I would try that before cutting or drilling anything.
I am trying to remember my MK I and MK II (albeit was 55 years ago when I had them) and the fuel tanks (one on each side in the trunk/boot as I recall) and what, if anything, was up against the divider of front of the boot/back of the rear seat back?
Anyone have a photo of that?
Such a photo could show you where to cut, and more importantly NOT to cut, to get to the boot through that panel.
If you can’t open the boot lid … before cutting or drilling anything else … I’d go in from the rear seat area as that would have the best ultimate results and do the least “damage” which needs to be repaired.
Heck, you may even put in heavy-duty guides and make a tray which (after opening that hatch you cut) slides your beer, blankets, cooler, and picnic basket into the rear seat area for your R&R uses.
What can happen to a Mk2 boot catch is that it gets pushed over while loading. Then, if the lid is slammed down, the catch wedges together. It looks nicely closed, but the button doesn’t release the lid. When this happened to mine, a lot of vigorous up and down pushing on the reversing light/number plate/boot handle eventually released the lock.
For precisely the same boot-stuck-closed situation the E-types feature a small hole hidden behind the rear license plate that provides access to actuate the locking mechanism with a hooked wire or somesuch. If no comparable hole in the subject saloon car would it be possible to add one? In the right location, of course.
We are going to tackle these ideas now. Cutting from the back seat towards the lock would leave about one meter to get to the lock. The hole would have to be big to get someone through who could understand what to do. Fishing a wire that far would be extremely challenging also. We will jack it up next and shake hell out of things. I can’t tow it as it has power steering and I would be without brakes and steering. I do have a endoscope which might fit through the hole. Still I’m pretty sure that the pictures submitted are going to show what my problem is. At this point, we are thinking of sawing an access panel. It might also serve as a boot vent if I add louvers. I frequently notice a fuel smell although all connections are tight.
Maybe advisable to do a little more research before resorting to surgery. Again, the E-type boot lock is identical. There may be some insights into a less drastic approach in the E-type archives, like this one:
Perhaps put out a request for pictures from someone with a latch that is not installed yet or see if there are repros that could be examined.
Edit. It looks like the e type solution is not likely feasible. If you search for Mark 2 trunk latch you can see the mechanism on an ebay listing and new from moss motors.
I have a feeling that You might get away with just a small hole somewhere under the keyhole cover wing.
Then You would push the 3-4mm dia rigid rod to push the detent in. I’ll go through my pictures and elaborate on that later today.
This would give You an emergency open option hidden under the rosette.
An endoscope inspection is best if Nicks idea doesnt work, even if it means enlarging “the hole”
I have had good success working long sections of wire with diameter 1-2mm, poly strap can sometimes be used, the thin wire drags through a thicker section so a loop can be formed, endoscope guides…its not easy
The endoscope will guide, I assume you have tried two strong heavy people rocking their butts on each bootlid corner while wrenching at the handle. levering with cloth to avoid damaging paint, spraying copious amounts of wd40, and cursing creatively couldn’t be anything but helpful
You only get one push on the brakes until the vacuum tank is empty. Then you have to REALLY push hard and then crash, not good. Steering is basically impossible with engine off. You’ll recall my initial attempt to access the the trunk was to fix the wire on the pump
Here in the USA we have big plastic thick storage bags. You fill them up with whatever and then connect a vacuum cleaner and the bag gets sucked tight against the contents. These are actually worthless as air sneaks back in and the contents are no longer compressed. I had a bunch of stuff in one of those and I found out that I had shut an edge of that thick plastic into the lock mechanism.
I am having trouble uploading video to YouTube and pictures here. Unfortunately I had to resort to surgery. It was with sadness in our hearts that we outlined the license plate with a marking pen, drilled four holes within this boundary and then took to using a grinding wheel and a pneumatic metal saw. The process was hampered by the fact that the trunk is double walled. The saw was hitting the inside panel when cutting the outside panel. The cut was not as smooth as I would have liked.
We pulled out the jumper cables, the tow strap and were then able to, with great effort, move the plastic bag rearward towards the rear seat out of the grip of the lock mechanism.
The license plate covers over this scar, although I will have to mig weld the panels back in. I have always noted a faint smell of fuel in the trunk so these new “louvers” will cure that problem!
Not sure if the pump wire was pulled loose or it was just a fuse, which was blown ! either way I would have had to open the trunk to get at the beer and what would have been a horrific smell from the rotting carrots and mushrooms trapped in there.
I took the liberty to steam clean the lock and it works much better now. There was fifty + years of grime underneath its mounting point. There is a drain hole under it but that was gummed up with dirt and grease. This project really sucked. David was kind enough to upload the damage we caused. The cuts were poorly done, but can be fixed
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Here’s one more view of the lock. On the lock bottom there’s a wide thick vertical plate on a hinge that accepts push from the key barrel and forwards the move to unlock the catch.
I think this plate could be targeted with a rod from the outside …
The very thick plastic piece was wedge between both “lips” of the lock. I’ve learned that the best lessons learned in life are either painful or expensive; this was both. This is a one family car and I felt like the butcher of Babylon. The license plate does cover over this atrocity.
This is from our wedding 21 years ago. I do miss that MKX. DG250 are best used for boat anchors and this one leaked like a sieve.
In a horrible way. Under the license plate we cut a rectangular hole through both layers to pry a thick plastic storage bag out from between the legs of the latch. Look at entry #34 to see the basic cuts of the metal, All this is covered now by the license plate.
That repair will be for another day or I can leave a slight vent as the trunk frequently smells like fuel. I have no leaks on the pump and I think its from the tank overflow pipe somehow? Another mystery for the summer months.
