Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Spare Wheel security on Traditionals.

This job has been my most difficult challenge.
I don't like the fact that spare wheel security is not good, and asked the question of Mogtalk soon after I bought my Roadster. The consensus view was that there's nothing to worry about. But it remains a temptation for tea-leaves who just can't resist an easy win, although the luggage carrier provides more of a monkey puzzle.

I concluded that the solution was a stainless steel hoop over the T bar, and quite liked the idea of securing with allen bolts. After several weeks I'd built a prototype, but struggled working and drilling the stainless. The outcome was that I 'wrote off' the first attempt - by taking it to an irrecoverable position. I took a break before a second attempt with all new stainless. This was much more successful than the first one, but the allen bolt solution was just too fiddly. So I broke it up, but kept the stainless hoop.
Last week I decided to try some exhaust U bolts (38mm) - so made a fresh start. I spread the U bolts slightly so that they would straddle the luggage carrier bar, and reshaped the stainless sheet slightly to fit over the U bolts. These were seated on double sided tape and held with Allen bolts and modified pipe brackets. The stainless sheet was flared slightly to cover the wheel spacer. All that is evident in the first photo:
I lined the inside with thin neoprene. Next I used a flat bar exhaust bracket and enlarged the holes, and tapered the ends so that they would fit and look tidy. The ends and lower edges were finished with the neoprene edge seal that I've used on various earlier projects. It just remained to finish the ends. This has taken a while. I tried a polished end plate but there wasn't enough room. So I found a short length of double glazing seal which proved ideal. This solution is not a dead cert security fix, but it does mean that more time is needed to get at the T bar. I think it should be good enough. This is how it looks. The two brackets are spaced with dense rubber blocks which takes up the slack.





And so when fitted to the car, looks like this.........







This is a tough DIY solution, but if you can source the stainless and seals, is a nice project..........
And for now, thats all folks.

That's a great solution Dave, why don't you market it?

Maybe when I retire, Aeroman, and have 24/7 to spare..........
Although MrsW has other ideas apparently.

neat fix. 4/4 sport has pilfer-proof spare...

Nice work Dave...I think you ought to be more concerned over other Morgan owners stealing your cover now!!

Great Idea,
and if we fix a fuel spare tank inside of this wheel?

Dave, I'm with Keith on this one- a really nice mod. In fact, I'm on my way North to try and steal it as I write!!

regards,
G

This is a really neat solution, but perhaps a more obvious one occurred to me recently. A T-bar is used to hold the wheel in place, and this might invite a passing T-leaf or just a hooligan to take an interest and unscrew it. So why not just have a fitting with a removable tommy bar? It would make casual tinkering or opportunistic theft much more difficult, and thus unlikely.

Dave

Another work or art but well beyond me.
Nputtick has my ideal solution, the slide in and slide out anti T- leaf, T- bar.

The thing that will hide somewhere under everything else in the car just when you need it for a wheel change

Cheers,