The fragile plastic plates that retain the Rover SD1 Parcel Shelf have a pretty short life expectancy.

I have not owned a car with an undamaged set and if they are all banjaxed the parcel shelf moves around like a demented supermarket shopping trolley when the hatch is opened.

Worse, when driving on our awful british roads the shelf bangs away like a woodpecker on heat.

This led me to design bullet-proof replacements (drawing quality - 4/10). All the work can be done with a hacksaw, a decent set of drills/files, some fine emery paper and metal polish.

When finished, fix with plated countersunk screws using spire nuts behind the shelf sides to hold them firm. It results in a durable and cosmetically good solution to this annoying little problem.

It was so successful, I made up another set to use on my (then) other car, the VDP Efi.

Click on the improved retaining plate image for enlarged version. More Tip n' Tricks?