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MG MGA - rear valence questions

It looks like there is a piece of foam rubber along the width of the rear valence, just below the level of the gas tube filler hole. Is this a seal between the outside sheet metal where it wraps around, and the boot floor?
I need to replace the entire rear valence from about 4 inches below the gas filler, does anyone have a useable piece for sale?

Thanks, George
G Goeppner

If I understand you correctly ...

This was a JUTE ( old style carpet underlay) in my car .

ken
k klay

George, It was actually a strip of felt about 1/2" thick when compressed and to hold it in place it was stapled through the right angled flange on the rear of the boot floor. I suppose if it wasn't there the floor might rub against the valence and it also stops any small tools dropping onto the road!

I had to replace the very rear of my boot floor and I cut it along the front of the top hat section which is spot welded to the floor and the ends are welded to the body sides. I used a strip of 1/2" foam instead of felt and rather than rely on the self adhesive variety I 'stapled' it to the flange using thick copper wire going through drilled holes and soldered together on the back. The picture attached shows the new piece of floor with the foam strip attached to the rear..........Mike

m.j. moore

And this is the underside of the boot floor before welding the new piece back in............

m.j. moore

Thanks Mike, that's good information. It looks like you're doing some very nice work on your car, I'll bet it turns out great!

Cheers, George
G Goeppner

My MGA MkII had a fairly dense foam rubber strip, whereas a previously owned MGA had a felt/horsehair type. I believe both materials were used at various times.
Garry
Garry Kemm

George,
If you're interested I may have a photo of the "original" felt strip that was, in fact, stapled to the lip of the boot floor. Todd Clarke (Clark Spares) sells the felt, but to me what he sell appears to be just the same as the felt strip between the bonnet and radiator. I bought one from him but had to cut it down to fit. Still debating about the best way to attach it.
Gerry
G T Foster

Hi Gerry.
Do you have the valence taken apart for some repair, (in which case pictures would be appreciated) or are you intending to just replace the original felt strip? It looks to be in pretty tight for an "in situ" replacement.....

George
G Goeppner

Apparently the hard rubber boot lid seal from Moss Motors makes a very good seal for this location (lousy boot lid seal). I have used a piece of clear plastic hose and caulked it in place (twice now).
Barney Gaylord

What pictures you need George? I think I have some I could scan from many years ago
gary starr

Gary, the images from Mike are good, but I'm still a little unclear how the lower part of the valence wraps over the boot floor. Apparently this interface is where the felt/foam strip goes. My car has been pretty banged up thru the years at the rear, but I don't have any rust problems there. So I guess I'm looking for how the top sheet metal panel below the boot opening is attached. There seems to be some metal reinforcement strips there also, similar to what's under the front shroud sheet metal. Thanks for your help!

George
G Goeppner

Mikes pictures are good and I don't think mine are any better,but when I get home later,I'll scan them
gary starr

George,
I did a repair similar to what Mike described, removed the rear section of the boot floor. I had to bang out some dents in the valance and repair some rust in the floor, but did not remove the valance. Probably should have attached the felt while the floor was out, but I didn't. I'll probably just squeeze some felt or foam in there and use adhesive to attach it. I'm considering using some low expanding (insulation) foam.
Gerry
G T Foster

George, There is no contact between the boot floor and the rear valance other than at the felt strip. The left and right edges of the floor have a 1/2" downwards vertical flange which is spot welded to the vertical wheel arch panel. Also at the ends of the 4" wide top hat section, which extends the full width of the car, there is a 1/2" upturn (see my first photo above) which is again spot welded to the sides. This top hat section straddles the rearmost frame fixing points.

The rear shroud is supported by the similar but 2" wide top hat sections which go from left to right (full car width) and front to back and the inside edges are welded to the channel around the boot lid opening.

If you were to cut off the rear valance from left to right and a minimum of 2" below the bottom lid opening you could avoid cutting through any of the supporting sections and if you ground away the valance edges which are spot welded to the sides the valance would come away. Two problems I would anticipate with this job would be finding a supplier of a correctly shaped valance repair panel and welding it up invisibly along the full car width.

I've done a rough sketch of the area which I hope is self explanatory.....................Mike

m.j. moore

Thanks a lot Mike, your sketch, along with the pictures, explains a lot. Yes, I hope to be able to cut below the boot opening line as you suggest.

Cheers, George
G Goeppner

George,
I am sure you checked the price from Moss...WOW!
I have two 58 roadsters that I am going to use to make one car. One had good sheet metal, good body and good frame but absolutely no internals. The other is a complete car but has body and frame rust to the point of not being restorable. The rear valance of the parts car is decent with a ding where the muffler tail piece hit the valance and two 1/4" diameter holes drilled in it just above where the license plate light wiring goes thru. Send me your email and I will get some pics to you to see if you are interested. Have a good day!

John
johnprogess@comcast.net (not progress)
John Progess

This thread was discussed between 19/07/2011 and 27/07/2011

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