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MG MGF Technical - Power Hood

HI,

I'm looking at becoming an MGF owner (probably 2001.2 vintage).

Have come across one with a 'Power Hood'. Can't find much info on this option, apart from a discontinued item from Brown & Gammons.

Has anyone got any experience of this?

Any advice will be appreciated.

TonyJ1
A Jackson

power hoods were an option but I don't know if anyone has ever seen one! The hood is so easy to put up and down it was quite a luxury to have. I think there were problems with the motors bending the frames but I stand by for those with better knowledge to come along...
Tony

Have a look at Dieters site:
www.mgfcar.de/powerhood/

Cheers,
Sven
Sven Angelmahr

Yes the brackets had a tendancy to bend and so jamb the hood. However I do not know if this was ever sorted.
Ted Newman

Sorry to be so blunt but power hoods are a completely waste of time, money and effort in my opinion.

Manually raising a hood is easy from inside the car or from outside - about 7 seconds is an average. From inside lower the drivers window and put right arm over shoulder and raise hood, or alternatively use left arm gripping centre of hood rail and lift. From outside it is obvious.

The cost of a power hood was about £1000 and as Ted says they tend to bend the brackets ( as witnessed on the Treffen some years back) so become expensive to repair.

I would not want to use a power hood in cold weather if there was any chance of cracking the window or if have to unzip the window first what is the point.

Someone must have thought it was a good idea when they ordered it on the car you are looking at but in terms of adding value I think not. I would use it as a negotiating tool to get a further discount.

David

david.stonehouse

My car has the power hood option. It is a very poor design and not worth paying anything extra for. You have to maintain it very carefully.

The brackets do flex because the ram ball joints put a twisting force on them (and they pivot on a bolt head, YUK!). Eventually they become weak and bend. Also the electronics rely on one micro switch (on the drivers side bracket). If that becomes loose or is fouled by anything the motor can operate when the hood is closed and the foot brake applied, causing the backets to be destroyed. MGR never fixed the bracket problem, they discontinued the option.

There are 2 types of ECU (mounted on the fuse access panel). The early ones allow the hood to operate even with the ignition on (as mine does). Later ones only operate with the ignition in ACC position (Which I found a pain).

If you go for it, you should pay less than for a car without it because if it fails and can't be repaired and requires removing you will need a new rear parcel shelf cover (the bit with the rear speakers on) because the ends have to be chopped off to allow for the power hood rams).

If you do buy it, open the centre armrest cover and pull off the tray. Underneath that you will see the motor and there a brass bypass valve (looks like a brass radiator bleed tool). Undo it one turn (which allows you to use the hood manually). Open the hood (with the ignition off) and listen for the microswitch clicking. It should click when the front of the hood is raised to 235mm above the to roof, above the windscreen. You might have to bend the microswitch a bit.

Remember to tighten the bypass valve again to use the power hood.

Always operate the hood manually after winter a few times (especially if you have a hardtop and the hood has been in one positin for a long time). Also keep the hood hindges well oiled (especially after winter) otherwise the brackets will bend because the hood is stiff to operate.

Also, check that the car has the 2 extra elastic straps between the hood frames (one is above the drivers head). They stop the hood material from being trapped between the hood frame and being cut.

Keith

Thanks to all for the information.

It certainly puts a different slant on the advisability of going for a power hood.

I did think it looked a bit suspicious that so little information was available on what at first looks like a good option,(I had looked at Dieters site which indicated weak hinges etc.).

Now it's fairly clear why.

Thanks again for information and such quick response from all.

Tony
A Jackson

This thread was discussed on 03/03/2006

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