Front Parcel Shelf Remanufacture

[georgethompson730]

I know this should be in the 'wanted' section but.....I really really need one. How near, or far, are the club from getting these remanufactured? and has the question been asked if there is enough demand to justify it?

[dollyman]

Have you seen the one on Fleabay? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-DOLO ... Swq15doL1a
I think it would clean up?

Tony.

[Carledo]

I've had my mate Cliff Griffiths (Cliff the trimmer of Car SOS fame) looking at the parcel tray for the best part of a year now and he's pretty much hit a brick wall. The problem is folding the millboard. He can get the stuff OK but it comes in big sheets. The factory bits were made with a sort of Hinge bit built in where it needed to be folded, lots of places that is! But if you try to fold basic sheet more than a few degrees it tends to tear. Scoring on the fold line helps, but the score lines show in some spots and generally weaken the assembly. It wasn't good enough in his opinion to be marketable. He's looking into the idea of dong the millboard bits in a grained black plastic sheet that can be glued or heat welded together This stuff looks pretty much correct (i've seen a sample) and would at least work and stay together for a while. It's also thin and bendy enough to deform in case of impact, a vital point, they don't call the parcel tray the "knee knocker" for nothing! This is one reason i've deleted the parcel tray on my own car. I actually have a parcel tray that looks lovely, it has some sort of millboard panelling covered in carpet, but the base is 10 or 12mm marine ply! So I won't be using it!

The fly in the ointment is, of course, it's not original, so probably won't satisfy those of a concours persuasion. The plan at the moment is to knock up a prototype and see how it looks, maybe put some pics up here and elsewhere to see if it will fly. The present situation means it's rather on the back burner ATM.

Steve

[JPSPRINT]

Watching this with keen interest

[GTiJohn]

Me too

[sprint95m]

I've had my mate Cliff Griffiths (Cliff the trimmer of Car SOS fame) looking at the parcel tray for the best part of a year now and he's pretty much hit a brick wall. The problem is folding the millboard. He can get the stuff OK but it comes in big sheets. The factory bits were made with a sort of Hinge bit built in where it needed to be folded, lots of places that is! But if you try to fold basic sheet more than a few degrees it tends to tear. Scoring on the fold line helps, but the score lines show in some spots and generally weaken the assembly. It wasn't good enough in his opinion to be marketable. He's looking into the idea of dong the millboard bits in a grained black plastic sheet that can be glued or heat welded together This stuff looks pretty much correct (i've seen a sample) and would at least work and stay together for a while. It's also thin and bendy enough to deform in case of impact, a vital point, they don't call the parcel tray the "knee knocker" for nothing! This is one reason i've deleted the parcel tray on my own car. I actually have a parcel tray that looks lovely, it has some sort of millboard panelling covered in carpet, but the base is 10 or 12mm marine ply! So I won't be using it!

The fly in the ointment is, of course, it's not original, so probably won't satisfy those of a concours persuasion. The plan at the moment is to knock up a prototype and see how it looks, maybe put some pics up here and elsewhere to see if it will fly. The present situation means it's rather on the back burner ATM.

Steve

That is interesting.

I have had a go at making up a parcel shelf using polypropylene 3mm Correx board.
This stuff is much lighter than the OE stuff and has a corrugated structure (so is strong in one direction but easily deformed in the other).
I used small brass mirror plates and machine screws for the joints. (I do have bifurcated rivets but the screws are easier to employ)
As per OE, I have rubber channel hiding exposed edges.
It was time consuming cutting all the bits and assembling ( a whole evening).

The problem I am having is getting a satisfactory front rail but I haven't given up!



Ian.

[georgethompson730]

Not the only one struggling then. Originality really isn't a concern of mine personally, what a luxury that would be. I try and keep things in the spirit of the original for example mechanical fuel pump, cartridge oil filter,. points and condenser but they certainly aren't 'original'. I'm certainly not against any of the modern alternatives if needs must. And a front parcel tray is one of them. I'll have another look at the eBay item, but it says something that we're unable to to better than Triumph did forty plus years ago . That said my original never fitted that well after its first removal and getting wet didn't appear to help much either

[soe8m]

I made many custom panels and also Dolomite parcel shelves from grained alloy sheet. This sheet you can cut with your child's hobby scissors and bend on the edge of the kitchen table. You can crumble it with your hands when needed and in a case of an accident these panels don't harm.

You can pop rivet a Dolomite parcelshelf together like the original. Sprayed black it's just like the original but not concours original.

Don't look at the mess around the dash, an old pic but you can see the grain here. This I made of the alloy and sprayed it black.
I also made the boards next to the radiator on my 1300 with these. I only made a double folded edge to have it more rigid so it look thicker there than it actually is.

Jeroen

[oily66]

Well this is as far as I have got:
The knee bar was from Rimmers a good while ago like more than 10 years.
Looking at the stripped original it could easily be fabricated, then it needs some form of foam and covering in a vinyl again all readily available.
The base should be easily cut from sheet mill board, I have used hardboard and covered in vinyl.
Next I have cut the back board from the millboard sheet using the original as a pattern.

This is where I am stuck. I have tried folding off cuts of the board in either direction.
I had more success when the board was dampened however to get the 90 degrees I had to clamp really firm and that left an impression in the finished front.
This is where I’m up to??

[georgethompson730]

That's really good Trevor, that's given me the idea I'd be happy with just the base and knee bar in your picture. Even just a short 1" or 2" vertical lip at the rear. The vertical back board offers no support in itself to the base. Now just what to use for the lip?

[Carledo]

The front rail presents no problem to Cliff, given an original metal section he can make new foam padding strip and recover it in the correct vinyl. this is pretty easy peasy for any decent trimmer. Likewise the base, which is just flat board, an intricate shape but given a half decent pattern (which we've supplied) it can be done. The problem IS that complicated vertical (it largely isn't) rear section.

Whilst it doesn't do THAT much to structurally support the shelf, what it DOES do is hide a multitude of sins, mostly wiring and other such stuff you don't really want to see. As someone who routinely runs cars without the shelf at all, even I sometimes despair at the untidy and unfinished appearance below the dash!

On the Carledo, it's not SO vital, it's a stripped out, track oriented car, when it comes to the Sprint which will be finished internally to a higher standard (but still minus shelf, I'm building a centre console, based loosely on a modified Stag one, which Cliff will cover for me in padded vinyl as original) i'm looking at deploying some curved plastic or millboard covers that will screw or clip to the base of the dash and back to the bulkhead like moderns have, easily removable for access but hiding the plumbing!

I quite like the look of Jeroen's ally sheet solution both from a visual and safety standpoint, the plastic that Cliff is proposing looks very similar, but being made in satin black grained plastic, the paint can't come off! I'm in touch with Cliff on a fairly regular basis, he's been off work for a few weeks (non essential industry?) but is back now and starting to cope with the backlog this has generated. I'll try and get a prototype built (and a costing, obviously) and see if any interest is generated. But he's very busy ATM, it might take a few weeks!

Steve

PS just had a look at that Ebay shelf, the one I gave Cliff for a pattern is in better nick than that! BTW the pattern was from a 1980 1500HL, so should be good for just about any curved dash car.

[cleverusername]

Why not just make it out of cardboard? If it is doing nothing structural and you want it to deform in a crash, that would seem ideal.

[Macleesh]

Would steaming the bend lines help I wonder?

[georgethompson730]

Steve I'd be more than happy with just the base, I've had a look at my car, and unless your head is at seat base level I don't think what you can see is an issue and actually makes access easier if required.
I've got a front bar that has already been attempted to be covered, but badly and cost £50 . How much would 'Cliff' be charging for just the base?

George.

[cleverusername]

Steve I'd be more than happy with just the base, I've had a look at my car, and unless your head is at seat base level I don't think what you can see is an issue and actually makes access easier if required.
I've got a front bar that has already been attempted to be covered, but badly and cost £50 . How much would 'Cliff' be charging for just the base?

George.

I find that surprising because recovering the front bar is not very difficult, i did mine and it came out OK. A professional trimmer should have no problem doing it.