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Having trouble with your spare tyre, keeps getting in the way? May be you don't think so but your partner dose. The answer? Consume less and exercise more or a nip and tuck. The easy way is of course the nip and tuck even on you early Falcon. On Sedans and Coupes the spare wheel is housed in the boot. In the XP it should fit into the well at the left of fuel tank and on the XK to XM it's held to mounts on the boot floor with a winged-head bolt. While on the commercials there is a compartment behind the rear number plate and in Station Wagons it's on top of the tank under a lift-up section of the floor There are two main problems with these locations. One is trying to get the spare out with the boot full, which there’s not much you can do about. It’s only the Commercials that really provide any access to the spare wheel with a load onboard. The other problem is that with the old narrow cross-ply tyre replaced with a wider radial on the spare rim it no longer fits into the desired locations or the winged-head bolt is not long enough to reach its receptor. One very easy but extremely dangers way to cure this mismatch is to run a cross-ply on the spare rim. Great for show but a deadly cocktail when mixed with a radial on the road. It's much the same story with an under size radial as a get-you-home spare as used with some of the foreign crap sold here. They're only OK when the next service station is a couple of hundred metres up the road. There are ways to overcome this oversize situation. The simplest is the extension of the winged-head bolt by cutting it in two at a point clear of the thread and welding in a 25mm piece of rod the same diameter as the blot. Only if you have a Commercial or an XP other than a Station Wagon dose it get a little harder. The XP boot modification involves the cutting of the
top fixing point of the anchorage bracket and relocating it closer to
the quarter panel, away from the fuel tank.The bracket is factory spot
welded to the side of the boot gutter and has to be cut away. Using
an angle-grinder cut through the bracket at the inner lip of the boot
gutter being careful not to cut too deep and into the gutter. Fig
1.
If the car is yet to be painted the bracket is pushed back and welded into the new position. If on the other hand the car is already painted drill two holes in the horizontal section of the bracket and pop-rivet a 75mm x 75min x 1mm plate to it. Push the bracket and plate back towards the quarter panel. Then drill the plate and the valley floor of the gutter and pop-rivet. Finally touch up the scorched area around the gutter lip, as it will be under the boot lid the touch-up is mainly water damage prevention an not cosmetic. Another way to house the Spare Wheel in the boot is coved as added bonus in the fuel tank indentation. see Restoration Hint Tanked Up. The compartment under the floor of the Vans and Utes has to be made deeper by cutting around the side walls and welding in a section of 20mm x 2mm flat bar. Start by cutting the two short sections of weld fixing the body to the compartment strengthening section below the door hinge, approximately 25mm either side of the door. Then using a metal cutting jig-saw, or an angle grinder, cut around all the walls of the compartment about 40mm up from the floor. The door and the lower section of the compartment can now be removed.
Fold a length of flat bar to the same shape as the lower half of the compartment and weld the two parts together. Return and block-up the lower half to meet the upper half which is still in the vehicle and weld it into position. When the door is closed it will now not quite reach the top of the opening but this will not be noticeable. Note: The measurements given here are based on the replacement of the old 6.50 x 13 Cross-ply with a 185 x 13 or 185 x 14 Radial. If you wish to house a bigger tyre make the necessary adjustments to the measurements. DISCLAIMER While this method has been tried and works, NO responsibility will be excepted by the Author, the Club or any of its Members.
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