Boarding school
Nigel gets round to a job he’d been putting off for years
The GT6’S rear hatch luggage space has a floor made of two fibreboard panels, the left one covering the fuel tank and the other above the spare wheel. The originals have inevitably suffered over the past five decades, sagging and fraying around the edges. Nearly 20 years ago I made a ‘temporary’ fix, by bracing the underside of the larger panel with a wooden batten and adding some better fixings to prevent them rattling.
Replacing the boot floorboards was a task that had been at the back of my mind for a few years, without it ever becoming a priority. Finally, I’ve got around to this little job… better late than never I suppose!
To start with, I scoured parts suppliers’ websites looking for replacement boards but couldn’t find any, most suppliers don’t even list them as ‘No Longer Available’. Some years ago, I made a new boot board for the TR6, so I decided that the GT6 would also have a DIY boot floor.
Time for a bit of DIY
A quick trip to the local Homebase branch netted two sheets of MDF and a tin of black floor paint. At 9mm, the MDF sheets are a little thicker than the original panels, but close enough that they could be made to slot into the GT6’S retaining clips. The black floor paint will be hardwearing and with a slight sheen finish, should be a good match for the originals, although of course the panels will be hidden by the boot carpet when installed.
Making the new panels turned out to be quite a pleasant way of spending a winter’s afternoon. With the old panels out of the car and on the workbench as patterns, I started by marking up the sheets of MDF. The new sheets were actually 10mm narrower than the righthand board, though wider than the lefthand one. I simply moved the join 10mm to the right, by making the new left board wider than the original.
Having marked the boards, I made the straight cuts required with a large handsaw.
‘These new boards should be stronger and last longer’
Drilling out the mounting holes was a simple task.
There are also curved edges, around the wheel arches and fuel filler hose. These were cut with a coping saw, then the edges were smoothed with sandpaper. A quick trial fit revealed the righthand board was a fraction too long, preventing the tiny rear seat back from raising easily. I trimmed the panel’s front edge with a surform plane until it was a perfect fit, allowing the seat back to hinge into place.
The original left-hand board has a metal strip on its edge, which supports the other board and takes a pair of securing screws. I cut a strip of spare MDF and screwed it to the underside of the lefthand board. Next, I drilled holes for the screw fixings at the front of the boards and filed small bevels onto where the supporting clips support the rear edges. This should make fitting easier, and with the bevels on the underside, they’re invisible from above.
Time for a test fit with all the fixings!
First to go in is the smaller lefthand panel, above the fuel tank. This fits neatly into the clips at the rear and the screw holes align nicely at the front. The right panel fits in place quite well, though the screw holes on the front edge needed easing slightly to get it spot on and aligned with the left panel. I finished the trial fit by drilling two holes and fitting the joining screws through the righthand panel into the supporting strip beneath. By now it was dark outside, but the result looked tidy.
Back on the bench, I painted the boards with two coats of the black floor paint, leaving a few hours to dry between coats. Next day, the final touch was to fit the carpet studs, positioned in order to match the underside of the carpet.
The boards were screwed back down in the boot and the carpet was reinstated, hiding my neat handywork. Being a little thicker than the originals, these new boards should be stronger and last longer. Given the first set lasted 50 years, I don’t expect to be around next time this little job needs to be done!
■ practical.classics@bauermedia.co.uk