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MG MGA - Hood frame support bracket?

Does anyone recall a thread about a suuport bracket for the hood frame posted over last couple of years? It prevented the collapsed frame from digging into the back of the seats and held the hood bundle in the correct postion above the spare wheel. It was bolted to the chassis just behind the seat (painted biege). I would like a photo of this bracket if anyone has it or can find it online or in the archives.
Cheers
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

I found them after a bit of a search! Has anyone installed these support brackets, are they successful?
Mike




Mike Ellsmore

Looks like a bottle top opener?...could have a few other uses!
Gary Lock

Mike. I have used some 4 or 6mm shock cord tied to my seat belt top mount with a bowline loop over the end of the hood frame. That holds the frame back a bit with some flex and doesn't knock the paint off the frame. The seat belt mount is bolted to the wing bolts. Alternatively a small bracket/hoop could be bolted onto the end of a lengthened wing bolt to hook the shock cord onto. John

John Francis

These look just the job, my hood has never behaved itself, seems others might have the same issue. Has anybody found a supplier for these or could make up a sketch to give us a clue as to dimensions and can self-tapping screws be used to secure?
PeteT
PeteT

Do any of you guys drive your MGA roadster around with no spare wheel fitted? Or without the spare wheel clamp installed?

A few months after I first got my newly restored roadster I found that the hood frame ends had been digging into the back of my drivers seat and had ripped a hole into it.

I was visiting Bob Wests and asked if his trimmer Les could make me a couple of leather sleeves to slip over the sharp ends of the hood frame to prevent more damage.

Les gave me a pitying look and asked me to open the boot and partially lift up the hood frame.
He then took hold of the spare wheel and gave it a firm shove forwards into its slot through the rear bulkhead. The tyre moved forwards a few inches and he then told me to lay the hood frame back down again.

I could immediately see that the frame now rested on to of the spare tyre and the sharp edges of the frame were now lying neatly out of the way alongside the chassis rail, well away from the seat backs.

I wish I had known about this sooner.

I next bought and installed a repro spare wheel clamp and this has since then held the spare wheel firmly in place to act as a hood frame rest.

I have since then installed a space-saver spare and, even though it has a narrower section tyre, it still supports the hood frame correctly.

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Interesting comment Colyn ref space saver spare but you're running knock on peg drive steel wheels how does that work?
Also can anyone confirm if a 165 section tyre will fit through the rear bulhead with the spare wheel cover installed? I should know the answer to this but I'm having doubts.
Many thanks Mark.
M Dollimore

I can confirm the 165/80R15 tyres fit into the standard aperture
Dominic Clancy

My 165 tyres just get through into the bulkhead with a heck of a shove. Eventually, I got hold of and fitted a clamp which meant forcing the tyre further in.
I assumed this must now be correct as I discovered how the folded hood was now held up in a much better position. It's one of those things that I struggle with and is never quite right. I'm sure these little brackets could help.
PeteT
PeteT

Mark,
AFAIK, there isn't a knock-on space-saver wheel available for the MGA splined hub.
Mine came from a pre-85 Saab 95 and I managed to find a Michelin XZX tyre in a 135 x 15 size to fit.

Pete, when I had a conventional spare, it did have a 165 x 15 tyre fitted and I used to deflate it slightly to make it easier to fit through the slot. I carried a tiny electric tyre compressor in the boot in case I ever needed to use the spare but I never used it.

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Hi Colyn

Someone both of us know drives his A without a spare wheel. His tyres are fitted with tubes and he believes if he had to use the emergency seal/blowup it would only write off the tube. I am not sure whether he has had to use it in anger. I don’t know whether he still has the clamp but he has certainly built a shelf arrangement arrangement where wheel should be.

I don’t like to name people who I don’t think are on the BBS but he was on the last Scottish MGA Day and lives about an hours drive from you. I will email name if you want.

Paul
Paul Dean

I can see the advantages of running without a spare wheel, the increase in luggage space would be awesome.

But as everyone on here knows, I am inclined to carry the odd spare part or two in my boot (and in lots of other spaces).
I just can't bring myself to run without a spare wheel.

So the space-saver spare is a good compromise for me, I can still fit a surprisingly big soft kit bag full of spares into the centre space of the wheel and the tyre still helps to keep the hood frame from digging into the back of the seats.

Paul, I didn't realise that our friends carried no spare wheel on our trips, I often wondered how his wife managed to carry so many spare sets clothes in the MGAs boot :^)

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Colyn - I think you might have wrong friend. It is not SM but IW.

I have done a bit of research and the best inflator that doesn’t wreck tyres is Holts Tyreweld. The motor bike community say it should work as a get you home solution with tubes but they don’t sound very confident. Of course if you also carry a spare tube it shouldn’t have to get you too far.

Paul
Paul Dean

The problems I've experienced when using a space saver spare are that the space freed up when touring is usually taken up with extra luggage so when you get a flat the damaged full size wheel is stored in the boot and the passenger gets to nurse the displaced luggage on their lap until it's repaired, also the space saver is limited to 80kph which can be an issue if you travel on a motorway with a limit of 110kph I've reverted back to carrying a full size spare and selective packing.
I Hazeldine

Ian ?
I have thought about the problem of carrying my 6" wide wheel if I ever have to fit the space-saver spare. (My 6" alloys will not fit into the slot through the bulkhead)

I carry some strong bungee cords to secure it in the boot on top off everything inside and to hold the boot lid down because I saw that the boot lid would not close with the wide wheel in there.

I have also found that, if you erect the soft top, it will rest quite well on top of it, with some suitable padding to protect the vinyl. I tried some good strong bungee cords which seemed to make it pretty secure up there and the hood frame also seemed not to be affected by the weight of it.

Having said that, I haven't actually driven the car with the wheel on top, but I would think that a more gentle style of driving would be advised and for only as long as it takes to fix the puntured tyre.

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

I always partially/wholly deflate my spare when stuffing it in the boot. Goes into the hole very easily. I then either inflate it in situ with my compressor or ensure I have a footpump in the boot.

Steve
Steve Gyles

A couple more comments to add to this thread,

I run Pirelli P6000 185x65x15 tyres on my roadster. With this size tyre it was very difficult to get the spare wheel in and out of the slot. I cut 15mm of metal off above the slot and bent the edge over so it looks like original. Wheel is easy to get in and out now.

For long distance trips (eg 10,000 kms tour around Europe and UK in 2015) I mounted the spare wheel on a modified luggage rack on the boot lid (I have two boot lids!). With this setup most of the time the hood is up but when it is folded away I use a short stub of PVC pipe that sits on the battery cover and holds the hood bundle at the same height as that with the spare wheel fitted. This protects the back of the seat from damage by the frame arms.

Cheers
Mike


Mike Ellsmore

When I got my £100 Coupe in 1969 I had the spare wheel bolted directly onto the boot lid. I needed the boot capacity as is was doing 30k miles a year in that rust heap so I needed the boot capacity at times. By the way I still have the boot lid with its 2 holes but on the wall of the garage not on the car. I wouldn’t do this to my rather more valuable A now but the arrangement had a big advantage that the rear view was much better with the wheel being lower than on a rack. Also I had a suction rear view mirror mounted high on the windscreen.

Paul
Paul Dean

Paul, I also ran a high mount suction rear view mirror with wing mirrors both sides. No problem with rear viewing.
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Of course the other irritation with these setups is the boot lid doesn’t pop up when you pull the release because of additional weight. I must have got around this as I was often on my own when I would have been getting into the boot

Paul

Paul Dean

This thread was discussed between 06/01/2021 and 17/01/2021

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