stuck boot

[conanhomer]

looking for advice. i loaded 2 boxes in my trunk (boot) and closed it, not realizing that they were too high. now the lid is jammed. any ideas on how to open? thanks

 

[Jimjordan2]

I would think pushing down on the boot lid with force, or sitting on the edge of the boot would allow the release button to operate the latch, but if that doesn't work, loosening the hinges from the body side would release the pressure of the lid and possibly do the job. Just some thoughts.

 

[sunalp]

You don't say what Series you have, but you can probably get in the trunk from behind the seats
enough to maybe move the boxes back a bit. Maybe then you'll be able to open.

Hope that helps!
Steve

 

[bernd_st]

If the lid can not be opened by all means you may hammer out the boot hinge pins with a suitable drift. This always works even for the worst cases...

 

[Warren]

Either car can be accessed through the soft top stowage area.
The problem is mashing the trunk lid down pushes the rubber footed lid supports way past the normal spot they rest upon on the trunk weather strip. The latch will actually roll past it's position while latched and jam.
How do I know this ? I just did it a month ago. I crawled inside the trunk and inspected the latch pushed way past it's closed position.
Go in with a big standard screw driver to Jimmy the latch pawl.

 

[beamdream]

If you have a Series 1/2 then you can certainly access the inside of the boot through the soft top stowage area, I removed the seats to give me more wriggle room, I could then remove the latch mechanism.

If you have the later Series I`m not sure how you get past the vertically stored spare wheel to reach the lock ?

 

[Jimjordan2]

Or as said before, a BIG HAMMER just kidding with the hammer. I never use Big hammers, or air tools on a 50 year old car. Well, maybe a hammer a couple of times.

 

[conanhomer]

forgot to mention it is a 1965 series IV

 

[Warren]

That's a good point the vertical spare.
The true fix would be a limit for the latch pawl that would prevent the fixed scalp remover from pushing past the pawl. When stuck the F.S.R. is underneath the pawl not in it's U shaped spot
U-
The over compression of the lid allows this because it's resting on the weatherstripping at least on my limited survey of 2 cars.
I've seen a couple of P.O. mods shimming the eraser sized rubber and metal bracket in towards the front of the car then wondering the why they do that ?promptly forgetting and removing them.

 

[65beam]

I've seen a couple of P.O. mods shimming the eraser sized rubber and metal bracket in towards the front of the car then wondering the why they do that ?promptly forgetting and removing them.

I've seen many cars with a bend in the striker and some with the cross piece of the striker bent. This is probably due to misalignment of the striker. The buffers set on the trunk seal and are adjusted so they just barely touch the trunk flange and rubber. These photos show where Doug @ Tiger Auto set the buffers on the series 5 back in 1995. It's hard to see in a photo but the buffers don't leave much of an indentation in the trunk seal that was installed at the same time. Many folks on this forum have seen me give the trunk a small push and it drops and latches just like a door latches with no damage to the striker. Adjustments of this kind take some time.

 

[conanhomer]

I've seen many cars with a bend in the striker and some with the cross piece of the striker bent. This is probably due to misalignment of the striker. The buffers set on the trunk seal and are adjusted so they just barely touch the trunk flange and rubber. These photos show where Doug @ Tiger Auto set the buffers on the series 5 back in 1995. It's hard to see in a photo but the buffers don't leave much of an indentation in the trunk seal that was installed at the same time. Many folks on this forum have seen me give the trunk a small push and it drops and latches just like a door latches with no damage to the striker. Adjustments of this kind take some time. View attachment 10626

 

[conanhomer]

thanks, guys i got my young grandson to crawl inside, move the boxes and release. lesson well learned- never overload the boot!

 

[Ken Ellis]

And never overfeed the grandson.