behind the rear seats on a convertible

[glenn1]

helloo all

looking for some advice, behind the rear seats on my convertible, there is a large hole which goes into the boot, is there a wooden panel that goes in before i put the upright part of the seat in, or is it just left as an opening ?

daft question i know, but curiosity has got the better of me, as there is a channel running around the hole, and it looks like something slides in, thisk card, or hardboard ?

many thanks

[ManyMinors]

The rear seat upright is all that goes over the hole. The back of the rear seat upright is covered in a black sort of bitumen material a bit like roofing felt which is exposed inside the boot. The rear seat can be released quite easily and hinged down flat in order to carry longer/larger loads. This was all part of the original design.

[simmitc]

The above is correct, but can you post a picture of the channel around the opening as it sounds interesting.

[svenedin]

In 34 years of owning my convertible I never knew the rear seat could be folded down!

[myoldjalopy]

The rear seat upright is all that goes over the hole. The back of the rear seat upright is covered in a black sort of bitumen material a bit like roofing felt which is exposed inside the boot. The rear seat can be released quite easily and hinged down flat in order to carry longer/larger loads. This was all part of the original design.

The earlier cars had a 'lift-the-dot' fastener on the back seat - I have seen these on both the SII and the early 1000. But did not the later 1000 cars have a different arrangement to secure the back seat upright?

[simmitc]

Yes, two wing studs, like bolts with a wing nut as a head.

[ManyMinors]

It takes a little longer but is still easy enough to drop the seat if you need to. Quite a useful feature occasionally

[glenn1]

thanks for all the answers guys, really helpful, friday i shall be doing some more work on the car, and i shall take some pics of the mysterious channel that threw me

[glenn1]

if you go to the restoration site, my car is on there: restoration of 1968 minor convertible, and the first picture, in the top left of the photo, you can see a channel, it goes half way up on both sides ?

[philthehill]

The channels are there to contain and retain the bottom of the rear seat back rest pivot pins.
When the rear seat back is required to be laid down so as to give additional stowage to the boot the bottom of the rear seat is able to rise up in the channels to give a flat floor all on one level to the boot and seat back.
If you lift the bottom of the rear seat back high enough the pivot pins can be lifted out of the two channels and the rear seat back removed.

[Bill_qaz]

Great info Phil, Is this only on convertible or is the saloon the same?

[philthehill]

As far as I am aware the convertible and the saloon both have the channels for the rear seat pivot pins.
My own 1958 Minor 1000 has the channels. The rear seat back of my Minor was regularly let down by the previous owner to allow her to carry beehives and bee keeping equipment.

[simmitc]

I wondered if it was those, but the OP said: "there is a channel running around the hole" which is why I asked for a photo. The two seat retainer channels are, of course, vertical and short, they do not go around the opening.

[myoldjalopy]

Indeed, it is quite obvious what the channels for the rear seat pivot pins are for, particularly when you have to remove the backrest.

[glenn1]

its been over 5 years since i stripped the car, apart, and couldnt for the life of me remember those channels, its only now when i am putting it back, did i look at them, and wonder what they were for, but thanks for all the info on them