Newbie with Top Box problem

Banana Boy

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Good evening, All,

Newbie here although I’ve been lurking for a few months soaking up information from all you experienced fellas.

I recently took a 49l top box from a 2012 to a spray painter to have it resprayed. He thought it best to separate the lid from the body and then to remove the black plastic lining from the inside of the lid. In the process he unscrewed the cable recoil device from the lid and now says that the two brackets into which the recoil was screwed has fallen down between the plastic liner and the glass fibre (?) outer. The plastic liner appears to be held in place by screws and rivets and he’s unwilling to try unscrewing anything else to remove the liner in case anything else falls out of place and in the end finds out that the liner cannot actually be removed. Can anyone help, please, and tell me whether the liner can be removed and, if so, how it can be done? Many thanks in advance.
BB

PS: Sorry that my first post is a whine.
 
Can't help, but you maybe better joining 1200rt.com, its a specific RT forum and you may get more response on there.
 
Welcome to the forum!
Sounds a tricky one. Obvious thoughts are either to try shaking the biz about to see if you can persuade the bits to come out the same way they went in. Otherwise, you might have to order a new bracket from BMW.
You could try drilling rivets out to remove the liner but drilling metal rivets out of plastic is always fraught with danger.
Sorry not to be more help.
Best wishes Piers
 
Thanks for your replies, guys.
I tried 1200RT.com but trying to persuade their site that I was not a robot was more of a problem than the top box problem.
The spray painter was of the same opinion that drilling out rivets was fraught with danger and wasn’t prepared to do it.
In the meantime he has ordered another type of recoil system that he hopes to attach with self tapping screws and strong glue.
 
If it fell in, there's a route to get it back out. Try shaking it all about if you haven't already and also try getting it with a magnet. either fishing blind with a small magnet that you can safely withdraw or use a magnet on the outside of the box and slide it (carefully) to where you can get it.
 
long piece of straight flexible ish wire. Nylon attached to slight curved end of said wire. Insert, wiggle around, pull nylon to bend wire into desired arc and scoop contents out? Compressed air to flush out?
 
The problem is that the gap between the black plastic inner liner and the glass fibre outer is only about 1/4”. The only access into that gap is through the two tiny holes through which the recoil mechanism was screwed onto the brackets that have fallen down.
Maybe Firefox’s idea of using a magnet to drag the bracket back up into position and then line up the screw hole in the liner and the screw hole in the lost bracket is the only possible solution.....unless I can completely remove the black plastic liner.
I appreciate all your help and suggestions, thank you so much.
 
Hi, I have stripped a few 49L top boxes to re-code the lock.
A complete nightmare to reassemble.
The lid is plastic not glass fibre.
I don't remember stripping a lid but it should come apart without drilling out rivets.
Anything with this box involves a lot of trial and error.
I still have the old type 49L box, i will have a look at mine when I get a chance.
 
Me?

I’d flog the old (broken) box on eBay and source a secondhand (but OK) box on EBay, too. I’d then present it to the sprayer, reminding him that this time he had a duty not to feck things up.
 
I went to inspect it yesterday. The only screws visible are those which hold the backrest on. There are no rivets. I can only assume therefore that during construction, once the retractor had been screwed into place, the liner was glued onto the plastic (thanks patzx) outer and never be removed. I tried a magnet without success. Whilst there I ‘made’ the spray painter buy a similar retractor on line and it should arrive and be installed with strong glue by the middle of next week.
Once again I want to thank you all for your interest and advice.
 
Have you tried posting this query on the BMWST forum? Really it has a much more in depth knowledge base.
 
As Patzx says they are a PITA to strip down--they have various mechanisms inside to lock it, open the feet to secure to the rack, slide the tabs to hold the lid shut etc etc.

The plastics are tougher than you might imagine-- I would wedge a piece of wood between the two skins on the back edge (opposite the hinges) wherever you can gain the most clearance(away from the corners) and tip it upside down.

You do not need to drill any rivets if you do decide to strip it.

A strip down is not for the faint hearted..... I did a couple for project bikes, got them working again but never again.

Riveting the lid retainer thingy in a slightly different position is a better option than stripping it down. Should be able to move it sufficiently to get a good fix but covering the old holes.
 


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