Anyone who has whacked their head on the open MGA boot lid may wish it might be held a little higher when it is propped open. My solution to this problem was cheap, quick and simple. The prop rod normally passes through the retainer bracket on the edge of the body opening and seats on the boot floor about four inches lower. I simply installed a 3/8" bolt and a pair of hex nuts in the bracket to provide a new nest for the tip of the rod on top of the bracket. The two nuts are jammed up tight with the bolt head on the bottom and the tip of the bolt slightly below the top of the upper hex nut. The upper hex nut fits in just underneath the skeleton of the boot lid when closed.

This does have a couple of shortcomings. If I bump the rod with my elbow when accessing the luggage space the boot lid may drop on my head. I only did that a couple of times before I became conditioned to avoid bumping the rod, and generally no problem since. It might help to drill a hole in the tip end of the bolt to provide a little deeper nest for the rod.

The other problem is wind. Since the aluminum skinned lid is so light, any respectable gust of wind can lift it enough to dislodge the prop rod, which is followed by a rather unsettling thump. This too may bring a certain conditioning so you might not leave it fully open and unattended on a windy day.

On 06 April 2007 Mike Ellsmore in Victoria, Australia wrote:
"To increase the boot (trunk) opening height by about 4" (lessens the chance of banging your head) take an M8 nut and screw it on to the taper on the end of the boot prop by hand. It leaves about 3/4" of prop protruding through the locating lug. For concours you simply unscrew the nut and put in your pocket."

For those of us not into metric threads, the equivelant inch size for the hex nut is 5/16" (fine or coarse thread works as well).

On 09 March 2008 Barry Gannon in Victoria, Australia wrote:
"As the rod is tapered, you can slip a small diameter washer over the end to prevent the rod going right through the holding bracket. It can always be removed for 'concours'."