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MG MGA - Source for Hardboard

I own a 1960 MGA coupe and have driven it for the past several years on nice sunny days. Each year the sun has taken its toll on the covered parcel shelf hardboard and it is now warped and needs replacing. Where can I find a good quality board that will stand up to the sun?

Ken
L Caya

Ken,
I too need hardboard and am planning to look in craft shops.
Cheers,
Gerry
G T Foster

I'm not sure if this helps, but when I think of "hardboard" I just go to Home Depot. What I call hardboard is usually 1/8" thick (3/16"?), dark brown, and comes in various standard sizes. It can be curved somewhat, and has a variety of uses (inc MGA parcel shelves?)

George
G Goeppner

It sounds to me like we are all talking about masonite or tempered masonite, a slightly harder version, and most home centers should carry it. As an alternative, I've seen upholstery shops use a 1/8" +/- stiff plastic sheet for the same purpose. The advantage is that it wouldn't deteriorate or warp with time.

Randy Myers
'59 roadster, coupe
Randy

Tempered masonite is more durable and a more water resistant than regular masonite. You might even try a piece of 4x8 wall paneling. It comes in pressed "masonite" or 3 ply wood.

Chuck
C Schaefer

The type of hardboard I'm looking for (maybe not called hardboard) needs to bend as much as a 5" radius at the ends of the parcel shelf, Masonite will break. I know upholstery shops will carry it, but what I've seen is much thinner that the original and is what is presently in my car and warpped. Plastic sounds like an interesting alternative, but will it stand up to the hest of direct sun light?


Ken
L Caya

HOME DEPOT HAS A BOARD THAT HAS ALUMINUM ON ONE SIDE. ALL THE UPHOLSTERY SHOPS AROUND HERE USE IT.IT IS APPROX-1/8" THICK AND FLEXIBLE.I HAVE USED IT FOR DOOR PANELS.
SANDY
Sandy Sanders

Ken,
Ok, you have my attention.
Are you suggesting that the package shelf hardboard is a single piece and bent to form the angled down ends?
The one in my car (owned since 72) was three pieces. A long center piece and two end pieces. They were held together by the vinyl cover. The ends just kind of "flopped" down. The entire piece just layed on top of the frame and was held in position by the front parcel shelf rail. I just "assumed" that's the way it was supposed to be.
A little help here guys!

Thanks,
Gerry
G T Foster

The original hardboard was described as 'oil tempered'. I tried to get this years ago but it was no longer available. Its advantage was that it was flexible and water resistant.
J H Cole

Jerry,I removed the original piece from my 1960 coupe, it was one piece riveted to the frame in five places and held by the shelf rail in the front.

I still have it, so I'll dig it out and post a picture.

Ken
L Caya

The origional shelf is a one piece board. Dark brown in colour with a smooth surface on the upside and a slightly knurled (rough) surface on the bottom. At each end, the board tilts down following the basis line of the head board for the rear shelf. The difficulty is trying to find a way to bend the board at both ends. I have tried weight and steam along with several other types of boards.
Gordon Harrison

Hi Gordon, you described it perfectly, here are a couple of pectures of the original I puuled out of my coupe. Hard to see but if you look close you may notice the rivet in the second hole from the left, used to hold this piece inplace, not screws.


L Caya

Second picture


L Caya

Ken,
Thanks for the photos.
Was your original shelf padded or just covered with vinyl? Did the cover match the seat color or the headliner?
Thanks,
Gerry
G T Foster

The cover was NOT padded and it matched the seats.
L Caya

Gerry, here's what mine looks like after four seasons of sun, you can see the warpping on the left side. I have not check out Home Depot yet as Sandy Suggested, for the hardboard.


L Caya

Ken,
I used to own an 88 For Festiva that had a hardboard parcel shelf in the back. Underneath the shelf was a sheet metal stiffener bar (or two) that ran the width of the shelf. It kept the board from warping. It may be that you will need to add this to the hardboard. I should mention that the stiffener was riveted to the hardboard, and then covered with cloth.
Mike
mike parker

The biggest problem with the rear shelf is not just obtaining a suitable material,to make it out of....put creating the bends in that material. The shelf must be bent at both ends and this creates the problem.
The hardboard described is not very flexable ....unless it is extremly thin, but the bends must create a straight edge where they fold. I found a website that manufactures automotive door panels, glove boxes,and rear shelves for modern cars. It is called FIBER CONVERTERS. In talking with them they have a product called "Super Wood" that can be moulded and bent. The one problem I had was locating a Canadian outlet and not having to buy a train car of the product. They gave me the name of a company in British Columbia that uses the product and if one of the members (who live there) would contact me, maybe we can contact them and see if they can help us.

In the mean time I have fabricated a rear shelf out of aluminum and painted it back. Looks quite good actually and if I have no success in finding the rear panel I will just cover the aluminum one. Gordon
Gordon Harrison

SF include the shelf with their coupe panel kit. Call Cecelia, she will probably sell the shelf panel separately if that is all you want.
John DeWolf

I have been reading this thread wondering how to fix my shelf. Looking at the shelf in my coupe interior parts pile the answer of sheet aluminum sounds good. The PO made a hardboard one. It cracked where he tried to bend it. So what I have is broken tempered hardboard taped together with duct tape and poorly upholstered.
Make a template out of light cardboard with 1/8in of room around the edge. Copy onto aluminum sheet. Cut out, deburr, cover with vinyl using a spray contact adhesive,(opinions on 3M #77 sought) then make the bends. Won't warp from sunlight or water damage. All you see is the vinyl so why not make the underlying piece stronger.
R J Brown

It could possibly be made of plexi-glass. It is easy to put a bend in and easy to fabricate. It may need a stiffener but that should be fairly easy to fabricate. Better yet, one of the suppliers should make a fiberglass piece, preformed and reinforced and will not warp with time.

Either solution would cause the originalists to cringe. Would you loose points in a concourse judging if you didn't have just the right amount of warp?



IMHO

Chuck
C Schaefer

I'd like to thank everyone for their input. I think I'm going to do a little more searching. Gordon please let us know if you have any success with the source in British Columbia and I will post what I end up using. Good luck with your coupe projects.

Thanks,
Ken
L Caya

Gordon,
I live in B.C. and would be happy to try to source this material. (I am rebuilding a '58 coupe, so will need it in due course). Send me an email with the company details and I will see what I can find out from them.
The original "hardboard" was fairly common in England, and I have seen it in some lumber stores here. It would probably bend if it is scored with a knife on the underside along the bend line.
Regards, Peter.
P. Tilbury

Ken, a question from your earlier posting. The shelf was indeed riveted to the frame, I drilled those rivets out on my car (the shelf was a loose, non-original piece). That being the case, the covering must have been applied OVER the rivets, after the shelf was attached to the frame...?
George
G Goeppner

George, Here is a close up of my original shelf, you can see a rivet still in place with a piece of the original covering under it. I feel this indicates that the original shelf was covered and then riveted in place.

Ken


L Caya

Thanks for the pic Ken. That makes sense from a build sequence point of view, but sure wouldn't look too good IMO. I think I'll figure out a way to either cover the rivets, or leave the shelf loose. Thanks again.
George
G Goeppner

George,
May I suggest flat head screws (or similar fastener)inserted into the hardboard at the correct locations before you cover it. You could then position it and install nuts to hold it. Captive fasteners are quite common in many applications. Although my shelf(apparently non-original) was unfastened for years without causing a problem.

Cheers,
Gerry

PS, I bought fiberboard at Home Depot. I am considering scoring to facilitate bending. I've done this sucessfully on ply wood.
G T Foster

George, I have but a one-word suggestion: "Velcro"

Chuck
C Schaefer

Another suggestion for fixing - why not use the blind plastic fixings used in modern cars. You need to make a keyhole shaped hole in the board to mount them, but they are cheap and invisible when fitted.
dominic clancy

Gerry, Chuck, Dominic; all good suggestions, thanks. I can't believe I'm far enough along to actually be thinking about interior trim...!
G Goeppner

I had to repair the glovebox on my ZA Magnette which is made of heavy card. I used fibreglass resin to do this and the end product looked very much like Masonite. If you were to find a suitable piece of card, bend it and apply resin you would end up with a rigid, waterproof article that looks much like the original hardboard.

Rich
Rich McKIe

If you want to shape the Masonite, you can do it if you make forms. Wet it thoroughly, and clamp it into the forms until it is dry. By thoroughly, I mean that it should be soaking wet, as in out in a storm or under water for a day or so. It does work, but takes a long time to dry.
mike parker

Rich has a point about using corrugated. Some 20 years ago, I took part in America's Cardboard Cup Regatta. All the boats were made primarily of corrugated and sealed using paint. No 2-part resins were allowed. The boats were then raced thru a defined course against the clock. The boat we built was 8 ft wide, 20 ft long and 12 ft tall Mississippi paddle-wheeler. It would support over 2,000 pounds and weighed only about 80-100 lbs. We won an award for the best looking boat.

For our construction, we sealed the corrugated using solvent based polyurethane and then coated that with latex house paint. The point is, we coated only the outside surfaces and it survived quite well for the 1/2 hour or more it was in the water over several hour of competition. Some of our competitors used similar sealing techniques and were on their 2nd and 3rd year with the same boat.

FYI, Some recent photos of the event are at:

http://www.cardboardcup.com/gallery.asp

If you were to use polyester resin soaked thru both surfaces of single ply corrugated , I would expect it to last quite well. A bit of corrugated could be glued to make some more support. Make sure that the corrugated is bent in position as the resin cures. Once cured, it wouldn't hurt to run polyurethane thru the inner corrugation for a final bit more assurance.

Just another crazy idea!

C Schaefer

I just bought some fibre board from a local hardware store, Orchard Supply hardware but I'm sure most places have it. It looks just like hardboard but is slightly thicker, about 3/16". I tried to cut the under side to make it more flexible but that didn't work that well. I then found that if you steam it, with the kettle it will bend and keep the bent shape without breaking.

Andy
Andy Preston

This thread was discussed between 10/03/2008 and 23/03/2008

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