Low-Budget Luggage Rack

[roscoe]

Hi Roscoe--

I like what you have done thus far and wonder why you don't make your LR semi-permanant with bolts going up through the boot lid into threaded inserts, etc? As shown on the red and white car it's a nice look and is certainly safer than straps and cups, etc. Four small chrome buttons to fill the holes when the rack is off is not a bad look.

All that said. I can fit a lot of soft luggage in the boot of my car, with tools, spares, fluids and odds and ends stowed in their own compartments beneath the flaps as pictured. As I recall I used 1/2 sheet of 3/4" MDO and one 8' length of HD continuous hinge. I'd be happy to send you a full-size pattern of the floor and flaps when my car comes back in a couple of months.

See: https://www.britishcarforum.com/community/attachments/bn1boot-jpg.58307/

You are correct that a more permanent mount would be better. I kind of liked the idea of being able to remove it with no trace left but a couple of buttons would be minimal. I am sure there would be more than a couple of BN1/2 folks who'd love a drawing of your compartments. At least in my case you wouldn't see the pile of spare bits I carry.

With regard to boots, I wonder if anyone has bothered to address the fact that unless you are using the bias ply tires that are like original, most radial tires don't want to fit very easily in the space alloted for the spare due to the vertical dimension of the space being too small for modern tire sizes. I used to have to shove the inflated tire in with a big foot ( what better to use in the " boot") and pulling it out was most unpleasant so now I just insert it partially until it is firmly wedged and leave it at that. I could leave it partially inflated but that kind of defeats a quick wheel and tire change by the road side. One of those small 12V compressors might be the fix for doing it that way but with my luck I'd have a flat battery along with a flat tire. Fix-a-flat anyone?

 

[Healey Nut]

Trimming down the wood block on the back wall of the trunk(boot) solves the spare tire fit issue .
may also require a slight bending of the prop rod depending on tire size , or remove the rod and replace it with gas struts that some of the regular suppliers have .

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[roscoe]

Memory is fuzzy, correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure the BN2 has no wood block in the spare tire space.

 

[Michael Oritt]

With regard to boots, I wonder if anyone has bothered to address the fact that unless you are using the bias ply tires that are like original, most radial tires don't want to fit very easily in the space alloted for the spare due to the vertical dimension of the space being too small for modern tire sizes.

I have been running Michelin radials on my BN1 since I got it in 1999--first 175 XZX's and now 180 XAS 's--including the spare mounted on a 60-spoke wheel. And, while what you say about the slot for the spare tire's being small is true, I solved the problem it by gently using a scissor jack to increase the vertical height of the space to accommodate the spare tires' wider cross sections.

It is still a tight fit but by using a slippery plastic laundry bag the fully inflated XAS spare fits in the space. I know it sounds scary but it worked for me, and I can with some effort both insert and extract the fully inflated spare into the slot and up into the upholstered pocket--which looks like it was moulded to fit the tire.

BTW the tire shown in the pic in my last post is a 180R XAS and the flat nylon strap around it helps me to extract it from its pocket.

 

[roscoe]

Perfect! The thought of gently expanding the space had occurred to me but I cringed at the thought of the aftermath when trying to undo my efforts if it made something cockeyed. I imagined a big oil canning hump appearing in the rear shroud. When I was into jamming the tire into place I did use some thin visqueen and it did help but not enough for my taste.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Memory is fuzzy, correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure the BN2 has no wood block in the spare tire space.

My BN2 doesn't have one. In fact, the slot for the spare is very tight; I bought 4 new 165/80 Vredesteins on 4.5 rims and one 155 for a spare that takes some shoving to get in. The hold-down--not that it's really needed--is a 'spoon' that catches between a couple spokes, with a leather belt lashed to the bulkhead behind the rear axle well.

 

[roscoe]

Just an update. This past Sunday was the Capay Valley Almond Festival. One of our stops on the
way to Rumsey for some food was at an antique shop owned by a friend in Gunda. On a shelf was a 195Os vintage Samsonite leather covered suitcase that was a perfect fit for my luggage rack. A couple of leather straps and I'll be set.

 

[John Turney]

Just an update. This past Sunday was the Capay Valley Almond Festival. One of our stops on the
way to Rumsey for some food was at an antique shop owned by a friend in Gunda. On a shelf was a 195Os vintage Samsonite leather covered suitcase that was a perfect fit for my luggage rack. A couple of leather straps and I'll be set.

My parents had a set of those when I was a kid. They were very heavy compared to modern luggage, but very durable.