Ive had an idea, tell me what you think

[G868VMF]

Hi Everyone

Ive had an idea regarding my 1.6 Montego estate. At the moment it is a bit drab with beige interior and scruffy paintwork and I want to do something about it. I wanted to give it a bit of a refurb. I wanted to repaint it jet black, replace the bland beige interior for a nice black or grey cloth interior (maybe leather if I am lucky), replace the analogue dashboard and put a digital one from the MG monty and more importantly replace the rather worn 1.6 litre engine with a 2 litre engine also from the MG Monty. Now I know most people would just to go out and buy an MG Montego but I would like to take up a restoration project and keep another Monty on the road and give her a bit of zing. Firstly has anyone tried this before i.e turning a knackered old bog standard Monty or Maestro into a MG speed machine, secondly I know you can find parts from a Montego but what about seats and dashboards, is their a specalist breakers yard that I should look out for and thirdly and more importantly do you think I am mad for even trying this. I would appreciate any advise on this matter as I would like to get started ASAP. Attached is a pic of the car as it is.

[G868VMF]

Sorry here is the pic.

[D87 SMW]

Sounds like a good idea to me.. providing the MG one (donor) is in cr:censored: p condition exterior-wise.

;)

[tony]

if you want to fit the montego digi dash and a efi engine you will need the wiring loom from a donor car that has the digi dash and efi:)

[H48HPE]

the only specialist place I know of is the place maria posted a link to on the thread u posted on the maestro forum. they will have all the bits u need. I havnt seen black cloth trim before so probabl the leather seats are your best choice, somene was trying to shift some brown ones on here a while ago dont know if they still have them. a re spray will probably be the most expensive uitem on your list and actually locating a montego digital dash may prove a problem (in particular all the sensors you will need) maybe a maestro digital dash would be easyer (slightly more common and less sensors)

andy

[Maria]

Go for it!

You can get your seats re-covered by an auto-upholsterers very easily, in whatever you want. Same goes for the headlining if you wanted to jazz that up a bit. Digi dash might be hard to find, esp the Monty version, but they do pop up from time to time.

I do like black cars a lot - I've always wanted a black 1275GT Mini Clubman with a nice interior. Please keep us posted about how the project goes, and the best of luck with it!

[talkingcars]

Why not use a MG Maestro as doner car and use the seats (the estate and the maestro rear seats are similar, the saloon is diffrent).

The anologe dash in the MG is diffrent to the normal one.

With a doner car you can swap all the little trim items as well, door cards, steering wheel etc. You can also use the wheels or go for MGF ones as I had.

Add a Wood and Picket body kit, adapt the rear bumper to fit around the boot, use a spoiler from a T5 volvo.

Use 2 inch lower springs and the car drops nearly 3 inches as it rides higher to start with, handles much better.

Fit any O series engine, it is the gearbox that makes the MG quicker, the GTi monty also had the same ratios.

Don't forget to tint the ELECTRIC windows.

Finally fit a performance exhuast and you have my estate (except I didn't MGify it).

James

[malcsmaesty]

There's a digi-dash on ebay at the moment(£59.99 start price)
from smc trading.
digi-dash (cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2452960309&category=27376)

[talkingcars]

you would still need to rewire the car and find all the sensors to make the whole thing work properly. :(

[nick]

I have the same car even down to the colour. I have already put cross spoke alloys on it and added a CD player + rear facing seats and rear headrests. I to am looking for leather upholstery & would be interested on how you get on, I believe Rover 820 seats might fit in the front.

[talkingcars]

I tried extracting rover 800 seats, not easy as they are bolted into the floor and as the other ends are exposed under the car tend to rust.

You will have to change the runners or subframes.

They are also very wide so will be a tight fit.