Loose boot lock/handle

[tomti]

Hi,

Recently, the handle on our Minor's boot has started to feel very loose - not the action of the handle itself but the whole chrome assembly is wobbling about on its little rubber gasket.

Does anyone know if there's an adjustment screw or similar that would cure this wobble, or am I likely to need to replace something? The gasket bit is looking quite tired, so I suppose it might just be that this is perishing, leaving space for the handle to swing about?

Thanks,

-Tom

P.S. I've looked inside the boot and the four bolt heads around the lock mechanism itself seem tight and free of play.

[bmcecosse]

If the screws are tight - how can it be loose? I suggest remove the screws (is it screws - or studs and nuts?? - I dunno - not had a saloon for 45 years.) .- run a tap up the threads in the handle base - and then refit - noting if the screws appear to bottom out before going tight - in which case - shorten them slightly!

[tomti]

If the screws are tight - how can it be loose?

My thoughts exactly! If I look at it closely while waggling, the square shaft moves up and down inside its little hole while the rest of the part that's bolted to the inside of the boot lid stays put. I will have a more sceptical look at the screws (machine screws, I'm pretty sure) later on and see if they're more wobbly than they at first appeared.

-Tom

[tomti]

Problem now solved - for anyone browsing this in the future with the same issue, the reason I wasn't able to work out why the handle was loose when the screws seemed tight was that one has to remove the plate with the catch in it by unscrewing the four screws (just big steel screws, not machine screws as my initial comment suggested - I misremembered between looking and typing) before the attachment for the outer handle becomes visible. It's held on by two small lock nuts which are a pig to get at through the hole in the inner boot skin.

A previous owner/mechanic had replaced the handle at some point without including a couple of spring washers that are meant to keep the nuts tight (fnar) - this has been a problem with a bunch of stuff on this car since I bought it and I suspect someone somewhere along the line didn't know what these little chaps are for. I once had the whole gearstick come off in my hand due to some injudiciously removed spring washers - exciting!

I worked this out by looking at the diagrams on Moss Europe's site - my workshop manual and the MMC Bath diagrams both omit to cover this stuff. I should also point out that this is a late model 2-door saloon - from looking at the diagrams it would seem that the earlier saloons have a different arrangement with the outer parts of the mechanism held on from the outside by screws - easier to maintain, also easier to use as a method of nicking things from the boot, I would guess.

-Tom

[brandonr]

My boot has ceased to lock so I think I need to replace the barrel, or entire handle. I got as far as removing the catch-plate with the 4 screws, but how on earth do you get at the 2 small nuts holding the handle on? Is there a special tool?

Thanks,
Roger.

[tomti]

My boot has ceased to lock so I think I need to replace the barrel, or entire handle. I got as far as removing the catch-plate with the 4 screws, but how on earth do you get at the 2 small nuts holding the handle on? Is there a special tool?

Thanks,
Roger.

I just fiddled around with my finger and a tiny spanner, to be honest - patience and sticking things to one another with blobs of grease so they don't bounce off down a drain seemed to be the only tricks beyond having the smallest spanner I could find that would hold the nut. Some kind of micro socket would've been nice but I don't have such a thing - if indeed it exists.

-Tom

[brandonr]

Thank you, Tom. I'll give it a go - although I could do with slimmer fingers.
Roger.

[Tudge]

Brandonr - I got mine out with an 8mm socket & extension, 1/4 inch drive, and they just about fit in. 8mm isn't quite the right size, but it worked!

As a slightly separate issue, does anyone's boot handle have any rotational play when locked? Mine seems to have so much play it will open even when locked! If I adjust the striker plate so it will lock, the boot won't close! It's a pickle...

Cheers