parcel shelf material

[cadetchris]

managed to secure a parcel shelf, but its pretty fooshed and possibly only good for being used as a template. Any idea what its made of? it looks like some form of cardboard, but i am having difficulties finding suppliers of the right stuff

[chrisryder]

you could try plywood? as you say, the original stuff is like a thick card. would hobbycraft or somewhere like that do thick card long enough?

[cadetchris]

i thought about hardboard, but if memory serves, that dosent like being bent at the edges, so ill have a scout around.

[MarkyB]

I'd try plywood too, hardboard and cardboard don't react well to getting damp from leaking screens etc.
Have a look for flexible plywood on Google.

[Declan_Burns]

Mine is made of plywood and is fine.
It looks like poplar ply to me and is about 5mm in thickness-retrofitted by some previous owner. I recovered it and repadded the crash pad a few years back with dense pipe lagging from the DIY.
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Regards
Declan

[cadetchris]

Ah, having seen your declan, it does look good. How have you fixed it in?

[charlie_morris_minor]

i think the originals are made from millboard.. a very thick cardboard.. available from woolies.

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-146-millboard.aspx

might be cheaper to buy a pre cut one though

[ASL642]

Try marine plywood as it's a bit better in moister conditions (i.e. Minors)! Available in decent lengths from most DIY stores.

[cadetchris]

having had a really good clean down of my new shelf and a spell with the steam iron, its actually alot better that first thought, so the next big question is, how on earth does it fit?

[ASL642]

Suggest you PM Declan - think he's done this fairly recently.

[Peetee]

If you want something damproof then try PVCu as used for fascias etc. I have done this and popped in a couple of speakers. The shelf now sits at the same height as the top of the rear seat.

[stag36587]

Would 4mm MDF work? quite strong/rigid but light too

[les]

If you're sorted, good. If not I've got one you can have, It's new but with a slightly enlarged steering column hole, it looked too narrow in width so I bought another one which turned out to be the same width, hence the spare. Downside being I think I am a long way from you. bexley kent.

[cadetchris]

thankfully i have got the thing in the car and then realised low and behold, i dont have the crash bar. I have a parcel shelf and the little metal bar that runs the whole length of the shelf (but not the whole width of the car, so a wee block was employed there *cunning ingenuity*)
so, when i get my hands on the padded crash bar (if thats the bit i am missing), then ill try and figure out how that fits in

[Bazzalucas]

Chris, I used (as I think Declan did) some of that foam pipe insulation from a hardware/DIY store. Worked great. Bought a yard of black vinyl material from a fabric shop and got out the hot-glue gun. My metal piece was actually too long, so required cutting and rewelding to fit. After all that I fitted it, drove it around for a year, then removed the whole business. I like it much better without. It wasn't much use for parcels, and now the interior feels much roomier.

[Fingolfin]

Mog came without the parcel shelf, and I don't see the point in having it. Lots more legroom, looks like (mmm, alliterative).

[Declan_Burns]

thankfully i have got the thing in the car and then realised low and behold, i dont have the crash bar. I have a parcel shelf and the little metal bar that runs the whole length of the shelf (but not the whole width of the car, so a wee block was employed there *cunning ingenuity*)
so, when i get my hands on the padded crash bar (if thats the bit i am missing), then ill try and figure out how that fits in

The L shaped metal bar is bolted at each end to the bodywork. Cover the parcel shelf with vinyl using contact adhesive eg Evostick or staple it. Use a seam of double sided tape on the metal bar. The shelf just sits on the L shape. The shelf is as far as I can remember, just sitting on a ledge on the bulkhead and is held by the double sided tape at the front. The pipe lagging is slit along the length which when covered with the vinyl just slips over the metal bar/shelf joint. I didn't even glue it in place. That's basically all there is to it. If you don't have the metal bar then buy some aluminium at the DIY and fit two small 90° brackets to it. The bolt holes for the metal bar should be existing but may depend on the year of the car.
Regards
Declan

[ASL642]

The metal bar and foam cover are available from most morris suppliers if you can't make one

[Trickydicky]

Yep it is millboard, I bought one from Charles Ware`s recently and used the old one as a template.
Mine bolts to the bulkhead with about 6, 5mm nuts and bolts ( think this is a mod from the last owner) There is a tab along the edge of the board with a fold line along it in which the bolts fit. I added a strip of ali plate along the edge (inside the car) to help keep it firm and not crush the board.
When I fitted mine only the Fresh Air open/close pull cable held the board down at the front, it also curled at the edges so I fitted a couple of pop rivets to hold it down. looks as good as new now after a coat of black paint on the length of angle.

Also another tip, I painted the screws which hold the angle bar in place and scratched them when fitting them, so I used a black permant marker to colour them in again. I suppose you could use this in other situations

[chrisryder]

the board attaches to the bulkhead by virtue of 'bifurcated rivets'. a lot like butterly pins.