Electric Sunroof

[Jeff Turbo]

As I don't own a Maestro, can anyone tell me if the electrics on an H reg MGi Maestro are the same as a J reg MGi Montego? I have removed the Montego electric sunroof and want to put it on the Maestro.If the same can I just remove the handle and replace with the power motor on the sunroof?
Cheers
Jeff

[talkingcars]

If only it were that simple I would have had an electric sunroof in my Maestro ages ago. For a start the monty has two power leads running up to the switch/relay/motor which IIRC are rated at 30amps.

Secondly the motor mount is slightly diffrent to the manual gearbox mount so this has to be addapted whith much removal of metal.

I have not tried it yet but apparently the easy route is to remove the mechanics of the electric sunroof, swap the glass panel for the one in the maestro and mount the whole electric unit back in the maestro. I have just recently scraped a monty and the sunroof is sat about 4 feet away from me awaiting the return of my maestro so I can fit it.

James

[SimonR]

Hi Jeff,

I'm 99.9% sure that no Maestro ever left the factory with an electric sunroof (not even the turbos...?)

When I fitted my VP with one I tried to use the original manual tray and just bolt the motor on but after a lot of hack-sawing and bending of metal it was impossible. The motor requires a different shape bracket to attach, the biggest problem is that the motor barrel fouls on the manual bracket.

I'm afraid that the only way is to use the Monty tray as well.

You *can* dimantle the assemblies and use all of the manual Maestro parts on the Monty tray if you need to and be aware that the Monty/Maesty glasses are not interchangeable. Oh yeah, you'll also need to drill out a couple of rivets at the front of the tray when you remove it but you can always substiture small bolts when you reassemble.

You'll have to fit the electrics to the fusebox as well, of course.

Good luck!

Simon R

[philippope]

I've fitted electric sunroof motors to 4 MG Maestros and never had a problem. True, you have to "adjust" the metal casing, where the motor fits in, but I've always thought that's easier than replacing the whole item.

[Rich]

I put an electric sunroof in my Maestro by changing the whole try, the old one had given up and the wind deflector had rusted out but its well worth the effort. Have a look at my car in the "your cars" section, I put a few details there about how I did it.

Rich

[MG1600S]

Fitted a complete electric Monty sunroof pan in my Maestro diesel using the Maestro glass, a nice job that can be done inside of a day....

[PegasusTurbo]

Hi there,

3 Maestros with leccy sunroofs here. Just remove the manual mechanism and cut away the frame so that the motor can be bolted in place. Then you can use montego trim and have button up above. As an alternative you could run a line down and have the button on centre console like myself. Just two lines are needed of the top of my head. postive and negative, they just in existing wiring. Don`t forget to put a fuse in. Last year my car had full electrics. Front windows, rear windows, sunroof, side mirrors. That surprised a few people. :)

[talkingcars]

I tried cuting the maestro manual mount to fit the motor but I could not get all three bolts to line up!

[PegasusTurbo]

Hi Talking cars,

Your not trying hard enough then ;) Yes, they are fiddly to lign up, but they will do. You might have to bend the frame a bit more too.

[Jeff Turbo]

Ok so the sunroof will fit in. With the sunroof there is a four pin plug, will it just plug into the existing fusbox or do I have to make adjustments?

[talkingcars]

There are an additional 2 cables running fro the fuse box up to the roof, I will try and take a photo of the connections on the loose roof I have here.

James

[Simon]

Jeff, to answer your first question, no the electrics are not the same. A Montego post Oct 1988 will have a modular plug in-fusebox, whereas all Montego's prior to the 1988 facelift and all Maestro's have a different fusebox where the connections are a snap in type of lucar/fast-on directly onto the terminals of the fuse. The 4 way plug on the Montego is for the sunroof plus the interior lights. For the sunroof you only need the 2 wires going to the roof motor/switch which are purple/green for live and black for earth.

However to further complicate matters I've also added a third wire to my electric sunroof installation, red/black, to illuminate the switch when the lamps are on

If you nip the Montego's plug off at the end of the wire by the fusebox, you should have enough wires to route down the driver's side windscreen pillar and down onto an unused position on your fusebox. Depending on the model, you might have a position indicated in the Maestro fusebox fuse map inside the lid for an electric sunroof, I know my F reg. Mayfair has.

[Jeff Turbo]

Many thanks all. Will try later in the month.
Jeff