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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Frogeye boot hatch

A new topic!
One issue with the frogeye boot is awkward access, but this is combined with easy access for thieves! I think I have seen or read of additions to provide a lockable door / hatch / bulkhead panel behind the seats so that goodies can be placed out of sight and left reasonably secure. There may have even been aftermarket kits available at one time?

I am just considering whether to weld in some flanges set back behind the B posts and maybe a slim length of angle along the crest of the axle hump to which a security panel with a lockable hatch could be fitted later.

So any views on this. Any advice? Anyone made something practical along these lines?
Guy W

Hi Guy

Indeed there were such accessories around. Have a look a Gary's frogeye site which has a section on period publications and has one or two of these shown.

I did have a frog (broken for spares years ago) which had the remains of one fitted. It had a lockable cubby hole. It was sort of OK but further restricted access to the boot. It thought it would make getting the spare out even more of a pain especially refitting the tie down straps when putting the wheel away again. it also meant that access to the boot to recover smaller items was none too clever.

I have had to lie face down on the hump to be able to reach the depths of the boot to find the elusive spanner or item of clothing. Lying on a length of angle would make it even less desirable!

Bob Beaumont

Thanks Bob,
I was thinking along the lines of a closing panel made up of two short fixed stubs over the wheel arches at either side, probably trimmed in vinyl to match the interior. And then a sizeable central panel secured to a framed opening, with turnbuckles and a lock. If this was fully removable rather than hinged it shouldn't significantly reduce the already restricted access. The angle was to give it something to fasten to across its width. But you are right, it could be uncomfortable to lie on!

Maybe I wont weld anything on across there just yet. Then I could experiment later on with something like a shallow aluminium channel section bolted down.

Better go and look at Gary's site for inspiration!
Guy W

I guess it depends how clever the thieves are, I had a tape nicked from the cassette player in my car as they couldn't figure out how to get in, they broke the side windows on the other 2 cars on the drive. Another time I was speaking to someone and they mentioned a guy, who was not known for being bright, asking how one got in the car with no external handles.
David Billington

Well I wasn't thinking of anything particularly high security. Just a cover so that stuff in the boot isn't open to full view when I park up for 10 minutes at the shops
Guy W

My first Frog, which I owned as a student had a hatch. It was a large ply panel hinged along the bottom edge and mounted on the edge of the axle hump. A handle top dead centre also locked it closed.
If you think access to the boot is bad now, that panel really got in the way. It hinged forward and sat against the tilted seat backs making access really difficult. Less of a problem at 19 compared with 70! No, I don't have one now.
Graeme Williams

I'm embarrassed to say so, but I've got one. At the moment it's stored on the garage roof joists, but it would be easy to get it down and give you whatever info you need.

I don't think there are any special bits of metalwork on the shell - I don't remember getting injured by anything on the hump as I dive in there - though cups and screws do appear on the rear deck.

Here's a picture taken just after I took the door off it. There will be notes in my dismantling book.


Nick and Cherry Scoop

Creepy, Nick! You've been into my brain cell and taken a photo of my imagination!

The question really only arose today because I was wondering if it would be a good idea to weld on some fixing brackets of some sort, for use at a later date. But I think I will skip that, and add fastening later with self tappers or small bolts.
Guy W

I've been having fun this morning, reminding myself of the boot hatch.

Here's a shot of it from the cockpit, as it were. I don't think it's a bought item - the first owner was so good at making things for this car - but he may have copied something that was available in the 60s.

Note the pretty piping around the edge, stopping at the top corners where it will no longer be seen. Stops are at the sides only, with spongy anti-rattle strips.


Nick and Cherry Scoop

From the back:-


Nick and Cherry Scoop

Back Detail. Bracket to fix into the wheel arch, and floor fixing next to the hinge bed.


Nick and Cherry Scoop

Three cup and screw fixings across the rear deck. Very professionally done, with sealant under the cups, under the screws, wiped off and painted. Rubber washers inside, between deck and frame top.

This non-standardness never bothered us, partly because we nearly always had the tonneau fixed to the rear, ready for action. Downside to that can be seen in the blooming paint finish.


Nick and Cherry Scoop

Last one. No special brackets or flanges fixed to the body: just bolt holes:- two on the floor and one on each arch.

This is the shot that shows roughly where he placed it on the hump.


Nick and Cherry Scoop

Thanks Nick, all saved for future reference. Did you find it a useful addition?

steering wheel for a back seat driver?
Guy W

Sorry about the wheel. I was so exhausted after clearing junk off the rear deck for the photograph, I forgot the stuff in the cockpit.

I would say the lockup was essential for our peace of mind. We used to do week-long summer tours, and having dumped the stuff from the boot rack in our B&B, we would go out for dinner, a stately home, beach etc. The tonneau does deter thieves, I reckon, but far better to have a locked boot as well.

Of course, that loss of just a few inches all round does make you swear a bit when you're wrestling the spare wheel out, but as you're already in a black mood, it's not really much of an extra problem.
Nick and Cherry Scoop

A random thought - could a later rear cockpit trim panel fit or be adapted to fit? Could it be held with just a couple of wing nuts or similar?
Just thinking :)
Jeremy T2

Jeremy,
I just happen to have one as a spare for my other car, so yes that's an option. Only thin is they are a bit flimsy and I never thought they fit particularly well.
Guy W

Here

https://frogeye.smugmug.com/Mk1SpritesFrogeye/Mk1-Sprite-Period-Adverts/i-PLJqm22/A

and here
https://frogeye.smugmug.com/Mk1SpritesFrogeye/Mk1-Sprite-Period-Adverts/i-FbrpbfF/A
G Lazarus

Yes Gary. Thanks l had been and taken a look at those. I'm not going to make one just yet, but it's something l may well come back to sometime in the future.
GuyW

Guy, I've wondered about security. I suppose it depends to what extent you wish to use the car. As a minimum you'd carry a jack and wheel brace I guess. Even a thin wooden panel wedged in, in some way, would be some kind of hurdle to thieves. Work in progress (well it could be.....) for now.
Bill Bretherton

My boot hatch was on my Frogeye when I bought it in 1969.
There is an angle iron frame - two sides and a top. The top piece has a rigid hasp projecting forward with a hole for the small padlock. The frame bolts to the wheelarch.
The 'door' is a piece of ply covered in vynil. At its base are two spikes that locate in two holes in the floor. At the top is a hole for the hasp.
So to fit the 'door' just locate the spikes in the floor push it back against the frame and fit the padlock. It has worked fine all those years. When access is required just undo and remove the padlock and then remove the 'door' completely.
Alan
Alan Anstead

Thanks Alan,
That's another perspective. I have already concluded that the hatch needs to be removable - the idea of squirming over a fold down hatch hinged along the bottom doesn't appeal! And neither does another version I saw which used sliding 1/2 hatches. Forget to fasten them and they would make nice guillotines sliding side to side as one drives around "S" bends!

But the idea of just two pins located into holes in the rear axle hump is better than a fixed piece across the bottom. Nothing to catch your dangling apparel (!) on as you dive for that escaped socket in the boot!

Bill, I am not thinking of security as in someone couldn't break in with a bar or size 11 boot, to pinch stuff. More a feeling that the car nether regions aren't just fully on view to all passers-by.
GuyW

This thread was discussed between 10/01/2017 and 12/01/2017

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