346 Luggage racks for an RV8 Richard Woods posted a note on the V8 Bulletin Board seeking help with a replacement luggage rack. Chris Yates responded with photos of both a fixed and a removable rack. Peter Beadle provides several useful footnotes. (Mar 11) Richard Woods said "my luggage rack is beginning to rust! I have looked around and it would appear that it's cheaper to buy new, than rechrome. However I don't want to drill new holes and the rack I've got, whilst coming from a Rover dealer (back in the history file), does not look like the MGOC one! Can anyone advise of a reasonable rechroming service or detail any racks that they have obtained recently and the dimensions?" Chris Yates responded saying "I had a SS rack fitted to my RV8 by Brown and Gammons. It looked the same as an older one fitted to an MGB I had used". He promptly sent in a set of photos and notes on each rack. Fixed luggage rack Commenting on the luggage rack fixed to the boot lid of his RV8, Chris Yates says "my RV8 is still in 'winter' mode so in addition to the photos taken in the garage today, I have added one taken on last year's Caledonian run. The dimensions of the rack are 77cm x 40.5cm and the supporting brackets are 60cm." Set of photos Back to homepage Fixed luggage rack Removable luggage rack Removable luggage rack Chris notes "I do have another removable SS rack which was originally fitted to my RV8. It does not require any drilling and is held in place by clamps to the side and leading edge of the boot lid. As these are not adjustable, I assume that the whole rack was designed to fit the MG boot lid." Set of photos Footnote 1: More on boot mounted luggage racks Peter Beadle, formerly with Moss Europe and before with University Motors at Epsom, says AHH6946 was the original factory part number for the Chrome Boot Rack and both Moss Europe and Brown & Gammons offer a Stainless Steel version of this item - part numbers: Moss GAC4003SS and B&G AHH 6946SS. The later US Dealer post 1970 option was made by AMCO and was fitted to all the US Black MGB LE Roadsters. It is now available in stainless steel from Moss, their part number is GAC4003B. 020411 Set of photos Footnote 2: Further information on boot mounted luggage racks for MGB Roadsters The original factory part number for the chrome boot rack was AHH6946 and it was made for MG by ASM at Runcorn in Cheshire. ASM made the factory chrome fitted boot racks for Austin Healey, MGTD &TF, MGA, MGB and the Midget. Peter adds an amusing aside "as the age of the average MG driver increased, so did ASM's target market. They now make only Medicare products for the aged!" Both Moss Europe and Brown & Gammons offer good reproduction stainless steel versions of this item. The Moss part number is GAC4003SS and that for the B&G part is AHH 6946SS. The later US Dealer post 1970 option original equipment, part number is BLM 105100, was made by AMCO and was fitted as standard to all the US Black MGB LE Roadsters. A stainless steel version is available from Moss Europe as part number GAC4003B. 020411 Set of photos Footnote 3: Removable lugage rack was a Rover Japan accessory Stuart Ratcliff in Australia says "the removable rack that Chris Yates has is in fact an original Rover Japan boot rack part number FA MTR393 originally priced at 38,000 Yen in the accessories price list I have. I have had a few of these racks on cars that have come through my workshop for Australian compliance. I havea copy of the fitting instructions in Japanese . They do cause some damage to the edges of the boot lid. Max load is 15Kg. A nice original Rover Japan item for an RV8 owner." 040411 Footnote 4: Adjustable boot rack on an RV8 Brian Moyse says "I saw the website article on boot rack options for an RV8 and thought you may be interested in the attached photos showing the adjustable boot rack I use on my car. Apologies the picture quality is not too good, I had to crop them from a larger image to get a close-up." "The manufacturer is La Prealpina in Turin - I originally bought it from Brown and Gammons to fit on a MGF, but as the clamps are fully adjustable and clip to the edges of the boot lid, it fits the RV8 as well, though you would not want it to be any wider! The suitcase I use on it weighs around 18kg loaded and I have used it on round trips to the South of France and to Scotland with no problems. It has never moved on the boot lid in use." 050511 Footnote 5: reflections from Gordon Hesketh-Jones I read with interest the numerous contributions and footnotes and noted the reference by Peter Beadle to the racks made by ASM at Runcorn and used on the MG TD - I did have one of these racks on my TD in the '50s but of course never knew the source! Many years later I had a 1969 MGC BRG Roadster (1969 was the year when the Factory finally got the correct differential ratios sorted out and fitted) which of course we used for many long continental trips. Very few ladies can spell the phrase "travelling light" so obviously the Roadster boot, being mainly filled by the 15" wire wheel, was seriously inadequate. As we were going to remote places I was quite worried about fitting our all-important luggage on top of the boot-lid where some villain with a Stanley knife could easily cut the leather straps and spoil our holiday. My solution was to buy a spare boot lid and chrome spinner. I welded a piece of 3/8" steel rod into the inside of the spinner, cut a thread onto the other end, and drilled a 3/8" hole on the boot-lid. The spare wheel was then mounted on top of the boot, a nut was tightened and a simple "p" clip passed through a hole drilled in the bottom of the rod inside the boot to prevent the nut from being undone. I also had to fit a support arm on the right-hand side of the lid to prevent twisting of the now-heavy boot-lid. Once the spare wheel is out of the way there is in fact a remarkable amount of space for luggage in a Roadster boot to cope with four week's luggage, whilst the "rear seat area" was easily able to regularly carry five 6-bottle cases of wine for our eventual return home. So, I was conforming to history for in the past many models of MGs have had their spare wheels mounted externally, and boot-racks are not always the right answer to luggage problems . . . . . . . . . Footnote 6: Peter Beadle provides photos of a roof top luggage rack! Although the luggage space in an MGBGT or MGBGTV8 can take more cases or other material than the space in the boot and behind the seats of an MGB Roadster, a roof mounted luggage rack is available for the GT for those who need greater luggage carrying capacity. This roof luggage rack, seen on a US "MG Experience" website, is a gutter mounted removable system. We understand "it needs no drilling, no cutting and no modifications are necessary [to the car] at all. It simply has a clamp system on each of four feet to mount the rack at four points within the water channels". Photos Footnote 7: Richard Woods' photos of his boot rack Richard says "enclosed are a couple of photos for RV8 Note 346 of my (it seems) unique boot rack. The chrome doesn't look so bad in the photos." Photos Copyright reserved by the V8 Register - MG Car Club