Anyone have a luggage rack to fit an RP Box they want to sell? either with or without a basket.

Location: bury st edmunds

Willie McKenzie offers them, here for £180.

Ian Mc.

Location: Shropshire

And very nice they are too!

Apologies for a blatant "plug", but I make replica 1930s luggage trunks to order, starting at £125 for one 28"x 12"x 17" to fit an A7 luggage rack.

Location: Herefordshire (with an "E", not a "T"!)

Got any pictures Martin?

Photos I certainly have, Ruairidh.

Now for the embarrassing bit.

I've just looked at "How to post photos on this forum".

Errrrr..........Not sure how to put this.........What's a Photobucket?

Location: Herefordshire (with an "E", not a "T"!)

I am happy to post them for you if you email them to me.

Regards

Ruairdh

Looks lovely- are the little brackets on the side strong enough to hold the large trunk under bumping?

Tony.

Location: Malvern, Melbourne, Australia.

Thanks for the comment, Tony.

The straps in the photos haven't been tightened, but when they are the trunk shouldn't bounce.

The brackets are solid cast brass, fixed with 5mm nuts, bolts and large diameter washers. The original '30s trunk had small, steel brackets fixed with split rivets and even these have stood the test of time!

I send the trunks out with one pair of brackets and straps, for the customer to locate as appropriate to their luggage rack, but can supply additional sets if required at £16 per pair.

Location: Herefordshire (with an "E", not a "T"!)

If you have any doubts about security, you could presumably put two bolts through the floor of the trunk and clamp it to the luggage grid.
Somewhere at home I have a 1950's article from Practical Motorist or similar on how to make a fabric covered boot for your Austin 7 box saloon. It does however involve drilling holes in the rear panel for the fixing bolts. This detachable trunk has obvious advantages.
I will try to find the article as it may be of interest to put on the forum.

Yes, perfectly feasible to bolt the trunk to the luggage rack and probably a good idea if it doesn't need to be removed/replaced frequently.

Location: Herefordshire (with an "E", not a "T"!)

Sorry to bother you as just bought a ruby today,can the std ,(repro luggage rack when I find one) be fitted to the ruby 1937 leaving the spare wheel in place andrew

Location: canterbury kent

Yes it can Andrew, the wheel cap faces the indent in the rear seat wall panel and the luggage rack folds up neatly against the wheel. In my case I require a hook arrangement to the wheel spokes to prevent the rack from rattling. cheers Russell

Location: oz

Thanks squeak

Location: canterbury kent

When I purchased my chummy in the 1960s someone had reinforced the chassis.  Some 10 years after I had restored the car I was talking to Len Southward in Wellington as he was a keen Austin 7 man. (Southward Engineering. He hadn't been knighted then and was the founder of the Southward Car Museum http://www.southward.org.nz/ . His chummy is in the museum.) During the conversation I told him about the chassis strengthening on my car and he said that it was something he used to do for customers. According to the people from whom I purchased the chummy (and a Top Hat) in the  late 1960s the car used to travel between Auckland and Wellington. There weren't any papers with the car so don't know its pre 1960 history....perhaps they purchased it in Wellington. Anyway it is possible that this work was done by him but I have to say I haven't seen another car with this modification in all my time with VARNZ.

Now after that long intro here's what was done. On each side of the car a piece of angle iron was bolted on the inside of the chassis a little rearward of the position of the steering box. It was then welded to the underside of the front cross member and bent to run more or less parallel with the chassis and is welded onto a spacer which is welded onto the underside of rear cross member. From that point it is bent so that it finishes near the end of the rear chassis extension and is bolted to the extension. By the way the spacer is a large nut!!

Not very pretty but I left this on my car when I restored it.

Location: Canterbury,NZ

Its a bloody good idea. Ive bent the floor on my RL since fitting the luggage rack. I shall probably take it off.

Hi,
My employer, Mentor and Friend was Len Southward.(LBS).
He was very kind to me and taught me most of my intimate knowledge of Sevens. The main reason for the chassis Strengthening trick was to prevent the chassis bending forward of the steering box and giving the car a nose up appearance. the relatively big hole for the steering box /brake pedal was the reason for weakness in this area in his and my opinion . I have seen many chassis which support this fact.
Len told me he did variations on this modification which enabled the seven to be fitted with a tow bar. He reckoned the increased torsion of the chassis was a good thing and stopped the cars breaking their backs on the rough country back-roads prevalent here in the '30s.
Len used to re-bore Austin Sevens with the engine in - situ with a van Norman portable bar which he kindly gave to me when I was an apprentice.
The cost in 1935 was 5 pounds (including new Pistons) and was done same - day. Five pounds was around two weeks pay if you had a job then!

Location: Wellington NZ