |
| Steve Gyles |
| Paul Pity you didn’t pursue my suggestion from 19 November as as it happens it would have been possible to pull the boot rod through the underwing wiring hole, probably a bit fiddly though. Glad it’s sorted. I presume your bracket had been refitted by a restorer at some time rather than being original. Paul |
| Paul Dean |
This thread was discussed between 16/11/2020 and 13/12/2020
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