Boot Latch (Spring Mounting)

[tbsmith]

(Originally posted to the Plus 2 forum by mistake)

I bought a spring and bobbin that keeps the boot open, but none of the suppliers here in US the had the bracket, so I'm going to make one. Can someone post some measurements of it, especially the width? Is it bent up sheet metal? I suppose it has to be pretty stout. A picture would help too!

Thanks!

Tom

[type36lotus]

Yes it should be stout. The repro I got was not and folded down! I bent it back and made a strut to support it. From the wheel well to the bracket.

[johnstice]

Try Susan Miller's in the UK she listed the boot stay bracket (S3-S4-Sprint) for sale in her last catalog for ?5.50

[tbsmith]

Ah, wish I knew about that sooner. I just finished making a bracket, but now the spring seems to put way too much stress on the fiberglass when trying to close it (it bends the lip of the trunk so much that I haven't the nerve to push down hard enough to actually close it).

I'm wondering if I have the right bobbin. Could someone with a Sprint measure the smaller diameter of the bobbin (where the spring wraps around it)? I might turn the diameter down a bit to reduce the force.

The bracket itself is strong enough, but the fiberglass seems too weak.

As you can see in the pictures, I tied the bracket into the steel channel than runs between the two hinges. I've never seen what the original bracket is supposed to look like on the later cars... is there supposed to be an auxiliary bracket that somehow reinforces this to another part of the body?

Tom