GT6 'boot'' boards

[rulloyd]

Hi all

I'm refering to the 2 boards covering the spare wheel and the Fuel tank respectivelly.

Looking at teh dtail on them, mine are almost certainly original GT6 but I notice that one is about 1.5mm thinner than the other.   Seems very odd - has anybody else come across this?

I need to make a new board to cover the spare wheel as mine is badly bowed. Obviously thicker is best but wondering if there could be any explanation?

Maybe I have a mk 3 and a mk 2 board or something?  Really not sure.

Many thanks for any advice.

Rich

[Adrian]

First thought would be someone has replaced on of the boards with a DIY board. The spring retaining clips should dictate the correct thickness - I'd suggest the thicker of the two. Is it the thinner one that's bowed.

 

Adrian

[dougbgt6]

My originals were badly bowed and I replaced them with plywood, which itself is now starting to bow. I may need something thicker!    I still have the originals and pretty sure they are the same thickness. They have to butt up against each other,

so why would they be different?

Doug

[rulloyd]

Now that I look at them again, I think it's intentional.  The thicker board is over the spare wheel and is the one thats bowed.  I'm guessing that it's thicker because it's not supported in the middle where the tank board probably is by the tank.  In fact there is a plate fixed along the edge of the fuel tank board to support the spare wheel board.  The plate is NOT flat and is actually recessed for something wider.  Also the spare wheel board has a strip of felt along the same joint (that sits on the supporting plate..  The shape of the plate suggests a different tickness unless that's supposed to account for the felt strip.    A very poor image of the metal support attached seen end on. 

I'm sure that neither are DIY copies BTW, the detail and fixings are too good.

Any other view welcome, not heard of this before!

Many thanks

[rulloyd]

I would take a pic of them joined together but both boards are in poor condition at the ends and you can't see teh difference. 

Thinking about it, probablythe recess is to account for the felt since they would need to align across the font edge where they mount on the transverse support wheel arch to wheelarch.  So remains a mystery.

I'll probaly make a new spare wheel board and go with the the thinner thickness therefore - with a thick felt strip and add support (maybe polystyrene) on top of the spare wheel.

Strange!

[Colin Lindsay]

Mine are both aftermarket / DIY versions and the only caveat is that if you make them too thick they'll not fit into the clips at the rear. The petrol tank side has foam where it rests on the tank;  two or three strips, but the spare wheel side just hangs, supported only by the sides, and is susceptible to anything heavy being placed on top. Perhaps a thin metal brace would help here?

[Mark B]

Hi

On my Mk mk2 Gt6 the scissor jack handle/bar clips onto the underside of the spare wheel cover board, and adds some support to the board.

Mark

[rulloyd]

Mine has the same jack handle but it's still warped to hell.  :-(

Colin - as mentioned, I think the easy option is just to use polystyrene packing from the centre of the spare wheel to provide support. 

I still have no idea why bother making the boards different thicknesses - and I'm sure mine are original parts.  Very strange.

I haven't compared the thickness to the 3rd panel (the parcel shelf that runs behind the front seats) which will be interesting.

I'll try to look at another car and see if they have the same thing.

[Colin Lindsay]

There's quite a gap between the spare wheel and the board, particularly if you fit the wheel the correct way round ie the 'face' goes against the floor and is secured by a screwed hook or plate. That would require a lot of packing!

You'll be able to tell the thickness of your third panel by the way the carpet lies over it; if there's a visible ridge, it's thicker. Mine are all painted ply; quite solid and reasonably well made, but still fiddly to slide into the clips along the rear panel as they're too thick. Another way to brace the wheel panel is to glue another panel to the underside, cut smaller so as to fit within the supports but following the same outline. Quite neat if done well, and of course invisible from above.

[rulloyd]

Noted, thanks Colin.  My third panel is somewhere in the loft (I hope).  I have a rear seat that I found in a Triumph graveyard probably 30 years ago. 

Actually my car is in pieces,  currently  in process of chassis up rebuild.  I'm starting to think about the 'fittings' like these panels.  Tempted to see if I can straighten the original.   Maybe dampened  and left under a lot of weight to dry out.  Any ideas? (the originals are basically thick hardboard)

My friend Peter is doing all the work.  Multiple videos here:

 

[Colin Lindsay]

Excellent video and a lovely paint colour!!