Morris Minor Owners Club

A cautionary tale.......
Yesterday I decided to refit my refurbished rear bumper, a straight forward enough task, one of the overrider brackets needed some fettling to get it to fit but otherwise it went well.
However yesterday we had high winds where I live, so everything was rattling and blowing about, including the bootlid. However I carried on and didn't think anymore about it.
Bumper refitted I then proceeded to wire the additional indicators back in, which meant I was now working with my head just inside the boot, whilst feeding the wires back through and connecting them back up.
My car, being an early example, has the old unclip it from inside the bootlid and put it through the hole in the retaining bracket type of stay.................
When opened the bootlid catches all the wind like a sail would, so yes, I really should have anticipated what happened next given the high winds I mentioned earlier.............
The wind lifted the bootlid completely and the stay out of it's retaining hole, then gravity took over.......
The first I knew of it was when the lid came slamming down and hit the top of my head!
At that point the air turned blue and I was left bleeding like a stuck pig!
So the point of this post is to warn others, who like me may not think twice about working outside in wind and to offer a simple solution:
No need to go forking out for the later type of 'fixed' stay, simply drill a small hole in the end of your existing original one (I did so whilst it was through the retaining bracket to get the position of the hole correct), then get a suitably sized 'R' clip to push through it, thus fixing the stay in position until you decide to close the lid.
When the boot is closed the 'R' clip can be stored pushed through the retaining bracket, as shown in the picture below, ready for next time.
I know a few people on here will just think I'm a silly sod for letting it happen in the first place but accidents happen and if this saves someone else from the nasty whack I got, then this post has been worthwhile.
Best wishes,
Mike.

Oh dear, this has happened to my bootlid before but I fortunately caught it before it banged my head. I also had a spiteful gust of wind blow over an open oil can all over the floor while I went to the back of the garage for something!

Not to make too much light of it but..... you can't have been hit too badly - you remember not to let it happen again and at least it didn't add insult to injury by then pouring out it's collected water over your head - when ever I open my own bootlid I have to swing it back and forth to let the drainage holes work, which of course soaks stuff in the boot.

I have seen my own bootlid trying to do this in high winds which made me cautious but I don't think most people would imagine it happening if you haven't seen it (or experienced the drop) before.

I like your solution, it's clearly simple and effective though I admit I would be inclined to risk the bootlid getting me rather than add another hole to my car.

I have seen my own bootlid trying to do this in high winds which made me cautious but I don't think most people would imagine it happening if you haven't seen it (or experienced the drop) before.

A point there, the wind lifted it clean out and up without any sound (apart from the wind), plus the stay didn't catch anything on the way back down, the sound of which would have warned me.
Best wishes,
Mike.

chief if you want to cure your water in the boot lid problem (You should to stop the dreaded tin worm)get some sealant and put a blob on all of the nuts on the inside of the boot lid ie hindge, number plate and renew the seal on handle,You risk the bottom of the lid rusting out,its the main cause of the problem. good luck

Mike

Hope you're feeling OK now. I bet there was a bit of mess, head wounds seem to bleed profusely at a disproportionate rate to their size.

I've seen several minor head wounds over the years which have left a Crime Scene in their wake.

Nice idea for a fix though.

Berni

Ouch!
Many many years ago I threaded the end of the stay 0ba and fit a wing nut to prevent the same, although I think your R clip is obviously quicker to fit.
Get well soon.

Alan

Painful
I don't know if it's possible but it looks like a great candidate for a gas strut.