Boot / Trunk lock problem

[handi_andi]

Hiya All

Haven't had much time to work on the old girl lately and have a pile of parts to fit, however, I have a slight problem preventing me from doing any of it at the moment.

I have always been paranoid about the boot/trunk release cable coming loose and so regularly check the tightness of the clamps on the cable and have even put a knot in the end of the cable to try and prevent problems. A few weeks ago, or for that matter was it months, I was driving her and everytime I stopped I found that the boot was open. I didn't think much of it, and put it down to me not remembering to close it or it working loose for some other reason and made a mental note of it as something to have a look at.

Anyway, the other day the key broke in the back door of my house and I needed to small pair of pliers from the boot of the old girl. I walked out to the car, opened the door, pulled on the handle and to my surprise instead of being greeted by the clunk of it unlocking I was greeted by 12inches of cable! So I did the only decent thing and sat down and had a Hamlet cigar!

Hence, does anyone know of any easy eays of releasing the trunk, short of cuttting a hole in the lid?

Cheers

Andt

[1964 S1]

Hello, I don't know of any easy ways but if I got stuck in your situation I'd seriously consider cutting a discreet small hole in the underside. Large enough to shine a flashlight through and then take a long, long screwdriver and pop the release. It reads like it'd be easy but I don't have my trunk floorboards in.
Can you get the rear license off? Maybe a hole drilled behind it would work better?
Or gentle prying by inserting small wedges at the rear seal and a small curved hook to catch on the catch below and a convincing sideways pull?

Good Luck, Eric

[elanman999]

Hi,
Section B page 23 in the workshop manual tells you where to drill.
Best of luck
John

[oldokie]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but if it was 'popping open' while you were driving her.....is it possible that it might happen again if you drove around a bit?

[handi_andi]

Had thought about that, however, here is the irony, being a responsible owner I keep the battery disconnected and due to starting problems in the past my spare battery and the jump leads are also in the trunk!!!!! LOL

Andy

[Jason1]

Hi

John is correct, but first try knocking out the pins from the hinges and bounce the boot lid. My boot is like yours in that it comes open when it feels like it and locks when you least expect. I can bounce mine open with the pins removed.

Failing this you will have to do as John says.

Jason

[Jason1]

Deleted Double post

[1964 S1]

Go with Jason's suggestions...

[handi_andi]

Thanks, knocking out the hinge pins worked fine thanks. Seems like the cable was suffering from corrosion and fretting fatigue it was entering and exiting the rear wheel arch. Going to have a look to see if I can get hold f a bike brake cable of the right size to avoid this problem.
Cheers
Andy

[handi_andi]

Hi All

I have just come in from replaing my broken boot release cable with a Universal Mountain Bike Brake Cable from Halfords for the grand sum of ?8-49. As you will see from the pictures below the kit comes with a long length of outer protective sleeving, a long and a short cable with pre-formed ends and a variety of ferrules etc. The end that looks most like the original is a perfect fit into the boot release handle and the cable and outer sleeve are plenty long enough for the job. The only thing I had to do to the old girl to fit it was to open up the hole in the front of the rear wheel ach so the protective sleeving would slip through. I also chose to open up the hole in the back of the handle so that the ferrule on the end of the protective sleeving could slide inside it in recoil and so nicely align it.

Since taking the photos I have also added a spring between the end termination which wouldn't stay where I wanted it and the boot release actuator arm to keep a bit of tension on the release cable, which means on recoil the handle goes back to its original position.

Hopefully this repair/upgrade should be better than the original as it will protect the cable from the elements as it passes through the wheel arch.

Thanks for all your help

Andrew