S1 boot stay

[greymrj]

The boot stay on my S1 is damaged and tatty. Has anybody come up with a source for something better/neater?

[JT]

me too

[crossle]

Some jerk at the MOT garage bent mine to bu**ery last year trying to slam the bootlid. I tried straitening it but to no avail. It was crap anyway! Now I use a golf umbrella. Easier, more reliable and handy too!

[greymrj]

Hmmmm, if anybody has got a good source looks like there will be plenty of interest. Slightly reassured to find that others may be even worse than mine!

[ketvrin]

Go on ebay and search for "boot strut" (or similar) and you will find pleanty, get one the same length and with the same end fittings to replace yours. or go to your local scrappy with the duff one in hand and I'm sure you will get sorted.

good luck

Ketvrin

[tvrbloke]

My car's never had one - what is the original like? Any ideas what the original donor was? (a picture would be nice to see what i'm missing...)

[JT]

I get the feeling that we may be talking about different items.

The earlier cars came with a folding metal bracket that locks in the folding position (this is what I'm looking for).

The earlier cars had a centre rear catch and tend to warp the lid if you try fitting a pressurised strut on the side without relocating the catch (which is why i took mine off).

Looks like the golf umberella is not a bad idea, of course the alternative would be to use a similar strut to the bonnet which has the advantage of simplicity which i'm in favour of

jake

[greymrj]

Just taken a pic of the strut off my S1. Thanks ketvrin but I did look round a big scrap yard and didnt see anything suitable. The strut is very short and I couldnt find a gas strut that short. There is certainly also the problem that the boot lid and surround is quite light duty and I wouldnt be sure it would be a good thing to have the constant pressure of a gas strut. Incidentally my strut is at the front offside corner of the boot and is only about 6" long. I was trying to find something in the joinery market but I havent spotted anything good yet. Who will be the first to find the ideal item!
http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa

[ketvrin]

Aha ! strut vs stay...

mine is fitted with a gas strut so I will take a photo of it when I get home and post it for you here. I will see if I can see any identifying marks too. I did fit a short strut to the engine cover of an MR2 I had a while back - I will see if I can find out what car that was off as it was not too powerful so should not distort the lid.

the stay looks like a wardrobe or window catch. I've seen these in hardware shops.

K

Edited by ketvrin on Thursday 10th May 11:42

[ketvrin]

any good ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MORRIS-MINOR-BO

theres another off a spitfire...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RELIANT-SCIMITA

search for boot stay...

Edited by ketvrin on Thursday 10th May 12:36

[Colin RedGriff]

Don't know if these are the right size but they might fit the bill (Europa spares).

https://secure.visav.co.uk/avshop/products.asp?sword=stay&page=&showitem=1316

Or these guys seem to have a variety of options, it'll coming down to knowing the open and closed length and fixings on the end.

www.accesscomponents.co.uk/products/category/stays/

[greymrj]

Thanks for the interest Ketvrin, the old BMC slider might be an idea, with different mounting points. The old TVR fitment brings the two fixing points very close together when closed, suspect the old BMC slider is 6" plus when closed. I will check it out.
Thanks Colin, couldnt get the http to open but the fittings shown on that webpage look interesting. I've just been tipped off about a specialist carpenters ironmongery supplier in my general area, think I will give them a visit and report back. Is there a nice stainless item out there waiting to be found?

[ketvrin]

greymrj said:

Thanks ketvrin but I did look round a big scrap yard and didnt see anything suitable. The strut is very short and I couldnt find a gas strut that short.

Ok I have posted a couple of pictures on the end of myphotoalbum detailing the gas strut thats on mine... it looks like an audi/vw unit as it is a "stabilus", the gas body is 10 inches long, and the mounting points will be different to your shorter "stay" allowing you to use a much longer strut than your stay. I cant see any evidence of twisting of the lid. I pop the lid and it lifts itself into the fully open position - neat !

I hope this helps you decide

K

[greymrj]

Thanks Kevin, interesting photo, mountings in boot completely different but I will look to see if realistic to make similar mounts in mine. It has occured to me that the original stay is very close to the hinge line and therefore pretty weak, plus the old stay doesnt pop the boot open nicely as yours does! Two options to pursue now! p.s. Inside boot looks very smart, congrats!

[ketvrin]

Last word... promise

came across this - look at page 4

www.carbuildersolutions.co.uk/download/cataloguejuly2005.pdf

[JT]

beware I tried fitting a gas strut to my early S2 with centre catch (unlike ketvrins which has a side catch). The result was stress on the boot lid causing it to sit too high when closed and had potential to damage the lid long term. The one I got was from RT racing (about 60 quid). It had adjustable pressure and even with most of the gas let out it was still too powerful. If you have a rear centre catch you will need to move it to the side to avoid stressing and damaging the lid.

jake

[martijn]

The Wixroyd site as mentioned above appears to show a very similar stay.

[url]www.accesscomponents.co.uk/product[/url]

The N080 series looks good it doesn't show on the thumbnail but open the bigger image or drawing and you'll see. Let's measure and order!!!

[JT]

Resurecting an old thread...

anyone buy any of these? If so how did you get on with them?

jake

[greymrj]

Hi Jake, sorry, other things got in the way. I did contact them last week and I'm awaiting a response to an email which included picture and details. If I get a response I will post details.
Richard

[JT]

cheers